dcabarle
Administrator
I've been fishing the Beaverkill for as long as I can remember. It looks like it's finally official that it has now taken the back seat to the Upper Delaware system. I used to stop and fish various spots on the Beaverkill before driving the extra 1/2 hr to the Delaware and now I only stop and look. I think I fished the Beaverkill 2 times this year for only a few hours each. I think the stocked fish irk me.
Many years ago when the family had a trailer at the Twin Islands Campsite, my father would try to get me to go to the West Branch (back in the 80's) and I would normally decline so I could continue to fish the Beaverkill. The first time I went over there, I was a bit intimidated by the big water. I put on a big ole' Green Drake (Catskill style) and my first cast, I hooked into a huge brown. That only lasted a second because he snapped my fly off. Unfortunately, I wasn't lured in yet. I started fishing the D only 4 or so years ago. I think JoeT and NJFred suckered me into that one. I stayed at the DRC for the first time and fished the home pool as well as a few other places. Jeff White was nice enough to give me the public access places. I think the first one I tried was in Stockport. Ever since then, I was hooked, but not like now! I drive (round trip) 6hrs or more every weekend to fish this river for the day, then trek back home at 9 or 10 at night.
This past weekend, I drove up on Friday night and slept in my car. Around 7am, I took a ride to Shehawken to check out the water. It was higher than last week, but it was a perfect 1700cfs or so. I can't argue with that. While I was standing there, a car came and backed the boat up and out comes WBCatechuman <SP>. A few minutes later, BJMiller showed up with Joe T. We chatted for a little while then off I went to meet up with Dennis Watson.
Dennis has a little problem. He likes to row so much that he doesn't fish. I'm not sure if he's just trying to show me a great time or if he simply likes the excersize. I'd row, but then we would be going down the river sideway's all day. I think I did a good job of proving that for about 15 minutes this past Saturday. These drift boats take a little getting used to, and I don't recommend doing it when the D is moving too fast. I almost pulled a Ralph. Actually, I don't recall if I was with Dennis or BJ, but we came around a tight spot that was pretty fast moving water and there was a drift boat on the opposite side we were coming down. I thought for sure I was going to hit these people (I gracefully missed). I guess I'm not cut out for rowing, at least not yet. I think as long as I buy Dennis a steak dinner at the end of the day, he's happy. Well, I've gotta tell you... If I'm rowing the boat, you better believe I'll be trolling off the back with a BJ Special. Those things kick ass. Unfortunately, the one I had got snagged and it's now gone forever. (damit). I'll assume they're easy to tie, but tying doesn't interest me too much. Too bad too, because I've got a ton of tying materials. I'll get to them one day.
Anyhow, I've met some great people over the past 4 years on this site. Has it been that long! I meet up with guys pretty often who say, "You're Dennis." Yeah... The most notible was when I met Andre at the Beaverkill Angler. He thought he was speaking with another board operator for a while before realizing that he was talking to the wrong person... well, kind of. I'm not going to mention any names because when you do, you're expected to mention everyone... I'll just say that over the past few years, I've enjoyed all of your company and I look forward to fishing with you again. Some of you like Ralph and Chris, we'll get out this season (early), I'm sure. Maybe the Future Fanatic too?
I've also become friendly with a few fly shops. That works out fairly well because they'll mention the site to more people and on occasion, I'll give the shop a plug... By the way, if there is a shop that you like, I'm sure everyone would love to hear about that shop. 3 shops that come to my mind are Borderwater, Shannons, and Streams of Dreams. They're all smaller type shops (not like Ramsey or Rays or ...), so you get more of a personalized service from them. This isn't a fly shop plug... As I've said, if you like a shop, go ahead and let people know what you like about them. Just don't get to the point where you're creating spam.
I think I've learned far more than I'd probably like to know. Knowledge is good, but soon there's nothing left to figure out, and what fun is that? I guess that's not the case with fly fishing though! Before this site, I didn't really know about the insect life. Sure, Hendricksons in April, Trico's in August, Olives / Caddis all the time... basic stuff. Now I take pictures of insects because I like to take pictures and I can always learn something new. Ohhh... don't forget about the bug tank that provides me with hours of fun. I'd still be using one of those dark gray Hendrickson patterns if I wasn't taking pictures of them. Well, those are still good attractor patterns and I keep a few in my box. You never know. Toss one out there in some faster water and see what happens. You might get lucky. Look at an Adams, these Dark Hendricksons (gray body) are just a variation of the Adams. That's my opinion anyway.
I was walking up out of Wagon Tracks about 20 years ago (OUCH) (OUCH) (OUCH)... damn I'm getting old.... and stopped to talk to this guy. He said he was doing well and I asked him what he was using. 'A Trico'. I personally had a few come up for a 'Usual' (That was the hot fly back then), but wasn't catching anything. He asked me if I had any Trico's and I told him, Yes... But, I had no idea what the hell a trico looked like. I think my Usual was a size 14, and that was all I needed! I didn't catch anything, but hey... it's fun. So what's changed over the years? Back then, I sat in a river for hours trying to figure things out. The fish are rising but not taking what I'm putting on. Of course I had my good days too, but that was pure luck. I fished a Usual once until the only thing left was the thread. Every cast (School House Pool) was another 10" stocked fish. 20 years later, the fish are still rising and I'm still digging in my box trying to figure out what the fish are taking. Let's see... we had Caddis, The Usual, Sulphurs, and some other patterns. Now we've got, ('Bird of Prey', Emerger Cripple Duns, CDC floating loop wing Emerger, triple bi-pass fish attack, well you get the point... I can tell you a dozen fly names in latin, but that doesn't help a bit on some days. That's life as a fisherman though. If we went out and bagged 20 fish every single day, the challenge is gone. I personally love coming home at times after a 16hr day and not catching a thing. yeah right... Well, this past weekend I did ok. The highlight wasn't the fatty I caught, but seeing the bald eagle fly over our heads (and of course with the weather, the camera wasn't ready.) It was still a nice site though.
Anyhow, if that wasn't enough to put you to sleep when you wake up and read this, chew on this... The Subvaria's are now in full swing. You'll find plenty of these hatching in the mid afternoon for the next few weeks in just about all types of water. They will typically hatch between 1 and 6 pm. The Paraleptophlebia's are also in full swing. You'll find these in slower water hatching in the late AM and depeding on the temperature, into the late afternoon. Having trouble distinguishing these from the baetis? The Tails should be the #1 key. Baetis = 2 tails, Paraleps = 3 tails. Still having a problem, take a look at the wings. The Baetis wings are conciderably smaller than the Paraleps.
I'm off to bed. Goodnight.
Many years ago when the family had a trailer at the Twin Islands Campsite, my father would try to get me to go to the West Branch (back in the 80's) and I would normally decline so I could continue to fish the Beaverkill. The first time I went over there, I was a bit intimidated by the big water. I put on a big ole' Green Drake (Catskill style) and my first cast, I hooked into a huge brown. That only lasted a second because he snapped my fly off. Unfortunately, I wasn't lured in yet. I started fishing the D only 4 or so years ago. I think JoeT and NJFred suckered me into that one. I stayed at the DRC for the first time and fished the home pool as well as a few other places. Jeff White was nice enough to give me the public access places. I think the first one I tried was in Stockport. Ever since then, I was hooked, but not like now! I drive (round trip) 6hrs or more every weekend to fish this river for the day, then trek back home at 9 or 10 at night.
This past weekend, I drove up on Friday night and slept in my car. Around 7am, I took a ride to Shehawken to check out the water. It was higher than last week, but it was a perfect 1700cfs or so. I can't argue with that. While I was standing there, a car came and backed the boat up and out comes WBCatechuman <SP>. A few minutes later, BJMiller showed up with Joe T. We chatted for a little while then off I went to meet up with Dennis Watson.
Dennis has a little problem. He likes to row so much that he doesn't fish. I'm not sure if he's just trying to show me a great time or if he simply likes the excersize. I'd row, but then we would be going down the river sideway's all day. I think I did a good job of proving that for about 15 minutes this past Saturday. These drift boats take a little getting used to, and I don't recommend doing it when the D is moving too fast. I almost pulled a Ralph. Actually, I don't recall if I was with Dennis or BJ, but we came around a tight spot that was pretty fast moving water and there was a drift boat on the opposite side we were coming down. I thought for sure I was going to hit these people (I gracefully missed). I guess I'm not cut out for rowing, at least not yet. I think as long as I buy Dennis a steak dinner at the end of the day, he's happy. Well, I've gotta tell you... If I'm rowing the boat, you better believe I'll be trolling off the back with a BJ Special. Those things kick ass. Unfortunately, the one I had got snagged and it's now gone forever. (damit). I'll assume they're easy to tie, but tying doesn't interest me too much. Too bad too, because I've got a ton of tying materials. I'll get to them one day.
Anyhow, I've met some great people over the past 4 years on this site. Has it been that long! I meet up with guys pretty often who say, "You're Dennis." Yeah... The most notible was when I met Andre at the Beaverkill Angler. He thought he was speaking with another board operator for a while before realizing that he was talking to the wrong person... well, kind of. I'm not going to mention any names because when you do, you're expected to mention everyone... I'll just say that over the past few years, I've enjoyed all of your company and I look forward to fishing with you again. Some of you like Ralph and Chris, we'll get out this season (early), I'm sure. Maybe the Future Fanatic too?
I've also become friendly with a few fly shops. That works out fairly well because they'll mention the site to more people and on occasion, I'll give the shop a plug... By the way, if there is a shop that you like, I'm sure everyone would love to hear about that shop. 3 shops that come to my mind are Borderwater, Shannons, and Streams of Dreams. They're all smaller type shops (not like Ramsey or Rays or ...), so you get more of a personalized service from them. This isn't a fly shop plug... As I've said, if you like a shop, go ahead and let people know what you like about them. Just don't get to the point where you're creating spam.
I think I've learned far more than I'd probably like to know. Knowledge is good, but soon there's nothing left to figure out, and what fun is that? I guess that's not the case with fly fishing though! Before this site, I didn't really know about the insect life. Sure, Hendricksons in April, Trico's in August, Olives / Caddis all the time... basic stuff. Now I take pictures of insects because I like to take pictures and I can always learn something new. Ohhh... don't forget about the bug tank that provides me with hours of fun. I'd still be using one of those dark gray Hendrickson patterns if I wasn't taking pictures of them. Well, those are still good attractor patterns and I keep a few in my box. You never know. Toss one out there in some faster water and see what happens. You might get lucky. Look at an Adams, these Dark Hendricksons (gray body) are just a variation of the Adams. That's my opinion anyway.
I was walking up out of Wagon Tracks about 20 years ago (OUCH) (OUCH) (OUCH)... damn I'm getting old.... and stopped to talk to this guy. He said he was doing well and I asked him what he was using. 'A Trico'. I personally had a few come up for a 'Usual' (That was the hot fly back then), but wasn't catching anything. He asked me if I had any Trico's and I told him, Yes... But, I had no idea what the hell a trico looked like. I think my Usual was a size 14, and that was all I needed! I didn't catch anything, but hey... it's fun. So what's changed over the years? Back then, I sat in a river for hours trying to figure things out. The fish are rising but not taking what I'm putting on. Of course I had my good days too, but that was pure luck. I fished a Usual once until the only thing left was the thread. Every cast (School House Pool) was another 10" stocked fish. 20 years later, the fish are still rising and I'm still digging in my box trying to figure out what the fish are taking. Let's see... we had Caddis, The Usual, Sulphurs, and some other patterns. Now we've got, ('Bird of Prey', Emerger Cripple Duns, CDC floating loop wing Emerger, triple bi-pass fish attack, well you get the point... I can tell you a dozen fly names in latin, but that doesn't help a bit on some days. That's life as a fisherman though. If we went out and bagged 20 fish every single day, the challenge is gone. I personally love coming home at times after a 16hr day and not catching a thing. yeah right... Well, this past weekend I did ok. The highlight wasn't the fatty I caught, but seeing the bald eagle fly over our heads (and of course with the weather, the camera wasn't ready.) It was still a nice site though.
Anyhow, if that wasn't enough to put you to sleep when you wake up and read this, chew on this... The Subvaria's are now in full swing. You'll find plenty of these hatching in the mid afternoon for the next few weeks in just about all types of water. They will typically hatch between 1 and 6 pm. The Paraleptophlebia's are also in full swing. You'll find these in slower water hatching in the late AM and depeding on the temperature, into the late afternoon. Having trouble distinguishing these from the baetis? The Tails should be the #1 key. Baetis = 2 tails, Paraleps = 3 tails. Still having a problem, take a look at the wings. The Baetis wings are conciderably smaller than the Paraleps.
I'm off to bed. Goodnight.
