July 11, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 11, 2012

Finally a little bit of precipitation! I can’t remember the last time we actually had a decent rain hit the ground here in Starlight. Albeit the duration was not much to brag about, it was still a welcome respite from the constant heat and sun. The change in pressure did affect the hatching slightly, but only shut it down for the duration of the rain, and then the bugs quickly shot back to the surface, making for a pretty good evening of fishing river-wide. As the temps cooled, the action slowed, so we didn’t get the typical “half-past dark thirty” hatching we normally see. The flow from the reservoir was dropped back down to 510 CFS overnight, so the fish will take a little while to reacclimate this morning, and the with no real storms or clouds in the forecast for today (as of yet), the lower west will be a bit warmer today, as will the very upper stretches of the Main Stem.

An angry Crawfish in its black phase. So ticked he’s frothing at the mouth! Fairly unusual to see. Photo by: Jeff White

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

July 10, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 10, 2012

IT was a little bit different out there yesterday. Despite the slightly cooler weather (realize that is a relative phrase), not much happened on the West Branch in the evening until right at dark, when there was a small flush of BWOs (likely deficiens) just as you could no longer see. Down in Home Pool, there was nary a bug to be found. Very odd to be sure, so there must have been a pressure change or something of the like to keep them down. The powers that be have also started to ramp down the flow out of Cannonsville, so we now have only 737 coming out of the dam. If this remains stable, there should not be a great change in the fishing / fish holding spots. Today, we’ve got thunderstorms in the area this afternoon, and even lower temps again. Let’s hope for some good rain to get the East back up and cool the Main Stem down a bit!

Intern Jim Swift III with a FOOTBALL! Photo by: Jim Swift II

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

July 9, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 9, 2012

It was another pretty decent day out there Sunday, albeit mostly in the late evening downriver, and later in the afternoon up river. The sun was pretty hot through the middle of the day, but we did see some clouds show up and cool things down a tad. Below Ball’s Eddy fished well in the evening, but the bugs shut right off around 7:30 / 8:00 and the fish followed suit. Today, the temps are supposed to be significantly lower, and substantially more clouds are predicted which should yield a pretty good day river-wide. Assuming the knuckleheads who make these forecasts get it right, of course!

A nice brown in the sun – photo by: George Fielding

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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 8, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 8, 2012

I don’t get to say this too often, and I do try to avoid it, but today I can’t resist – you should’ve been here yesterday! The weathermen could not have been more wrong in their forecast, and it worked out to the benefit of everyone on the river yesterday. Rain early, coupled with overcast skies to keep the nuclear hot (ha-ha) sun off the water led to fantastic hatches from just after 12PM on, well until 8:30 or so in the evening. The fish seemed a bit less picky than they have been as of late, and the only real issue was the thick, THICK fog resultant from the super-humid air and super-cold water doing the lambada. As for today, the release from Cannonsville is still around 790, but will likely drop in anticipation of the power generation picking up downstream again for the week. Until then, we should have some great hatching still, and today is considered “mostly cloudy” which as you all know, it nothing but a good thing!

Phil Towzell holds a HUGE West Branch Rainbow caught last night in the fog. Realize that Phil is about 6’5″, and has no problem palming a basketball. That fish was THICK! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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 6, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 7, 2012

What a scorcher out there today! The humidity definitely helped to add to the sweat factor, and not in a good way! The good news is that the temps did not drop dramatically once the sun went down, preventing a seriously thick fog from descending and shutting down the fishing. Clouds did roll in a bit and the late afternoon, and boy did that help! Sulphurs yet again up above, coupled with some larger cahills down river. Today is supposed to make yesterday seem cool, so we are anticipating a similar level of daytime activity, with hopefully a good afternoon. The cold water should continue thru the day, helping us in a big way. The gates will likely turn off late into the night, so we will likely be at 500cfs again on Sunday morning.

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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

Homepool with the water up in the grass!

July 6, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 6, 2012

That was a nice change of pace yesterday, and now we’ve got our weekend water starting (thanks to Montague)! Even in the heat, we had some clouds roll in for the afternoon, and the entire river decided to cooperate much to our happiness and surprise, considering the predicted weather. The only trouble spot was the higher winds early on in the day, which were not originally in the forecast – go figure! The good news is that they were downstream (out of the N / NW), and cooled the day down dramatically. Good sulphur hatches throughout the afternoon above Hale Eddy and into Deposit also showed up in the lower stretches into the evening. Today, we are expecting more sunshine and warmer temps, and with the pressure settled down, as well as this influx of cold water for the weekend,  we should see continued hatching as we saw on Thursday, as well as good fishing all along the West Branch.

Just as an idea for those tying / using crayfish imitations, which can be great this time of  year.  This guy was 2.5″ long, and you can see the interesting color scheme! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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 5, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 5, 2012

As you can see from the graph below, there really hasn’t been much change on the West Branch over the last few days. Yesterday did see some pretty significant weather changes towards the evening, however. Big T-storms rolled through, giving some nice 4th of July noise and flash, but barely got the ground wet. What it DID do was create a pressure change that put many of the bugs down, at least here on the lower river. Upstream by Deposit fished fairly well early on and into the afternoon, and slowed a little bit towards the end of day as the water temperatures dropped. Today looks like a return to steady pressure, as well as sweat-inducing sun and heat. Yay! So back to typical summer fishing again!

Good customer and friend of the club Norm Price sent us this from Montana, showing us possibly the perfect beverage for after hot days like today! Photo by: Norm Price

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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 4, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 4, 2012

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Always one of my favorite holidays, we here at the DRC wish you and yours a patriotic, fun, and safe day!

Now for the other stuff you tuned in for! Yesterday was pretty typical until the early evening, when we had a front move through, supposedly the precursor to some serious thunderstorms occurring around midnight. Instead, we had some good insect activity and action on the lower West Branch – the first we’ve seen in what seems like forever. The fish did not fully take advantage of the situation, but they were definitely more active than they have been as of late. Unfortunately, most of the weather stayed south of us, and we only got a smattering of rain, barely affecting the flows. We are quite overcast this morning, which bodes well for those heading out after a cup of coffee. After stuffing our faces with hot dogs, hopefully the evening will produce as well!

Intern Will Hazzard with his FIRST bass EVER! Growing up in Seattle, the pickings are slim. Not a monster, but still a first! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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 3, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 3, 2012

Well, the clear nights have done wonders for keeping the water temperatures a little bit more in check overnight, which has definitely been a blessing. The lower west fished better last night than it has in the past few days, but was definitely not stellar by any stretch of the imagination. The wind yesterday also created problems as the day went on,but definitely laid down as we approached the evening hours. Today it is supposed to be a bit warmer, with slightly fewer clouds and humidity. Great for a warm up to the Fourth, but not exactly the dry fly weather we would prefer. Pray for rain and clouds people!

<<Having trouble uploading a photo today, so I’d like everyone to just imagine a nice, big, fat brown trout instead of my lame attempt at humor>>

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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

*NOTE* – The graph above was incorrect by date at the time this post was published – the USGS should update it at somepoint today. This happens on occasion.

July 1, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 2, 2012

Yep. It blew out there. Dang near 25 MPH gusts at times with steady 10 MPH for most of the day. Needless to say this kept the fish down and bugs off the water for the most part. The heat and sun pretty much finished the job. There was a bit of an evening flush, but definitely not as strong as the two previous nights. Today – more of the same, albeit with slightly slower winds and lower temps. We’ll see how it turns out!

Bob Lewis holding a FAT WB Brown. Photo by: Steve Shen

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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 1, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 1, 2012

Holy…..did I just type JULY up in there? Where the heck is this year going at such break-neck speed??? Anyway, much better day out on the water yesterday, with more fish up and rising all the way down to Balls Eddy, but again not much down below or during the heat of the day. The fog also held off until after dark, which was a nice respite for those fishing late into the evening (that would be everyone). Today we’re looking at a slightly cooler day, but similar conditions as far as the summer heat goes. It’s a good time to get out early, take a break in the afternoon and head out for the evening hatch!

Dave Lisnock Shows he can still get it done. Photo by: Kevan Smaracko

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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

June 30, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 30, 2012

Interesting day out there yesterday. Pretty quiet throughout the day, until later afternoon up river by Deposit, when there was a little bit of a bug explosion. Dortheas, psuedos, stenos, and even a bunch of BWOs (deficiens, some cornuta-looking ones). The fish were fairly cooperative, but a bit spooky up there, and virtually non-existent down river from Hale Eddy. The best part of the night? The cursed FOG that likes to plague us on those warm, humid evenings decided to stay away. Glad the weathermen were wrong on that one! Otherwise, ewe had some nice, hard takes on isonychias, and even more on size 18 dortheas. It was nice to have the fish actually COOPERATE for a dang change! Today we’re looking at a bit hotter temps, and perhaps the same sort of action both early and late – if the predicted cloud cover rolls in, expect to see even more BWOs.

Sunset last night looking upstream from Rest Stop Pool. Photo by: Geoff Adams

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 cornuta – Light BWO – #14 (sporadic)

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