Upper Delaware Fly Fishing Report
SATURDAY
Fishing conditions in the Upper Delaware remain good for the date. The recent rainfall has all of our rivers in good condition. There is more heavy rainfall in the forecast for today and tonight. There is the potential for up to 1.5 to 2" of rainfall.
If this forecast happens the coming week will bring excelent hunting conditions for trophy sized brown trout!
the current fishing
The Upper Delaware Trout fishing is now in transition. The larger insects of spring are quickly becoming a memory and for the next 2 months most of the Dry Fly fishing will be with Sulfurs, Olives, Tricos, Midges and Terrestrials. This is a very steady time of year. Both the insects and the Trout fall into a daily routine that does not vary much from day to day.
At this time of year we still offer both full and half day trips for Trout. Most of this fishng is on the West Branch and Upper Main Stem. Full day trips are a mix of nymphing and fishing the evening hatch with dry flies. We also have evening hatch float trips that put you on the water at the exact time for fishing to rising Trout. These evening trips will be availble through the end of August. We are also now offering both Full and Half day floats for Smallmouth Bass. These trips are on the Main Stem Delaware and are full of action. We target Smallies with bot Fly Rods and Ultra Light Spinning rods.
Yesterday I fished the West Branch again. The fishing was pretty good and we had action on streamers, nymphs and dry flies. There was a mix of insects throughout the afternoon and evening. The main staple was large and small Sulfurs but there were some larger insects at times. The larger insects were Isonychia, Steno's and Yellow Drakes. The larger insects were not on the water in mass. Overall the action was fairly steady. Over my last few floats on the West Branch my guests have done pretty well with the selective trout that roam it's waters.
Our best action has been on tiny nymphs and on small dry flies but we have also fooled trout on streamers at mid day. The best flies have been sulfur cripples, knock down sulfurs and olives and small hackle wing spinners. Our best nymph action has been on ice caddis (olive and bright yellow), sulfur emergers, olive emergers, and pheasant tails. At this time the key to success is small flies on long leaders. I am currently rigging my guests rods with about 15' to 18' leaders with 5X tippet.
This week our guides have still been covering a lot of water. We are still walk wading the Beaverkill and Willowemoc and drift boat fishing the East Delaware, West Delaware and Main Stem for both Trout and Bass. Yesterday we had boats in several sections with varied results. Overall however you can expect to have slow daytime action on the bright sunny days with all of the dry fly activity coming at dusk. On the overcast days it has been much better during the day with sporadic activity occurring steadily as you float. This pattern should hold steady through the summer months of JUly and August.
River Flow Table
Beaverkill 492 cfs.
Wilowemoc - 305 cfs.
Upper East Branch -274 cfs
Lower East Branch -1190 cfs.
West Branch - 520 cfs.
Main Stem -2230 cfs.
The INSECTS
Currently there are Yellow Drakes, Cornuta Olives Green Drakes, Brown Drakes, Isonychia, March Browns, Sulfurs, Stoneflies, Caddisflies and more emerging from all Upper Delaware Rivers. There is good spinner activity most nights. Anglers should now target the areas around the faster riffles and pocket water. Most of the insects that are emerging now are fast water dwellers and all of the late day spinner activity will happen in these same areas.
The Sulfurs and Olives are now the Main Staple in the Trout's diet. The larger insects are only on the water at times and rarely in large numbers
THE FLIES
Today's Upper Delaware Fly Selection- Cornuta Olives,Olive Knock Down Duns, Sulfur Knock Down Duns, Baxter House Hackle Wing Spinners, Iso Spinner, Hackle WIng Rusty Spinners, Sulfurs,Sulfur Cripples, Elk Over CDC Caddis, X Caddis, Peacock Klinkhammers BH Copper Johns, BH Pheasant Tails, Ice Caddis, KT Pupas, BH Stoneflies, Flash Back Pheasant Tails, Cased Caddis Small Zonkers, BH Wooly Buggers , Sculpins, Bottom Wigglers, Muddlers, Small Articulated Flies, Streamers of 3" or less will be most effective at this time.
The Smallmouth Bass action is now heating up in the Main Stem Delaware. We have been taking some nice Bass recently. Most of the larger bass have come on Woolly Buggers and small Atriculated Sculpin type patterns. We are now booking both full and half day floats for Smallies. The nice smallie took a 4" woolly buggers fished in a slow eddy.
We are now taking reservations for Guided Smallmout Bass and Evening Hatch Trout trips. The Bass trips are full or half day. This year we are also offering evening smallie trips that will focus on taking smallies on the DRY FLY and on POPPERS.
The Trout trips are are still full or half day. Our half day trips are at dawn which is a combo of Streamer and Dry Fly or in the evening which is one of our most popular trips. Our guides have been doing these evening trips for over 15 years. They are experts at choosing the best sections of river on any given day. These trips put you on the water from 5:00pm until dark and offer you the best dry fly action of the day. Give us a call today to book your next fishing adventure at 607-290-4022
