Fly Fishing Report for the Upper Delaware and Catskill Rivers

RIVERS ON THE RISE!

The steady rainfall that has been falling on the Upper Delaware rivers hit it's tipping point late yesterday. Heavy downpours during the afternoon and evening have all of our rivers raging again. This has been the story for most of this spring and it looks like the trend will continue.

This morning there is no wadable water in the system. The rivers are all still rising and there is more heavy rain in today's forecast. The predictor apps. have the flows forecast to continue rising through mid day tomorrow. When river flows subside I will keep you posted as wadable water becomes available.

For drift boat anglers the heavy turbid water should be great. First off it is rare that we have heavy water at the exact time that the Drakes are due to emerge from the tailwaters. If the drakes make their appearance during this heavy water the Trout should be very easy to fool on the normally tough flat pools of the East and West branches. I clearly remember the last time this happened about a decade ago. The amount of huge fish we took on Green Drakes was amazing.

The 2 photos below are from a float during the last time that these conditions presented We took 20" Browns one after another for several days. The dates are similar, first week of June during a cold rainy spring.

We are also looking forward to the streamer bite that is sure to happen.

The trout are now active and aggressive. The high turbid water should have them chasing streamers like crazy. While the river is up larger streamers will be the best. Anglers can extend the bite by downsizing the streamers as the water recede. For the next few days the best colors will be dark. Black, Olive and Mixed dark colors will be best. Under the current conditions the trout will be pushed to the banks and hunkered down behind any obstructions that break the current.

We have some guides available in the coming days if you want to get out. Just call the shop. We also expect the great trout fishing to continue on for a long time this year. This week I have been on the lower Main Stem most days. I always have a thermometer in the water. The last few afternoons the water around Callicoon have been topping out at 55 degrees. This is incredible especially when we look at the sheer volume of the cold water in the system.

We are no taking booking for full and half day trout trips extending through late June and into July. 607-290-4022