May 12, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions – May 12, 2012

If you had a sail out there yesterday, you certainly would have made it down river in a hurry! The wind was certainly vicious, but many of the bugs decided to still hatch anyway. Unfortunately, with the surface being disturbed by the 30 MPH+ gusts, the fish were not able to see the smorgasbord on the surface at times. The wind did lay down briefly around dark (as expected), and there were nice fish taken around that time. Today, we are looking at a warmer day (highs near 75) with some clouds and hopefully an afternoon shower or two. The wind will be back at a more manageble level, so here’s hoping the armada stays home, and the fish make up for what they missed yesterday!

Piers MacDonald with a SLAB of a Main Stem Brown! Photo by: Wiley Paul

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16 – West Branch Only

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 11, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 11, 2012

Yesterday didn’t look all that appealing first with cold temps and some pretty brutal winds, but by the end of the day it became another great one to experience. Early on streamers were the way to go, and several BIG fish were taken subsurface. Towards the end of the day the wind laid down, and the bugs came out. March Browns on the all the branches, with Hendricksons on the West, and Invarias (larger sulphurs) on the East. The fish were definitely eager to eat, and not too finicky for a change. Today we’re looking at a bit of weather change, with bright sun and wind predicted for the day, with gusts near 30MPH. Let’s hope their as wrong about today as they have been with most days as of late. The temps will be cool, so if the wind does lay down, we will likely have  another great day of hatching!

Joe Laspina holds out a slab of a brown. Photo by: Steve Shen

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16 – West Branch Only

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 10, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 10, 2012

Overcast and calm – two words that every dry fly guy (or girl!) loves to hear, and that’s what we had yesterday. The West Branch was the only action in town due to the large amount of runoff from the East / Beaverkill into the Main Stem, and it was some fantastic action for those out on the water. March Browns came early in certain spots, and the fish were up and crushing them, just like we love to see them do. Today, we’re looking at another overcast day, but a little cooler and with one challenge we haven’t had in awhile – wind. Sustained downstream winds of about 15MPH, with gusts getting up near 30MPH. As always with the weather around here, I’ll wait until I see it! Also, the West had dropped and cleared dramatically since yesterday, and is at a great level for both floating and wading. The East and Main are still pretty brown, but have also cleared quite a bit overnight. Hopefully another 24 hours will do the trick, and they will be fishing again by the weekend!

Geoff Adams with a great Rainbow caught amongst a pod of Jeffs. That is, photo by: Jeff Biller, rowed by Guide Jeff White

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16 – West Branch Only

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 9, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 9, 2012

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 8, 2012

Delaware River Report / Condtitions May 8, 2012

Talk about strange out there yesterday. With seemingly ideal conditions for bugs, there were only a smattering of places that had activity throughout the day, with the “Middle” East being the most productive, with good March Brown and invaria (larger sulphur) hatches. As the day progressed however, the hatching improved, and pretty much everyone river-wide had an excellent evening.The rain started early last night, and has continued on into morning at a nice, steady pace – no big thunderstorms drowning the feeder streams. We are seeing a slight bump on the West Branch from this increase (running gin-clear out front still), and hopefully it will keep us floatable and stable for the next few days. Today is slated to be overcast with those same ‘calm’ showers throughout – the perfect BWO day!

Bob Lewis holds (whilst hiding the tail - you know better Bob!) Art Bartholomew's NICE brown. Photo by: Art Bartholomew

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 7, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 7, 2012

Patches of bright sun with slightly cooler temperatures led to a big improvement over Saturday’s activity. The bugs were up throughout the day, and the fish were more than happy to chow down. The West Branch fished slightly better than the East and Main, up until the evening when the entire river system came to life. The Hendricksons came early on the West, but weren’t seen in big numbers on the Main, where Cornutas made their first appearance of the year, as well as some Ephemerella invaria  on the East Branch. Sulphurs were also out on the main, with the occasional fish grabbing one. Today we have showers in the forecast, which will likely produce some steady hatching throughout.

It wouldn't be a complete trip for Alan Rupp without a photo in his silly hat. Fortunately, he's holding a nice Main Stem Smallie, so that kinda makes up for it. Photo by: Bruce Miller

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 6, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 6, 2012

Man, it was tough out there  yesterday. Between the bright sun keeping the bugs down and the ARMADA that was out on the river (24+ boats on the West Branch alone), it was not the picture-perfect Delaware day. When there were sporadic flurries of hatching, the fish did accommodate, as they are READY to eat. Today is looking to be a bit sunny again, but with cooler temps and hopefully a few more clouds to encourage hatching. At least, that’s what the weathermen are saying – we’ve all figured out that their opinion is worth exactly what we’re paying for it! We did see some Ephemerella invaria yesterday, as well as some Cornutas – we’ll see if that continues, which will be  a nice ‘gap filler’ once the Hendricksons finally call it a year!

Sam Dennis with a SLOB of a Main Stem Brown. She's so excited she can't keep her eyes open! Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 5, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 5, 2012

It was tough going out there yesterday. We had another strange occurrence: as the west branch dropped, the clarity worsened throughout the day. While we weren’t 100% chocolate milk, I’d say we got pretty close. There were very few bugs in the blazing sun, and as such few fish up to eat them until later on in the evening, when some good rising fish were found on both the West and the Main. This morning, the West has dropped to about 800 cfs, and has PERFECT clarity. There are calls for a mix of sun and clouds today, so as long as there is some shade during the afternoon, we have the possibility of seeing a good number of bugs and fish – definitely looks promising!

Not my best work, but that is a size #14 Hendrickson male dun on the front door of the shop. STILL hanging around! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 4, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 4, 2012

It is official – I officially have lost any and all confidence with weather men/services. Predicted weather yesterday consisted of cloud cover and spotty showers all day. That’s what we had, along with TONS of bugs and fish early in the day. Around 2PM, the sun came out. Accuweather, weather.com, they all said, at that second, we were getting rain. Nope. Bright sun, high temps, and sunburn central. The bugs pretty much stopped until the shade crept in, and they started back up sporadically. The evening got very interesting, with some amazing thunderstorms rolling through the area throughout the night. The rain has brought the West Branch up signficiantly (as you can see from the graph below), but fortunately we are not TOO off-colored in the river, and it is likely to drop sharply throughout the day. We are expecting warm temps today, which if the cloud cover holds (as they predict, I again doubt), will see the bugs start earlier in the day, and continue throughout. Passing thunderstorms may affect the hatching as well. Regardless, we are set up for a GREAT weekend with terrific water levels!

Larry Clark with a PORKY Main Stem Brown. Shaky Cell-Phone Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 3, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 3, 2012

What a difference a day will make, and I will completely fall on my sword here – my prediction for the day proved to be as wrong as most of our weather forecasters up here. We had very little activity throughout the day, as the cold influx of water from Cannonsville, combined with the overcast skies to keep the water temps hovering around 50F. This stalled the hatching until the late afternoon, where there was a brief flurry of activity when the water hit its peak temp for the day. The fish were there and eager to eat, there just wasn’t a ton on the menu to be had. Today we will have a dramatically warmer day, with highs in the 70s, and cloud cover to boot. This should bring those temps back up where we want them to be for the bugs, and hopefully spur some more activity in general. We did have a pretty good thunderstorm overnight, which dropped some good amounts of rain upstream, bringing the West Branch up near 500 this morning, but with no discoloration thus far. More water is ALWAYS a good thing!

Bruce Miller holding a very strange looking trout caught by the gentleman to his right, Harry Rupp. Photo by: Alan Rupp

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 2, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 2, 2012

A day without a stiff wind? I didn’t think it was possible! Sure enough, the wind laid down for nearly the entirety of the day yesterday, and the bugs and fish responded accordingly. With the warmer morning water temperatures, the activity started earlier than in previous days – about 1:00 to 1:30. I would expect the same kind of start to today, which we are expecting to be warmer, and hopefully with some more precipitation. The rain yesterday gave the West Branch a little “bump” – really just enough to keep us from dropping down any further. And adding to the surprise today – MORE WATER! We now have a release of 150 CFS, due to where we fall under the current FFMP. Every little bit helps!

Steve Lynch with a LONG East Branch brown. Photo by: Bob Lewis

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20

May 1, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions May 1, 2012

Happy May Day! As expected, the wind was significantly less powerful yesterday, but still created a bit of problems for those lucky enough to be out on the river. We also had one of our ‘freak’ occurrences that periodically hit the river: tons of fish rising, but almost nothing on the surface of the water. One would assume spinners, but few and far between. Once again, the ‘silver bullet’ was a #16 Hendrickson Compara-egmerger. Some fish were taken on tan and apple green caddis on the Main Stem, but that activity seemed to drop off early. “Sulphurs” were reported on the Main (really a small #16 steno) as well, but the fish have not keyed in on them yet, similar to the situation with the March Browns. Today we are expecting clouds and occasional rain showers, which should change the whole dynamic of the fishing (likely for the better!). Let’s hope we get more than the .5″ predicted, as the rivers are dropping fast, and we have no additional water releases in sight until June.

A nice, healthy, post-spawn West Branch Rainbow. Photo Courtesy of Bruce Miller

Hatches:

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16

Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)

Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18

Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #18 & #20