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Trout Town
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Current River
Flows
-
River Flow Chart
-
Fishing Quality
-
Upper Delaware
-
Beaverkill/Willowemoc
- E. Branch
-
W. Branch
Main
Stem Delaware
Upper Delaware Region
This week our guide
schedule has some openings for Drift Boat Trips.
We are currently offering half day floats both morning and evening. Full day
trips are also available. Call the
Fly Shop for Details 607-290-4022
At this time we are in mid summer
conditions on all Upper Delaware Rivers. During the months of July and
August there is really very little day to day change in river conditions
unless a major weather front moves through or there is a big release change
from one of the reservoirs. During this time period I will only be updating
the fishing condition page 2 or 3 times each week. I will however keep
you up to date on any changes in the system on both the site and through
Twitter reports.
Today's report
All Upper Delaware rivers are still running
low and clear. All of our free stone rivers are now warm and best suited for
smallmouth bass fishing. Our Tailwater rivers the East and West Branches of
the Delaware have cold water releases and are ice cold with good Trout
fishing conditions. The West Branch is still our top pick. This river has
the most water and the most reliable hatches at this time.
Recently we have had some
heavy but brief rain storms move through the Upper Delaware Region.
These storms dropped enough rainfall to finally get the stream gauges moving
upwards a bit. Over the last few days we have also had a break from the
intense heat. The last few nights have been cool and water temps have
finally dropped a bit. This morning the Beaverkill River, Willowemoc River
and Lower East Branch are below the 70 degree mark which will give the Trout
a needed break. Hopefully the water temps will continue to fall but for the
time being the Trout in these rivers will most likely remain on thermal
refuge sites through the next several weeks.
Over the last week our guests have had
some very good fishing on the Tailwaters. At this time our float trips are
offering both Nymph and Dry Fly fishing with both methods taking fish. Recently we have been floating
very early in the day with great results. The early day action is mostly
subsurface but the action is steady and we've put a few 20+" giants in the
boat over the last few days.
We also had a few guests choose to fish
for Smallmouth this week and their trips were exceptional. All of our smallie trips this week had huge numbers. Overall these trips are averaging
around 50 fish per day using a mix of ultra light spin tackle and fly tackle.
On the Tailwaters Sulfurs and Olives are emerging in good
numbers
and the Trout have been feeding whenever they are present. This activity is system wide but
the amount of insects varies on different sections of water. The best action is definitely on the West and East Branches of the Delaware.
Both of these tailwater rivers produce heavy crops of these insects every
year and this year the hatch has been very heavy. Both of these rivers also
have Trico activity in the morning. The extent of this action varies by
where you choose to fish. Over the last few days we have been on the water
around 7:30 - 8:00 am. On these trips we have found decent numbers of
Trico's. We had one real blast of action where a major spinner fall happened
right in front of us and the fish fed heavily for about 15 minutes. With
that one instance put aside the other activity with this insect has been
sporadic and most of the risers we've taken were juvenile fish.
The West Branch is still my top pick at this
time. The river is almost clear of Algae the last few days and the Sulfur
and Olive hatches are good.
Since the algae issue cleared up a bit
we have been spending a lot of time with Streamers and Nymph rigs as well.
Over the last week the nymph fishing has been very good. We have taken fish
on nymphs on every float trip and I have had two recent trips where we had
double digit numbers of Trout to net on half day trips.
All of our recent guided trips have had
great results and we have taken some impressive fish recently.
During July and August
we have a few opening each week with our guides. At this time we are offering
both full and half days but our most popular float right now is our Evening
Hatch Float which puts you on the water at prime time for rising fish! These
trips are $275.00 for one or two anglers. The last few days our evening
floats have been non stop action.
2010 Photo Album
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Trout Town
-
Current River
Flows
-
River Flow Chart
-
Fishing Quality
-
Upper Delaware
-
Beaverkill/Willowemoc
- E. Branch
-
W. Branch
Main
Stem Delaware
The Beaverkill and Willowemoc
The Beaverkill and Willowemoc
Rivers are now Very Low. Both are in great need of some more rainfall.
This is normal for the months of July and August.
At this time the only areas of the
Beamoc with cool water are the headwaters. These upper sections of the river
always stay cool and are fishable right through the summer. Almost all of
the Water on the Beaverkill below Roscoe is too warm for Trout. The same is
true on the Willowemoc below Livingston Manor.
Until we get a major change in the
weather and conditions improve our guides will be focusing all of their
attention on the Tailwater sections of the East and West Branches.
Click on a
category to go directly to that subject
Trout Town
-
Current River
Flows
-
River Flow Chart
-
Fishing Quality
-
Upper Delaware
-
Beaverkill/Willowemoc
- E. Branch
-
W. Branch
Main
Stem Delaware
The East Branch of the Delaware
At this time the Upper East is fishing
well. Both the Trout and Insects have settled into their normal summer
routines. This summer however their normal summer routine from the
anglers point of view is much more challenging. The new Flexible Flow
Management Plan for releases has given us a river that is much lower than
the last few years. This is a river that has the reputation for being
difficult under any conditions and in it's current state the fish can see
any move you make from the moment you get out of your car.
The Lower East is now
very low and outside the temperature range for Trout. The lower east
is fishing well for warm water species such as Smallmouth Bass and Eels.
On the Upper East the evenings and
mornings are now the prime time
period for activity.
There have been a mix of insects from late afternoon until dark. Currently
Sulfurs and Small Olives are the main staple. Sulfurs #14 through #18 and
Olives # 18 through the tiny's. There are also Cahills and Isonychia on the water at times.
The Cahills and Iso's are only a factor in the waters around Harvard and
Below. During summer midges are also of great importance especially in the
frigid waters just below the dam. On a few occasions recently there have been so
many midges on the water that the fish have been keyed in on them. In these
instances we have had good results with Griffiths Gnats and Hammer
Midges.
For those who like to fish early in the
day, Trico activity is heavy on the Upper East. Recently I have seen heavy
clouds of Trico spinners in multiple areas of the river. Anglers need to be patient on the East
when looking for Trico's. The hatch usually begins much later in the day
than most other places. I will regularly find fish working these insects
from 10:00am until almost noon time. Anglers should also target the water
from Shinhopple downstream as this is where the best activity occurs.
During the last months fishing on the
Upper East, our guides have been finding a big increase in the amount of
Rainbows running well up into this section. In the Past years it was rare
to find these fish and normally we might catch one or two a year. When we
did find them in the past it was usually just in a few places from Harvard
down to the Jaws. This year there are large pods of them and they are
widespread. We have caught large mature Bows up as far as Corbett.
This is most likely another effect of the terribly inadequate FFMP. Over the
last few weeks we have had a good amount of really large Rainbows.
Last night we had a few Bows in the 20" range including one huge bow that
measured over 21.5".
For the Anglers who enjoy warm water
fishing the Lower East is fishing Great!
We have been finishing our early morning
Trout floats lately in the lower river fishing for Smallmouth Bass. Just
about every day we've been getting some nice Bass up to 16"17" inches on a
variety of small streamers and Nymphs. These river smallmouth fight hard and
always give you a few spirited jumps.
More East Branch of the Delaware Photo's
Attention Fly Fishermen!
The new FFMP for reservoir releases has
created a perfect environment for the proliferation of DIDYMO aka Rock Snot.
This seasons low releases and lack of rainfall have already caused a heavy
heavy spread of this invasive weed. At this time it is most prevalent in the
Upper and Lower East Branch. This weed is found in shallow riffles and
shallow runs and it literally covers the bottom in a short period of time.
At this time I have not seen any didymo in the Beaverkill and Willowemoc and
in an effort to keep it that way we have set out a cleaning station at the
Baxter House for the general public to use. We have a tub with a light
solution of detergent and bleach right next to our front porch and a hose to
clean your equipment. If you have fished the East Branch please swing by and
clean off prior to fishing the Beamoc Waters.
Hot Flies
Streamer flies- Woolly Buggers,
Zonkers, Traditional Streamers
Nymphs / Wets - Ice Caddis, KT
Flash Pupa, BH Pheasant
Tails, Hare's Ear, Prince, Copper John, Golden Stones, Cased Caddis
Dries - Sulfurs, Blue Wing
Olives, Isonychia, Cahills Black and Brown Caddis
Imitations #14,16
Knock Down Duns, CDC X Caddis, Slow
Water Cripples,
Click on a
category to go directly to that subject
Trout Town
-
Current River
Flows
-
River Flow Chart
-
Fishing Quality
-
Upper Delaware
-
Beaverkill/Willowemoc
- E. Branch
-
W. Branch
Main
Stem Delaware
The West Branch
of the Delaware
We are now offering EVENING FLOAT TRIPS on
the West Branch Daily. These Trips put you on the water at the best time of
the day for Dry Fly activity. Evening floats are $275.00 for one or two
anglers. Trips are from 4:00 until 9:30 pm.
At this time the West is still my top pick for match the
hatch dry fly fishing!
Currently the dry fly activity in the Upper West is still
very good.
The Sulfur activity is steady and
reliable but not as heavy as it was only a few weeks ago. The Small Olives
are now emerging in heavier numbers and are of almost the same value to the
Trout as the sulfurs. Most days this activity is starting mid afternoon and lasting
until dark. At times there are also some Isonychia and Steno's emerging as
well.
Currently we are having success with
thorax style duns, knock down duns and spinner patterns. Fooling mature
Trout at this time however is quite a challenge. Long leaders, light tippet
and accurate casts that produce drag free drifts are a must.
At this time the river is almost
clear of Algae and the fishing here is now a pleasure. Anglers can now
concentrate on fishing rather than cleaning their flies after every cast.
Since the algae issue cleared up a bit
we have been spending a lot of time with Streamers and Nymph rigs as well.
Over the last week the nymph fishing has been very good. We have taken fish
on nymphs on every float trip and I have had two recent trips where we had
double digit numbers of Trout to net on half day trips. This week we also
had several Large Browns and Rainbows come to net.
The nymph fishing for our guests has
been very reliable and we have found very steady action through our entire
floats. Currently we are having our best results fishing a triple rig
under floats. I like to rig 2 bead heads with one non weighted nymph.
Currently our bottom fly choices that have been taking the most fish are #18
and 20 Flash Back Pheasant Tails and #18 Firebugs. These two offerings will
cover the Sulfur and Olive Nymphs and The Midge activity. The firebug colors
working best have been Red, Black, Orange and Olive
Recently the angling pressure on the West Branch from
Sunday through Thursday has been very
light just like everywhere else in the system. Fridays and Saturdays
however have been a different story. The last 2 weeks these days have seen
the West mobbed with people. There are simply not many options at this time
and this river is absorbing all of the angling pressure that would normally
be spread out through the system.
Since the flow went up last week it seems that a lot of
the algae has washed out. On all of our recent trips we have not had to
constantly clean our rigs. We have returned to being able to fish every
depth of the water and our nymph rigs have accounted for some really
impressive fish recently.
I have been fishing the Upper West daily now for about a
month.
Mostly afternoon and evening floats targeting the Sulfur hatches. The fishing has been
good and the Trout get on these duns every day as soon as they appear on
the water. We have had good luck with several patterns. Most often we start
with thorax style duns, Cripples or CDC Knock Down Duns when the hatch is early and then switch to spinners
when the fish are feeding regularly. This strategy always pays off and we'll
regularly take a few nice fish each evening.
Below are some of the pictures from recent trips. All
of the fish below were taken on crippled sulfur patterns.
Hot Flies
Streamer flies- Woolly Buggers,
Zonkers, Traditional Streamers
Nymphs / Wets - BH Pheasant
Tails, Hare's Ear, Prince, Copper John, Cased Caddis, Zebra Midges
Dries - Thorax Sulfurs, Sulfur
Cripples, Sulfur Knock Down Duns, Isonychia, Rusty
Spinners and Sulfur Spinners, Small Black and Brown Caddis
Imitations #16,18, CDC X Caddis
Click
on a category to go directly to that subject
Trout Town
-
Current River Flows
-
River Flow Chart
-
Fishing Quality
-
Upper Delaware
-
Beaverkill/Willowemoc
- E. Branch
-
W. Branch
Main
Stem Delaware
The Main
Stem Delaware
The Main Stem of the Delaware is now in summertime
conditions. Under the current flow plan this means that only the Uppermost
section of the Main will be cool enough for catch and release Trout fishing.
The remainder of the river is far too warm for catch and
release Trout fishing.
With the very warm water the Main is now in prime
condition for Smallmouth Bass and other warm water species. These fish are very aggressive and fight hard. Small
streamers and Large nymphs are your best choices for fooling Smallies.
Over this past weekend we had some guests who chose to
fish for Smallies. They had non stop action and put between 40 - 50 fish in
the boat.
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Baxter House
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Roscoe, New York 12776
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