August 1, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 1, 2012

Cloud cover! Well, for at least a good chunk of the day, yielding some good hatches up and down the river, with a good number of olives popping out and taking advantage of the shade. As the day progressed, we had sunshine pop out, which was not the best for mid-afternoon hatching. However, the clouds returned in the evening, and brought some great fishing to those who ventured out, pretty much river wide. Today is a bit more of the same, with scattered thunderstorms predicted, which hopefully will bring our flows up at least enough to run a boat down the West Branch!

John O’Neal with a BEAUTIFUL bow caught well into dark. Photo by: Bruce Miller

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16 (sporadic), #18 & #20

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl (sporadic)

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14 (sporadic)

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (when cloudy)

July 31, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 31, 2012

Holy……. it’s almost August? How did that happen? Did someone Rip van Winkle me? Anyway, it was slow for most of the day yesterday, with some decent evening activity up river from Ball’s Eddy. This morning, although I did not see any tricos, I did see plenty of rises in Home Pool. Enough that I thought about opening a little ‘late’ today! The cool air overnight is likely what triggered this, as it cooled the water down substantially. We got close to 68 in the afternoon out front (water temp), which has definitely stifled both bug and fish acivity. Looking for a slightly cooler day, with clouds and t-storms around, so we could have a decent day river-wide. Keep your fingers crossed!

Reposting this from yesterday – Photoshop was acting up as far as sizing was concerned, and this is WAY too pretty a fish for everyone to miss in a full-size picture.

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16 (sporadic), #18 & #20

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl (sporadic)

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14 (sporadic)

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (when cloudy)

July 30, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 30, 2012

It can be very strange how the rain can affect this river! Here on the West Branch, we’re still stuck on 325 cfs coming out of Cannonsville, even after a few good thunderstorms over the weekend and last week. This has proven to be somewhat worrisome since we’re starting to see the actual riverbed in some places. Let’s hope this little experiment soon. However, the Main Stem is a different story. Callicoon has hit about 3,000 cfs. which is might be the highest we’ve seen all summer. Maybe now we can start doing something else besides swimming down there! The forecast is looking for more rain and storms all week, but that won’t mean much if they don’t bump up the flows. I have a good feeling though that all of this will change soon.

Don’t think you’ll ever find a better fighter or a prettier fish than a Delaware Rainbow.

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens- Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon- Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 29, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 29, 2012

We had a bit of of a surprise last night in the form of some serious rain. The only downer for us was the fact that the East / Beaverkill system got the majority of the rain fall, as is evident from the graphs (click the links below if you’d like to see), and this will certainly bring up the Main Stem even further, as well as heat up the main for the next few days, as we are still only getting a 320 cfs release. Basically, kiss anything below Shehawken goodbye for a few days. Prior to the rain, we did see some good evening fishing upstream with our usual suspects showing up – Isos, smaller sulphurs as well as a handful of decent sized olives coming out as well. Today we’ve got everything expected on the weather front, so be ready for anything out there!

Hoping for a spinner fall of these! Isonychia bicolor male spinner. Photo by: Jeff White

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 28, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 28, 2012

Talk about an odd-ball day yesterday. The storms never materialized as predicted, and unfortunately, the bugs really didn’t either, even up high. We saw very little activity in Home Pool all day and as the temps got up in the high 60s by evening, I really wasn’t all that surprised. The surprise came from Deposit, where even the sulphurs appeared to take the night off. As for today, I definitely expect a good chunk of people out on the water, but unless there are some really irresponsible guides / people with boats out there, the low flows will mean a wade-only scenario. Upstream is still the best bet as the lower river will warm up pretty well if the clouds burn off and the sun comes out. Otherwise, if these overcast skies persist, we might be looking pretty good river-wide!

“You might need a new pair of wading boots when……” I must admit, my inner shop manager just cackles maniacally when I see a customer come in with a pair of old boys like this! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 27, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 27, 2012

Well that was interesting. I haven’t been in the “likely path” of a Tornado since Texas. Fortunately we came through relatively unscathed, but unfortunately, so did the river. A small bump in flows is all that we got out of the bluster and booming. The Beaverkill and East Branch have some more water this morning, which will (unfortunately) help NYC meet the Montague minimum flow, so they will not need to release from Cannonsville this weekend to compensate, so we’re likely stuck with 320 CFS for the forseeable future. As for the fishing, everyone pretty much vacated the water when the storms rolled through, so no real firm reports on what was hatching out there. Today, we’re starting off nice and overcast, with some predicted t-storms lurking about. As always, pressure changes could be good, or they could be bad for the hatching (look at me, I sound like a weatherman with a prediction like that!), but regardless the clouds are a welcome change!

Ok, I can see this one, but none of my guides could. Let’s see how everyone’s eyes are – there is a dragonfly going from the center of the photo to the upper left corner, and its nymphal shuck is in the center/right. It was newly hatched, and had crawled onto the grass to finish. I promise this isn’t one of those 3D dot pictures they used to sell at the mall! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 26, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 26, 2012

Man, tough going out there yesterday, even up in Deposit. I guess the fish / bugs decided they didn’t want a sun tan. The air temps remained bearable throughout the day, but our tricos never fell, and as mentioned the sulphurs decided to lay low as well. When evening rolled along, there were good pockets of activity up and down the West Branch, but no real consistent fishing river-wide. TODAY, we’ve got thunderstorms in the forecast, and we’re looking at a drop in release down to 320 CFS – bad news for those of us planning on floating tonight, that’s for sure! The likely reason (as if reason and logic were things used to determine our flows) is the forecasted thunderstorms /precipitation today. We could see upwards of an inch of rain today, but as always I am skeptical, as we should be getting very wet right now according to forecasts, and I see the sun peeking through. I guess it’s one of those ‘wait five minutes and the weather will change’ kinda days!

Hoping for more of these today! Emphemerella dorthea female dun (Sulphur). Photo by Jeff White

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 25, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 25, 2012

Apologies for the late post – I had some photography to take care of this morning, so I could bring you THIS:

This was just a FRACTION of the Tricos in the air. Apologies for the lens flare, tough shot to get this morning. Although JJ Abrams would love it. Photo by: Bart Larmouth

That’s the view out front this morning – clouds and clouds of tricos, all up and down the lower West Branch. While they are still up in the air, and haven’t fallen yet, I’m sure they are going to in the near future, which may necessitate a “Back in a Few” sign on the shop door! Yesterday was pretty rough out there, not a whole lot of activity, and as the evening came in, so did the wind. In force. It killed any chance of a spinner fall, but more importantly disturbed the water enough to make it hard for the fish to see anything on the surface. The forecast for today has changed (go figure), and now we’re looking at clear skies and temps in the low 80s, instead of the cloud cover promised yesterday. It also looks like the dropped the flow from Cannonsville down to the 350 range around midnight, then brought it right back up to 420 or so. My guess is someone fell asleep on the controls in the middle of the night. Not sure what affect it will have on the fishing today, but likely not a ton.

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 24, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 24, 2012

So despite some SERIOUS  thunderstorms yesterday, along with torrential rains at times, we barely had a bump in flows during the day / overnight. Jim took advantage of a break in the storms to wade Home Pool for a bit, and was disappointed to report he was quite disappointed. No one rising, and no bugs on the water – likely a result of the constant pressure changes throughout the day. Today, we’re looking at another humid one, with mostly sunny skies throughout. I’d expect everything to settle back down to into a ‘normal’ summer pace today, and if the pressure remains constant, we should be looking at a great evening of hatching and fishing!

Trout Crack! AKA: Isonychia bicolor female dun. Photo by: Jeff White

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

jsk

July 23, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 23, 2012

Wow, we haven’t had a thunderstorm like that since…. well, last week! Yesterday was mainly a tease with a lot of dark clouds in the late morning and early afternoon that never actually turned into rain, only more sun that lasted for the entire day. This would make you believe that the fishing would be less than ideal, but our guys in home pool told a different story! There were a solid amount of #20 sulphurs and #12 potamanthus (yes, you read that right) hatching that made for excellent fishing well into the evening. The isos were still the best in terms of getting the fish to bite (shocking) but the variety was a pleasant surprise. It could have been better with some rain and cloud cover, but good things come to those who wait. The big daddy of storms didn’t decide to show up till around 1 AM last night, but boy did it make its presence known! The thunder was right over our heads and shook the entire house. The leftovers are still lingering here this morning with some infrequent showers and cloud cover that is supposed to last throughout the day. Let’s hope that the weather is right this time.

Steve Leber with one of his first Delaware Trout! Photo by: Wiley Paul

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

jsk

July 22, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 22, 2012

You know, I don’t know who is the all-mighty hand behind the flows, but he needs to make up his mind already!  As of this morning, the release was once again bumped down to around 420 CFS, so hopefully if you’re looking to float today, you don’t have too strong of an attachment to the bottom of your boat. Yesterday ended up being more of the same that we’ve had for most of the summer. The overcast skies in the morning broke away pretty early in the day and remained sunny with some inconsistent clouds to offer some reprieve. However, this made for a not-so stellar hatch during  the day and the evening. But, not even a little bad weather and lack of bugs can prevent a real angler from catching fish! The isos are still your go-to in these kind of conditions and the mid-day sulphur hatch has remained fairly consistent from day to day. Olives have also proven to be useful, since at this point in the season, those fish have quite literally seen everything we can throw at them, especially with the sulphur patterns. And, for the truly adventurous out there, the pseudos and tricos have been seen(or not been seen) in the morning if you’re carrying your 7x and have eyes much better than mine.  Today is probably going to be similar to yesterday, but the weatherman is predicting thunderstorms this afternoon. I’ve learned not to get my hopes up.

A nice little football that fell victim to an iso. Check out the white on his fins! Photo by: Jim Swift

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 21, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 21, 2012

Ok, so we’re back up a little bit now to a 484 CFS release. Most likely they are trying to meet the Montague minimum, but realize they can save an additional 16 CFS instead of making it an even 500. Who am I to second guess the almighty DEP? Anyway, yesterday and last night were definitely interesting. Blue Wing Olives out in force all day and up until dark, consisting of smaller deficiens (#16 & #18), and a BLANKET of psuedos on the water starting around 7:00 PM. This blanket however, consisted of size #30 & #32 psuedos. No, that wasn’t a typo. I’ve seen midges bigger than that. The good news is that the fish looked on them with the same sense of incredulity that we did, and completely ignored them. Which is great, as I had left my 8X in the car (no, I don’t really own any). There were also sporadic isos hatching in the riffles, an if you could see the rise, the fish were more than willing to chomp one of those big boys down! Today, we’ve lost out cloud cover (already), but with the water temps starting quite a bit lower today, it’s likely that we’ll still see some activity until the sun gets super high in sky, and then we’re back on our evening program!

Richard poses with a nice brown taken on top during the evening “magic” hour. Photo by: Wiley Paul

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20