Delaware River Report / Conditions March 30, 2011

Hello! Get ready, as of tomorrow, we are OPEN FOR THE SEASON! The upper reaches of the West Branch and all of the East open up on Sunday, but with how well it has been fishing we decided to open up a day early this year. It will surely be different from last year, when I was shoveling snow off the deck to open, and we didn’t see fish for two weeks into April. We are expecting some snow overnight, so there is a bit of uncertainty as to what Saturday will bring, but Sunday for sure will be good, as the temps will be back in the 60s. We still have stone fly galore, and you cant walk on the shore around home pool without crunching 20 or more Paraleps (Blue Quill). Fish have been rising all day, so I am settling back into my normal feeling of bitterness as I am now chained to the shop once more! All for  you, good readers! Also, as of tomorrow, we will FINALLY have Dark Brown Dubbing available! I will put it on the webstore shortly – sorry for those who have been waiting forever and a day for it, sourcing has been an issue, but is now resolved – just in time for the Hendricksons to pop, which they did in SPADES downriver (Long Eddy and below), and are slowly moving upstream. It’s going to be an early one! Daily updates will also commence starting, well, I guess today! Enjoy, and I look forward to seeing all of you this season!

Ken House with a CHUNK of a brown caught on the Main Stem - built more like a shad! Photo by: Jeff White

An attempt to show the width of this fish - my hand is 4.5" from that thumb to heel - he was close to 6.5" !!! Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

Tiny Black Stoneflies – very infrequent, #18

Paraleptophlebia adoptiva (Blue Quill) – #16 & #18

Baetis species – #20

Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons (down river) – #12 & #14

Chimmarra (little black) Caddis – #18 & #20