I made my first trip to the D this weekend since the big flood. I was basically expecting to perform recon and observe the damage done by the flood. First impression, the tribs looked awful. Shehawken Creek doesn't even make it to the West Branch before it disappears into the ground. Another trib on Bouchouxville Road was low and muddy and hardly passible by a minnow. This needs to be straightened out if we want any rainbows to spawn this winter.
Now for the hatches - I saw good clouds of tricos on the lower West at Shehawken and the East at Fishes Eddy which made me feel better. The West Branch was too murky to fish up river for me and the East too warm and low. I decided to head down to the mainstem and have a look. Hatches were sparse in the morning. A few baetis and maybe two caddis. I turned some rocks and saw plenty of nymphs though, mostly small and some caddis.
Down on the main the water temp 66 where I was. I debated even putting on my waders. Glad I did. I hooked 2 in the late A.M. One nine inch brown and one eighteen inch rainbow. Both took an Iso nymph on the swing at the tail end of the drift in the riffle. The rainbow was foul hooked in the back dorsal and took me to the backing in the fast water. Neither fish was very satisfying because both took be off guard as I was staring into space and the foul hooked one seemed cheap. I was feeling pretty good about seeing two fish with all the posts I have been reading. I hiked down river even further to check out a new improved riffle/hole. Man was it fishy looking. I was excited. I fished it for 3 hours and snapped off one more fish on an size 20 bead head tandem. So much for "fishy" looking.
Around 4 PM I decided to call it day and headed back to the car. On my hike up I saw a nice rise, the first all day. I stopped and watched and saw another. I saw some Iso's on the water so I tied on an emerger and cast out. I was in on the first cast. A big one in the fast water that smoked my reel. Luckily my leader was cut way back so I horsed him in. I landed another 18 inch rainbow. Now the Iso's were coming off real good. Fish were blasting simultaneously. I hooked another right away, same size. During the fight, a small black bear emerged from the bank and proceeded to swim through my hole ( I had waded downstream considerably to land the fish in slower water). It was an amazing sight to witness him powering through the fast water while I was hooked up. This wasn't a first for me. I have probably seen 3 bears swim accross the river over the last 15 years. Too bad I didn't have a camera as I wasn't expecting to catch much.
When it was all said and done I hooked fourteen trout and landed 9 not including two huge chubbs (squawfish?). All the fish were fat and healthy. The iso hatch was as good as any I have seen before too. This was my best day on the mainstem in two or three years. It reminded me of being out West and I had the whole river to myself.
Hope this encourages you guys. Good news is lacking as of late....
Now for the hatches - I saw good clouds of tricos on the lower West at Shehawken and the East at Fishes Eddy which made me feel better. The West Branch was too murky to fish up river for me and the East too warm and low. I decided to head down to the mainstem and have a look. Hatches were sparse in the morning. A few baetis and maybe two caddis. I turned some rocks and saw plenty of nymphs though, mostly small and some caddis.
Down on the main the water temp 66 where I was. I debated even putting on my waders. Glad I did. I hooked 2 in the late A.M. One nine inch brown and one eighteen inch rainbow. Both took an Iso nymph on the swing at the tail end of the drift in the riffle. The rainbow was foul hooked in the back dorsal and took me to the backing in the fast water. Neither fish was very satisfying because both took be off guard as I was staring into space and the foul hooked one seemed cheap. I was feeling pretty good about seeing two fish with all the posts I have been reading. I hiked down river even further to check out a new improved riffle/hole. Man was it fishy looking. I was excited. I fished it for 3 hours and snapped off one more fish on an size 20 bead head tandem. So much for "fishy" looking.
Around 4 PM I decided to call it day and headed back to the car. On my hike up I saw a nice rise, the first all day. I stopped and watched and saw another. I saw some Iso's on the water so I tied on an emerger and cast out. I was in on the first cast. A big one in the fast water that smoked my reel. Luckily my leader was cut way back so I horsed him in. I landed another 18 inch rainbow. Now the Iso's were coming off real good. Fish were blasting simultaneously. I hooked another right away, same size. During the fight, a small black bear emerged from the bank and proceeded to swim through my hole ( I had waded downstream considerably to land the fish in slower water). It was an amazing sight to witness him powering through the fast water while I was hooked up. This wasn't a first for me. I have probably seen 3 bears swim accross the river over the last 15 years. Too bad I didn't have a camera as I wasn't expecting to catch much.
When it was all said and done I hooked fourteen trout and landed 9 not including two huge chubbs (squawfish?). All the fish were fat and healthy. The iso hatch was as good as any I have seen before too. This was my best day on the mainstem in two or three years. It reminded me of being out West and I had the whole river to myself.
Hope this encourages you guys. Good news is lacking as of late....
