APPLE CADDIS EXPLOSION Yesterday was "The Day". Dry fly fishing is oficially on and most of the Trout in the system finally figured it our. Most areas of the river saw water temperatures in the mid 50's yesterday and the insect activity was amazing. Yesterday my boat only fished the Dry Fly and we had pods of fish feeding in every pool. The fish were gorging and pretty vulnerable to being caught. We fished a mix of Hendrickson Knock Down Duns and CDC Apple Caddis and had lots of confident takes. We ran the numbers up a bit with mostly Rainbows that were 16" to 18". The fish are still mostly in the Tailouts of the pools but these pods of Bows were moving around quickly. If the insects remain

WEEKEND OUTLOOK This weekend will be the first this season where visiting anglers will find the majority of the Trout in the Upper Delaware to be active and moving about. The water temperatures have been steadily creeping up. The fish this week have been far more active and late day they have even shown a little aggression. Every river remains a little on the high side but there is plenty of opportunity for both waders and drift boat anglers. The current flows are as follows Beaverkill 581cfs, Upper East 686 cfs, Lower East 1350 cfs, West Branch 1770 cfs, Min Delaware 4040cfs. The dry fly action is still very dependent on where you are. The Beaverkill, Willowemoc and West Branch are your bes

Over the last 48 hours water temperatures have made some upward movement. All of our rivers are now from 46 to 50 degrees this morning. The warmest waters are in the Beaverkill and on the lower Main Stem. The Upper East is the coldest. The dry fly fishing is right on the verge of popping. We should see far more fish getting involved with surface feeding in the coming days. There are no big numbers of any one insect species but with several species on the water together there is enough to keep them interested. When the fish are rising I have been using Hendrickson Duns, Hendrickson Knock Downs and Hendrickson Cripples with good results. .If you find a fussy fish a quick drop in size to the s

The fishing continues to improve across the region on a daily basis. The main issue that is keeping the action from being great is simply cold, high water. The insect hatches are getting reliable and there were plenty of spinners in the air yesterday. As soon as the water flows drop a bit more dry fly action will develop it's normal consistency. At this time anglers have some options in the region. Right now The Breaverkill and WIllowemoc are at the top. These freestones have the warmest water. Both have a lot of active fish and the hatches are underway. At this time anglers can expect to take fish on dries, nymphs, and streamers. There are lots of caddisflies and mayflies on the water. Ov

This weekend saw an interesting mix of weather conditions on the upper Delaware. Saturday was a tough day, it was windy, cold and winter like. Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, with sun, warm weather and light winds which made for a great day on the water. This time of year sun and overnight lows are very connected to water temperatures and trout activity. Although, Sunday seemed to provide ideal conditions for great early season dry fly activity, Saturday night's cold temperatures (below freezing) prevented the river from really coming to life. Over the weekend steady rising fish were found, but the activity was brief. Both days saw decent bug activity that was mostly ignored by the fi

WEEKEND OUTLOOK! Last night mother nature issued wade fly anglers another challenge. Some substantial rainfall came down which should make it more difficult for wade anglers to access their favorite stretches of the river. For drift boat anglers the additional water along with some turbidity may make it easier to approach the Trout. This morning all area rivers have been recharged with fresh water. Tributaries are running strong the overflow at the dams has increased and the main rivers are on the rise. There is a chance of some additional light rain before skies clear for a couple of days. The current flows will make the Willowemoc and Beaverkill the only real option for waders. Bank and sh

TODAY"S FLOAT TRIP RECAP Today was overcast and mild, with minimal wind for most of the day. The hatches are not prolific yet, but everyday there are more and more bugs as well as more fish rising to them. The fish are not in “happy” mode yet, in fact they were a little more spooky then you would expect for this time of year. We picked up a few fish today on dries but they were tough, In most instances you have one cast to hook up so take your time and make it a good one. All the fish we saw rising were either near the bank or in the soft seams behind and between rocks and cover. The rise forms are extremely subtle, and easy to miss even for a trained eye. All our hook ups were on size 16 ma

The overall fly fishing is improving daily in the Upper Delaware. There are insects on the water and the trout are rising at times. Anglers can also find the Trout willing to take streamer flies and nymphs if you target the right water. If I were to put a grade on the system at this time I would rate the fishing as decent but there are times where it is good. The water s are still a bit on the cold side due to the overnights being at or near freezing. The Trout are not fully awake yet and in most river sections they have not yet spread out. They are still on the drop offs, in the deep cuts and on the bottom of the larger pools. Spreading out and steadily feeding is a gradual process that is

Lots of changes in the Upper Delaware to start the new week. First the most noticeable. Both the East and West Branches have greatly reduced flows from last week. The bottom releases have been cut back and the spillover is very light. Both should continue to drop throughout the day today. All area waters remain cold at this time.As we reported a few days ago the dry fly action is picking up. Blue Quills and Quill Gordons are on the water along with stoneflies and caddisflies. The sustained surface activity that I have seen has been associated with the Blue Quill and Quill Gordon activity. At this time our guide staff has seen these insects and observed varying levels of feeding on all area r

WEEKEND OUTLOOK This will be the first weekend where we expect visiting anglers to have good enough conditions to really get down to some fishing. All of our local river have now dropped back to good levels for fishing except the Main Stem. The Beaverkill and WIllowemoc are now in good shape for anglers. They are both now at flows where the Trout can move about and feed pretty efficiently. Yesterday some nice fish were taken out of both rivers. The East and West Branches are also down to a range where both drift boaters and wade anglers will have good access. Both reservoirs continue to spill over at this time. Most of the action will still come on streamer flies but the reduced flows should

Last night some Rainfall moved into the region. So far the rain has been light and it is expected to end in an hour or so with very little change to the current river conditions. Yesterday we had most of our guides out on the river floating several different section of the Upper Delaware River System. We all had some success which I will cover later in this report. For all of you dry fly anglers. The last few days have had pretty decent insect activity. The waters remain too high for any real surface feeding but we are seeing the occasional splashy rise in areas with dead water. Currently there are Some Stoneflies, small Caddisflies and Blue Quills. At times yesterday there were enough Blue

It feels like spring in the Upper Delaware Region. Bright sun and warm days are this weeks news. The fishing conditions continue to improve. All of our rivers are high and cold which is historically normal for our area in April. Today there are options for both Drift Boat and Wade anglers . The WIllowemoc is in great shape and the Beaverkill is set up for a great early season. Wade anglers will find normal high water conditions on the Willow. Anglers will find the Beaverkill perfect for bank and shallow water wading. In these waters streamers are still your best bet. Slow and deep will be the best method. Larger streamers tend to attract more attention in these conditions but you still need

Spilling Water rages over the Dam at Cannonsville Reservoit - Photo Courtesy of Matty "MOO" Jensen Today finds all the upper Delaware rivers on the drop. The heavy flows are steadily coming down. As this week progresses the conditions should improve rapidly. At the moment the rivers are still high and cold but Fish are being taken. The current flows are still best suited for those with a lot of time in the rowers seat. Wading conditions are improving on the Beamoc waters. This morning the Willowemoc looks great! Both rivers are now offering decent bank and shallow wading opportunity. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to have some hardy guys that wanted to fish regardless of the tough conditions

HIGH WATER CONDITIONS and the STREAMER BITE! This morning dawned bright and sunny but with a heavy frost. The crisp cold is expected to depart rapidly as some warm weather is moving in. BY afternoon we are forecast for 60 degrees. The remainder of the week is forecast to be sunny with 70 degree days. This should improve the fishing conditions quickly. Currently the local rivers are starting to come down a bit. Here are the current slows EAST BRANCH DELAWARE RIVER AT HARVARD NY 3,910 BEAVER KILL AT COOKS FALLS NY 1,800 EAST BRANCH DELAWARE RIVER AT FISHS EDDY NY 6,110 WEST BRANCH DELAWARE RIVER AT HALE EDDY NY 5,280 DELAWARE RIVER AT LORDVILLE

WEEKEND OUTLOOK This weekend looks like a wash out in the Upper Delaware. We have high water everywhere and the rain continues. Yesterday we had periods of very heavy rainfall which continued throughout the night. Today we are expecting a wintry mix and colder temperatures. As I write this report steady light snow is falling. No real accumulation is expected, just some squalls. We have rescheduled all of our trips for this weekend due to the high water. Now the good news! All this precipitation is due to end later today. Starting tomorrow we are looking at a forecast that is all sun with very warm temperatures. There are acouple of days this coming week with daytime highs expected to be in t

Matt Hackett Baxter House Outfitters April 6, 2017 - 12:05pm We have an unconfirmed report of Alewives in the West Branch yesterday, April 5. So we loaded up the boat and set out. The Cannonsville Reservoir was at 100.9 which gave the possibility that the report was correct. We floated the upper section of the river and moved a few fish. The water clarity was 3-4 feet with a tint of green and not to much debris in the water. We moved several fish and put the time in. Needless to say we didn't see any alewives. We are not saying saying that others were wrong we are just giving an accurate first hand account of what we saw. Historically when the reservoirs spill there will be alewives th

Yesterday I completed my last Trip on Tampa Bay for the season. I just finished scrubbing and servicing my boat, she's ready for storage. Tomorrow I will head north to start my spring season guiding for Trout on the Upper Delaware River. Overall this was a great winter in the area where I guide. Cold weather never really got a grip on the area and water temperatures stayed above average. This allowed me to offer my guests a wide variety of fishing opportunities on the Fly and on light tackle. During this winter I was on the water over a hundred days with clients, family and friends. I have put together a quick group of photos from this season which showcase the beautiful ecosystem in lower T

April 4, 2017 Guide Zach Anderson I’m excited to describe the start of the 2017 season as normal. The weather was cold, windy and snowy and the fish were responsive but lethargic. After the dry conditions of last year, its a nice thing to see. This morning finds all of the area rivers on the rise. Although this is going to hamper fishing efforts over the next few days, it is a great thing overall for the system. After the tough conditions of last season, extra water is welcome. We have some open days and expect to have solid streamer fishing over the next couple weeks. If you are interested in throwing big streamers for big trout give us a call. We have a early season rate of $375 unti

There is not much new to report as far as fishing goes. There is rain forecast on and off through Saturday. This rain falling on the snow in the mountains has our rivers on the rise. There is potential for our rivers to go to flood stage this week There is currently a flood watch in effect through Saturday. How much the conditions change is in Mother Natures hands. As of right now the river flows are high but there are some places where bank fishing or drift boat fishing is possible. Anglers should take note that river conditions often change quickly in the Upper Delaware. A word of caution about high water - The current flows are right at the threshold where they become unsafe for drift bo

All Upper Delaware rivers remain high and cold. The snow melt has major influence over temperature right now. The snow melt is also causing varying turbidity throughout the system. Over the last few days our guides have been floating the rivers. There is no major bite yet but they are picking away at some nice Browns. Over the weekend Guides - Chris, Zach and Matt all got their boats in the water. All put fish in the boat on Streamers! Most of the action has come on medium to large sized articulated streamer or string flies. Almost all of our guides patterns are custom patterns. We currently have quite a few of these patterns in stock. At this time the best fishing is by drift boat but wade