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Welcome back to the new NEFF. Take a break from Twitter and Facebook. You don't go to Dicks for your fly fishing gear, you go to your local fly fishing store. Enjoy!

=Current Conditions: Delaware System: 5/1/14=

TR

TR

"You can observe a lot just by watching." Y. Berra
Good morning.

The Catskills / UDR did not receive anywhere close to what southern PA, NYC, CT and LI received.

Their totals were 3.5 to 4.75 inches.

Ours were about 2+ inches plus most of the rainfall yesterday was moderate not torrential downpours.

The further northwest you were -- the weaker the system was.

Please refer to 11:00am USGS charts below and compare to the rain event of 4/17/14.

Beaverkill and WB are receding and are nowhere near the levels as on 4/17.

All rivers, even Main Stem, will be fishable tomorrow.

Tight lines,
TR

050114.png
 
Hi,

West Branch will be on fire today! Perfect conditions.

I know this because I am going to fish it today......

Will let you know how I do.

Probably be lots of guides out there today too.

Jim
 
Hi guys,

Well I could not have been more WRONG!!

The river was in good shape when I got home, perhaps a bit more discolored than ideal, but looking good.

BUT, there were no bugs, zero. I decided not to fish.

I worked in the garden and did not see a rise for hours.

All boats that went by reported the same thing. No bugs and no fish all day. There were little black caddis in the air, but nothing on the water.

Boats also did not have any luck with streamers.

I did not talk to anyone that had caught a fish!!

There is always tomorrow!!!

We did not get the rain predicted, mostly went south and east. As a result, the reservoirs will drop to L2 levels very shortly.

Jim
 
Good morning.

Next two weeks for Hendricksons / Red Quill and finally some topwater afternoon action.

Main Stem starts off the day at 6:00am at 49 degrees. Water temp has not been this warm at the beginning of the day this year.

End of the day, the water will be in the mid to upper 50s.

Tight lines to all.

TR

050214.png


hendricksons.jpg
 
Big_Spinner said:
Hi guys,

Well I could not have been more WRONG!!

The river was in good shape when I got home, perhaps a bit more discolored than ideal, but looking good.

BUT, there were no bugs, zero. I decided not to fish.

I worked in the garden and did not see a rise for hours.

All boats that went by reported the same thing. No bugs and no fish all day. There were little black caddis in the air, but nothing on the water.

Boats also did not have any luck with streamers.


I did not talk to anyone that had caught a fish!!

There is always tomorrow!!!

We did not get the rain predicted, mostly went south and east. As a result, the reservoirs will drop to L2 levels very shortly.

Jim
Click to expand...


I was on the West Branch yesterday as well, no bugs not shocked just surprised..it's all about degree days..The water temps aren't and haven't been enough to bring the mayfly nymphs to full maturation.If you compare water temps from 1/1/13 - 5/1/13 to the same period this year you'll see that water temps have averaged much lower in 2014.Which means the bugs come a little later this year.

Degree days (AKA Thermal Units) related to Aquatic insects in it's simplest form means that the Mayfly nymphs do not grow when the temperature of the water is below about 38 degrees.That's an average since each species is different.As the water warms growth speeds up.

May 1st of 2013 I was into bug soup and fish everywhere.You'll see bugs this weekend but I think we're about 7 days away from peak for Subvaria (Hendriscksons)..on the West ..

Lets just say lower down river is a different story (warmer temps)...Not the WB.

Good luck, heading south on the Delaware looking for the holy Grail..
 
Nothing to do with Lukeon.

This is all about the Holy Grail of Fly-Fishing.

It's about a special place , a once a year event that can't be found or even understood unless you are a member.To become a member is not something you choose to do on a conscious level, it comes to you from within.Only those who fly-fish because it's part of who they are can be selected.
 
JOE.T said:
This is all about the Holy Grail of Fly-Fishing.

It's about a special place , a once a year event that can't be found or even understood unless you are a member.To become a member is not something you choose to do on a conscious level, it comes to you from within.Only those who fly-fish because it's part of who they are can be selected.
Click to expand...

Is this something you and the guys came up with at the F.U.D.R. One Bug Drum Circle this past weekend?

Here, DC snapped a pic:
FUDR one fly drum circle.jpg
 
JOE.T said:
I was on the West Branch yesterday as well, no bugs not shocked just surprised..it's all about degree days..The water temps aren't and haven't been enough to bring the mayfly nymphs to full maturation.If you compare water temps from 1/1/13 - 5/1/13 to the same period this year you'll see that water temps have averaged much lower in 2014.Which means the bugs come a little later this year.

Degree days (AKA Thermal Units) related to Aquatic insects in it's simplest form means that the Mayfly nymphs do not grow when the temperature of the water is below about 38 degrees.That's an average since each species is different.As the water warms growth speeds up.

May 1st of 2013 I was into bug soup and fish everywhere.You'll see bugs this weekend but I think we're about 7 days away from peak for Subvaria (Hendriscksons)..on the West ..

Lets just say lower down river is a different story (warmer temps)...Not the WB.

Good luck, heading south on the Delaware looking for the holy Grail..
Click to expand...

Just the facts.
 
Hi,

Quite a few bugs yesterday, certainly enough for the fish.


BUT, no real action yet.

Today is looking good. Not as windy and we stayed relatively warm last night.

Jim
 
Okay, so now that we have bugs and rising fish, could we get the wind to drop below 30 miles per hour??!!!!!

It was brutal out there. More like a cold boat ride than a fishing trip.

End of this week looks really promising!!!

Jim
 
That was some of the toughest 4 days I've ever put in on the upper D. Floated 2 days and waded the other 2. East, West, mainstem, combinations of both, etc. We found the odd Hendrickson and fish rising each day, but it was more than difficult. The upper East had the best hatches of Hendricksons, but you couldn't tell that from the lack of risers. Some fish ate the Paraleps which was our best hatch the last few days, but if you saw a rise, any Hendrickson pattern caught them. As others said, it's all about degree days and the upper D doesn't have enough yet to get things going. Looks like that changes today and by this coming weekend, all hell will break loose.

We still had a great time, but when 4 fish landed was high hook for any given day, you know it's hard. Some in my crew got the skunk for 3 full days:crap: Sucks for them :)

I was shocked at how many boats were on the upper West on Thursday. I've never seen so many. Just hope that the wind lays down because it was both cold and blowing hard.
 
The upper west has become a joke--a combination of a lot of lazy (and cheap guides when it come to gas money), the easy put in/take out offered there for new boaters that are unfamiliar/unwilling to deal with the ghetto chuck the boat over the bank type launches that plague the NY put in "ramps"-especially taking out at night, and the fact that you usually can bet on seeing some bugs and fish around have totally taken the crowd situation on the upper west to a new level. Increasingly so- the fish ignore the bugs or rise far more inconsistently up there too bc they get beat down on all day every day from april 15th through september. Same can be said for the streamer fishing- the streamer fishing up there is terrible right now with 3-4 strikes a day being good, since they have been getting pounded with double streamer rigs thinking the ole "alewife" story being pushed by all the shops hasn't been beat to death like a dead horse and attempted by a thousand fisherman already this season. Its gotten to the point that its not even worth going up there until its the only game in town in the summer- and even then I've started fishing the other cold sections of river in the area that are less consistent ,but at least mostly crowd free. I'm heading up this friday and hoping for wind thats under 15mph. If that happens fishing should be good everywhere.
 
flyI4 said:
The upper west has become a joke--a combination of a lot of lazy (and cheap guides when it come to gas money), the easy put in/take out offered there for new boaters that are unfamiliar/unwilling to deal with the ghetto chuck the boat over the bank type launches that plague the NY put in "ramps"-especially taking out at night, and the fact that you usually can bet on seeing some bugs and fish around have totally taken the crowd situation on the upper west to a new level. Increasingly so- the fish ignore the bugs or rise far more inconsistently up there too bc they get beat down on all day every day from april 15th through september. Same can be said for the streamer fishing- the streamer fishing up there is terrible right now with 3-4 strikes a day being good, since they have been getting pounded with double streamer rigs thinking the ole "alewife" story being pushed by all the shops hasn't been beat to death like a dead horse and attempted by a thousand fisherman already this season. Its gotten to the point that its not even worth going up there until its the only game in town in the summer- and even then I've started fishing the other cold sections of river in the area that are less consistent ,but at least mostly crowd free. I'm heading up this friday and hoping for wind thats under 15mph. If that happens fishing should be good everywhere.
Click to expand...

What do you expect! that all most guys well when it pertains to fishing , talk about is the upper Delaware and the surrounding streams. I found a stream that has a very large amount of good size wild browns ( comparable to the Delaware) That very few people fish. I love life when I go there. You will never see me post anything about that stream. the old adage is so true Lose Lips Sink Ships.
 
I hear you JC. A couple of years I floated with Allen in August. We went to a parking area just above the Deposit bridge and there were a dozen people fishing the run - and the fishing was on the downside.

That's why I stay more in NJ, hit lesser known rivers in PA, and am looking to explore more in central NYS. The Cohecton and W Canada Ck are great, but a little far. I'll be looking closer to NJ if anyone wants to join me.

The summer option I am doing more and more is smallmouths in the summer. Plenty of sport, not much for crowds.
 
I went a different direction than most this past weekend, as it seemed a lot of focus was on the Catskills. The size of the rainbows in this stream blew me away.

photo 5.jpg

The clarity of this water is insane. The mature fish were very spooky.

photo 4.jpg

Constant 52-54 degree water year-round
photo 1.jpg

Adipose Fin that was marble-like
photo 2.jpg

Gotta love them sparsely-spotted browns
photo 3.jpg

Not much bug activity on this limestone spring creek. Did see a few caddis fluttering. Did get rises on the elk hair. Watercress were active as each rock I overturned had a bunch underneath. No takes on any terrestrial patterns although I did see ants all over the place. Like mentioned in the Catskills, this area was also hit hard by wind. I had extra long leaders on the two rods I was casting and was having some trouble turning the flies over with the wind. My leader length kept getting cut back as the day progressed. There were a few others there, unfortunately.
 
Last edited:
Another stream I checked out over the weekend. This is a world famous spring creek. Rain and high winds passed through while I was at this spot. I accessed this stream through the uppermost access area and hiked down a little ways to snap this shot. I only fished for a short while on this stream and did not hook or sight a fish. I will spend more time exploring this stream when camping out this way over the summer.
photo (1).jpg
 
flyI4 said:
The upper west has become a joke--a combination of a lot of lazy (and cheap guides when it come to gas money), the easy put in/take out offered there for new boaters that are unfamiliar/unwilling to deal with the ghetto chuck the boat over the bank type launches that plague the NY put in "ramps"-especially taking out at night, and the fact that you usually can bet on seeing some bugs and fish around have totally taken the crowd situation on the upper west to a new level. Increasingly so- the fish ignore the bugs or rise far more inconsistently up there too bc they get beat down on all day every day from april 15th through september. Same can be said for the streamer fishing- the streamer fishing up there is terrible right now with 3-4 strikes a day being good, since they have been getting pounded with double streamer rigs thinking the ole "alewife" story being pushed by all the shops hasn't been beat to death like a dead horse and attempted by a thousand fisherman already this season. Its gotten to the point that its not even worth going up there until its the only game in town in the summer- and even then I've started fishing the other cold sections of river in the area that are less consistent ,but at least mostly crowd free. I'm heading up this friday and hoping for wind thats under 15mph. If that happens fishing should be good everywhere.
Click to expand...

JC - remind me to tell you about our "ghetto chuck" on the newbies' Willies drifter last Thursday, you'll have a great laugh at our expense. The upper WBD didn't fish well because the water temps were 44, not because of traffic although I agree that the traffic doesn't help. These guys came up from NC and wanted to see the rivers up there, so we drifted them on different sections each day. A lower mainstem would have been a better float the past few days as that water was much warmer, hovering near the magical 50 degrees.
 
Hi,

Reservoirs dropped below 100% total storage today. Now 99.87%

Releases will all go into the L2a level of release in Table G.

That is 400 for Cannonsville.

Keep in mind that Pepacton is spilling.

This may change if we get significant rain later this week.

Lots of bugs the last couple of days, wind eased a bit this afternoon and my friends caught some nice fish.

Looks good for the next few days.

jim
 
Time and Hatches march on!!

Reliable Hendrickson and blue quill hatches.

Apple caddis on the mainstem and probably the east branch too.

Fish rising everywhere, but starting later in the day than usual.

March browns cannot be too far behind!!!

Get up here and fish!!!!

Jim
 
As Big Spinner says once again. Get up here and fish!!!!

Yea...come on up and join the crowds, spend your $$ here in the area, banana boats as far as the eye can see on the entire system, stinktoon city, day after day after day the fish get pounded over and over again...absolutely ridiculous this year.

It has arrived.....2014......the beginning of the end.

The Facts........CDun.
 
The D doesn't need advertising or hype. Does anyone on this site not know the deal up there? Read the reports, check the flows, temps, etc.
 
Hi,

Finally no wind. It was blissful on the river yesterday. I hope you were out there.

Certainly a conundrum: Protect a river and the fishing gets really good so more people fish it.

The good old days of the guides code of conduct said "do not anchor within sight of another angler" are most certainly gone.

Jim
 
comparadun said:
As Big Spinner says once again. Get up here and fish!!!!

Yea...come on up and join the crowds, spend your $$ here in the area, banana boats as far as the eye can see on the entire system, stinktoon city, day after day after day the fish get pounded over and over again...absolutely ridiculous this year.

It has arrived.....2014......the beginning of the end.

The Facts........CDun.
Click to expand...

C Dun Wow a blast from the past !

I think the beginning of the true end started years ago...For me , someone who fished the WB at a point in time when there was almost no drift boats, i rarely had anyone around me in the no kill except for Al Conklin..I had to deal with tubers not drift boats.it is sad, it'll never be the same.You adapt,improvise and overcome..that's all you can do..

Until the water is to warm where I'm fishing I don't do the WB..I haven't even seen an Angler yet this year where I'm hanging.

BTW everyone Barking Dog is not the original name of that Pool...

It is really Silo Pool

Have fun.
 
JOE.T said:
BTW everyone Barking Dog is not the original name of that Pool...

It is really Silo Pool

Have fun.
Click to expand...



I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the ORIGINAL name for that pool was fought over by the Lenape and Oneida Indians some time back. The Oneidas won out and named it:

Tehalihwákhwa' É:lhal Ohne:kánus

(Singing Dog Water)

Ask around, you'll see...
 
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