A related story by Dave Rossie in the Sunday Press and Sun Bulletin out of Binghamton that sums up some of the 2004 info:
Link:
http://www.pressconnects.com/sunday/sports/stories/sp041005s159595.shtml
The story:
Rossie: Delaware diaries a useful fishing guide
It's hard to imagine the Delaware branches and the river's main stem ever being angler friendly again after last weekend's massive flooding, but rivers recover; they always do. And if Delaware anglers need any encouragement to keep the faith they can find it in the 2004 Delaware Tailwater report.
The report is based on an angler diary program initiated two years ago by Norm McBride, an aquatic biologist with Region 4 of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Participating diarists keep accounts of their outings on the West Branch, East Branch and main stem throughout the regular season and then return the diaries to McBride.
Diarists are asked to record which section of which branch or main stem they fish, hours spent fishing, number and species of trout caught, as well as length and weight of fish -- estimated if the trout are released. They are also asked to note if any trout caught have clipped adipose fins, which would indicate a stocked fish.
Results of the 2004 survey show what a cool wet summer and fall can do for a trout stream and its inhabitants; in this case, the summer and fall of 2003.
West Branch anglers reporting had an average catch rate of .77 trout per hour, and a legal length (12-inch) catch rate of .48 per hour. The comparable figures for 2003 were .65 and .35, respectively.
The East Branch average catch rate last season was 1.10 per hour and the legal catch rate .70. In 2003 those figures read 1.13 and .57.
Main stem diarists figures were down from the year before, perhaps because heavy, rain-induced summer and fall flows made fishing difficult except for driftboaters. The 2004 average catch rate figures were .55 per hour and legal catch rate (14 inches) .28. In 2003 those numbers were .65 and .47.
Nearly half of the reported main stem fishing took place in the Junction Pool area, where the East and West branches meet at Hancock.
For reporting purposes, McBride divides the West Branch into four sectors: Stilesville, No Kill, Hale Eddy and Border Water. Stilesville extends from the mouth of that Creek and above down to the start of the catch-and-release water at the Route 17 highway bridge. The No Kill extends downstream two miles. Hale Eddy reaches from the bridge at that point downstream to where the river starts to define the boundary between New York and Pennsylvania.
Last year 66 percent of the reports came from anglers fishing the No Kill and Border waters. But the highest catch rates were recorded on the Stilesville sector. Anglers there reported an average catch rate of 1.17 trout per hour and .65 legal trout per hour.
On the No Kill stretch, 7.9 percent of the trout caught were 20 inches or longer, compared to 2.0 percent elsewhere on the West Branch. The year before 20-inch-plus trout made up only 2.2 percent of those caught in the No Kill sector.
The East Branch is divided into six sectors: Downsville, Corbett, Shinhopple, Harvard, Fishs Eddy and Peas Eddy. The main stem is divided as follows: Junction Pool, Buckingham, Lordville, Long Eddy and Hankins.
The East Branch is the only one of the three tailwater units that receives stocked trout. Its catch rate is consequently higher than the other two. Nearly half (45 percent) of the diary reports on East Branch fishing came from the Shinhopple sector, between the Shinhopple and Harvard bridges. The highest catch rate, however, was recorded on the Downsville reach (from the Route 30 bridge down to Corbett. Anglers there averaged 1.40 trout per hour and .68 legal length trout per hour, respectively.
The East Branch understandably led in reported hatchery trout caught, 217. Only five hatchery browns were reported by West Branch anglers, and one from the main stem. West Branch anglers reported catching 14 wild brook trout, 554 were reported caught on the East Branch, while the main stem yielded two.
The statistics gleaned from the diarists are important to Region 4 biologists' management plans, and for that reason anglers who visit the river and its branches with some regularity should help by cooperating in the program. To do that, write to McBride at DEC Region 4, 65561 State Highway 10, Suite 1, Stamford, NY, 12167-9503, or call (607) 652-7366.
Rossie is associate editor of the Press & Sun-Bulletin. His Wildlife Watch appears on Sundays.
