Fly Fishing Report for the Upper Delaware and Catskill Rivers
WEEKEND OUTLOOK
HOT, HOT HOT has been the weather pattern lately. Summer has it's grip on the Upper Delaware region at this time. There is no better place to spend a hot day than out on the river so here are your options for fishing.
Trout fishermen who plan on fishing in the coming days should be aware that a lot of the system has very warm water. The options for chasing trout at this time are the Upper East Branch, The West branch and the Headwaters of the Beaverkill and Willowemoc.
The best action is very early morning and again from near dark until after dark. Our guides have been on the water on both the Upper West and Upper East branches and they are getting some nice fish for our guests. The fishing is very technical now. AS is always the case in summer you need to be proficient with long leasers, make accurate casts and float drag free. This is what we teach and now is the time where conditions will demand near perfection.
The insects will not change now. Sulfurs, Olives, Tricos, Midges and terrestrials. Small is the key on the waters that see the most pressure. (this is the entire West Branch). Isonychia and Cahills are about late day and you can take some of the more exuberant fish with these larger patterns.
Nymphing has always been our go to approach for getting some numbers on the tailwaters and recently this is where the success has been best. You will still need perfect floats and long leaders. You will also need to be comfortable fishing the tiny stuff. All of my nymphs at this time are #18 or smaller on both 5X and 6X tippet. On a recent trip my guests had very good action fishing the pressured water and put about a dozen fish in the net.
There is also a small population of anglers who head to the water after dark at this time of year. These are the hunters who fish Mice, Frogs, Boppers, Gurglers and huge Streamers. These guys are doing well. Our guides have been taking some monster browns after dark some of which measure 25" to 30". If you think you want to give this a try call us today.
HOT BASS ACTION!
The Smallmouth Action is on! The warm water of summer has these great gamefish on the feed and every recent trip has been great. AS I have mentioned we are floating every section of the Main Stem from Hancock to Lackawaxen for these hard fighters.
Yesterday we had 6 boats out for smallies and everyone killed it. We had big numbers and some impressive fish targeting the areas where the water temps. are above 75 degrees.
The big news is how hot the surface action is. Poppers and Gurglers are getting it done.We have had some of our guests fishing the surface from start to finish. On my 2 most recent trips we have been taking a lot of 16" -18" bass with surface patterns.
The best action is with Poppers, Crayfish Patterns and Baitfish imitations. There are soon to be millions of baby shad moving about and the smallies will be on the lookout for these tiny treats.
We also regularly fish smallies with light spin tackle. Yesterday we had a group in for a day of fishing soft baits and they really ran the numbers up. The group of six averaged 40 to 50 fish per person with fish from pretty small up to about 18" coming to net.
Our guides will be fishing smallies through to early September if you want to get out. We actually have an opening short notice for tomorrow if you would like to get out. 607-290-4022
