August 22, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 22, 2011

Happy Monday Morning! Well, it would be happier here if I could avoid talking to my good friend “Bob” over in India – which is what I will have the pleasure of doing after making this update. Sigh.

Anyway, on a better note – we had LOTS of bug activity yesterday evening, as evidenced by all the different species on the shop wall this morning – 3 different Stenos, two sizes of Iso, several sizes of pseudos, and everyone’s morning favorite – Tricos! Fish were active yesterday evening prior to the big thunderstorm rolling through around 7:30 or so, which understandably shut everything down during the deluge. The good news – no perceptible change in the West Branch, color or otherwise. The low pressure that followed caused a nice burst of insect activity overnight, which could bode well for the cloud cover and rain we are expecting today!

Why, hello Iso. Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 21, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 21,2011

The river has continued to drop and is back to normal. The forecast today is predicting more thunderstorms, beginning around 1P.M. which should pass through relatively quickly. We are continuing to see more and more flying ants on the Main Stem, and the fish are starting to key in on them. With the heavy cloud cover today, be sure to have your Olive’s, Iso’s, and Black Flying Ants in your box!

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor –Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea –Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. –Tan Caddis –#16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill –#12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom –Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 20, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 20, 2011

Whenever you look at the radar, you can be sure of one thing for sure – that RED = BAD. We had it so red it almost went maroon here yesterday afternoon. The good news is that the deluge, wind, and lighting was relatively brief, although quite intense. As you can see from the graph below, we had a SHARP spike on the West Branch, which did yeild a bit of a Yoo-Hoo-esq chocolate slug moving down the river. The good news (also if you look at the graph) is that as quick as it went up, it went down. Just walked down to the river this morning, and we are good and clear again, with a bit of a higher level (good for those of us with boats who like not scraping bottom). The East Branch and Beaverkill appeared to have been spared, so the main stem might fish as well!

Bruce Miller holds Colt Williamson's GREAT Main Stem Brown. Photo by: Rexx Williamson

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 19, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 19, 2011

Good day yesterday! Despite the sun peeking through, the bugs were still out in force, and the fish were feeding on the sporadic flying ant that floated on by. Since the air pressure and river level has stabilized, the fish seem to be more active, and quite a few (including some nice ones!) were drummed up using Isonychia Comparaduns or Parachutes – many more than we’ve been having lately, so if all else fails – remember – they’ll eat an iso!

<<Picture would be here if Bruce Miller hadn’t stepped on his line fighting a nice rainbow last night. Nice Job Bruce.>>

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 18, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 18, 2011

What a difference a day makes! Fish were to be found up and down the West Branch yesterday, with some even working on the main stem – the good news? It seems the ANTS have finally made their appearance – ranging in size from #14 all the way down to the standard #20, mostly black. The only downer is it appears that the fish are being just as selective with them as they are with the mayflies!

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 17, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 17, 2011

Well, that was interesting. Yesterday, that is. As a good friend said, “At first, the bugs were around and the fish were on strike. After the rain, the bugs decided to join the fish.” Despite some nice (fishing-wise) weather, cooperation was lacking on the West Branch yesterday, possibly a result of the release being jumped to 600 CFS and the initial slug of cooler water making its way down river. Today that should stabilize, although we are likely going to have a decent amount of sun, which should make the upper west should do its “normal” thing with bugs in the early afternoon, and the lower should fish well this evening (assuming the strike is over).

Hatches:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 16, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 16, 2011

Yesterday was definitely……interesting shall we say. Folk on the West Branch were treated to some good streamer action, as well as good numbers of consistently rising fish, up and chasing BWOs, sulphurs, and cahills. Those of us who fished the main stem (that would be just the two of us. The whole river. One boat) expected hatching and action of epic proportions. What we had instead was one of the most frustrating days of fishing I have ever experienced – we had fish, not a ton of bugs, but enough to justify consistent rising. Instead we had fish slashing and popping out of the water to eat…..ready for it? PSEUDOS. Or so we thought. Throw a psuedo over a fish you just saw eat one, nada. Toss a cahill compardun over top of him? He’d eat it. All of the smaller 12-14″ rainbows filling up the riffles couldn’t be bought on a caddis or (GASP!) an Iso – even if they had given away their location by rising. Something the likes of which I have never seen. The only decent fish, a 16-17-ish ‘bow was the only fish that took an imitation of what we saw him eat. ARGH!

Enough whining – on to today! It looks like we dodged a bit bullet here on the West Branch, and that we missed the huge slug of water on the main by just an hour or so. The Beaverkill jumped to around 6,000 CFS (yes, you read that right) yesterday in a deluge that missed us. As such, the East and Main Stems are both blown out today (think Yoo-hoo, but darker), so the West is the only game in town. With clouds and passing showers, I’ve got great hopes for the day – could be fantastic out there with few people, and lots of bugs!

Hatches:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 15, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 15,2011

Well we never really saw the thunderstorms that they were predicting yesterday, but we did have overcast skies for much of the day which produced a decent amount of olives. Today they are calling for the same forecast as yesterday, rain with an occasional t-storm, which should yield some good action out on the water. Also, we are currently in the process of completely revamping our online store which will have all of our specialty flies and dubbing as well as many new items. We will keep you informed on the status of the site, and inform you once it is up and running!

Isonychia bicolor –Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea –Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. –Tan Caddis –#16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill –#12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom –Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 14, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 14, 2011

What a turn-around! Clouds throughout the day and a late-afternoon shower really turned the river on. Plenty of olives and sulphurs were flitting about and being eaten by our finned friends. Today looks to be a repeat performance – clouds and rain throughout the day, so hopefully the entire river will be fishing well.

A newly-molted Steno spinner with its shuck. Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 13, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 13, 2011

Yesterday saw the return to ‘normal’ summer, albeit with some beautiful weather – I wasn’t sure if I was in Starlight or Sun Valley! Bugs were hatching up river during the day, while the lower river was pretty slow, with the nymph fishermen doing pretty well for themselves. The evening brought more olives and some sulphurs down river, with fish rising in the slower pools for the most part. Unfortunately, the tricos still haven’t come down yet – so any day now we expect them to do so!

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 12, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 12, 2011

Boy oh boy – did the fish not cooperate yesterday. Be it the bright sun or dramatic high pressure that came in, the fish didn’t feel like rising throughout the day yesterday, even though we had flushes of olives and sulphurs. The evening brought something completely different on the lower West Branch – lots of bugs, and plenty of fish coming up to grab them. I took an exploratory cruise down the Main Stem yesterday (temps were 63-64 degrees the whole way), but saw nary a fish rise – even though we had lots of bugs popping off and spinners in the air. The chub derby at the end made for a bit of fun, but not exactly the same. The few rainbows we caught were drummed up with Isonychia Comparaduns. We are looking at bright sun all day today, but fortunately, the pressure has stabilized, so we expect more ‘normal’ fishing – in other words bugs early up top, and late down river. Also as an FYI – LOTS of tricos by the 191 bridge around 10:00 AM yesterday, but they never hit the water. Let’s get ready!

Bart holds a very toothy, true Von-Behr brown - super blue with orange spots just on the tail (not visible). Killer photo by: Bob Lewis

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 11, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 11, 2011

Great day yesterday, but definitely frustrating at times. We had a mix of bright sun and clouds throughout the day, but with blessed low humidity. The bugs got very active once the sun dropped behind the clouds, and the fish followed suit. Later in the afternoon we were ROCKED by a storm with close to 50 MPH winds (that did a good job of almost swamping the boat!) but amazingly no lightning. This calmed right down, and the fish settled back in for an evening rise. We were seeing dortheas in size 18, deficiens (BWO) in size 16, the occasional size 12 steno, and isos popping here or there. Today is supposed to stay cool, but we are expecting a bit more sunshine, so we will see what happens!

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26