West Branch of the Deleware and Hendricksons

[Fredy]

So the MadMan and I headed up to the Catskills on Friday morning at 4:30 AM :shock: 2 1/2 hours later we arrive in Hancock, NY and had breakfast at the Hancock House Hotel (we were staying the night there) Breakfast was great.
We stopped at the local Fly Shop for some advice on the current hatches and hot spots. After spending tooooo much money on flies (that I did not use) we headed to the river.

Fishing was slow in the morning only to see a couple Russian bait fishermen catching a couple nice trout. We work our way down stream on the West Branch to a couple beautiful looking spots, again no fish We broke for lunch at 1:30 and had a couple FREE beers courtesy of the fly shop owner, he gave us 2 token for free beer at Lydia's Bar, we ate some cheeseburgers that were tasty. After lunch we headed further down stream past the "Junction Pool" that's where the East Branch and West Branch merge. We arrived at our next location just up stream form the "Cemetary Pool" and it was ON! The hatches started at 2:00. Hendricksons, tan caddis, black caddis, and blue quills were covering the water and it looked liked large blankets of bugs everywhere... AMAZING!! The water started to boil with risers left and right, again... AMAZING!!! The rising trout were ONLY feeding on the hendricksons and we had to try and match the hatch.

We targeted rising trout, focusing on one fish at a time. At one point there were sooooo many risers that you needed to pick a feeding line and work it. It was almost impossible to see my fly amongst all the other flies on the water, so any rise near my fly I would set the hook... FISH ON! i had a couple LDR's with fish running down stream like locomotives w/o brakes :lol: and pulling off amazing acrobatics only to spit or break off my fly

Water temps on the main stem were 46* F and winds were blowing at 20MPH and sometimes even harder!! Line management was key. CFS were 246

Here are a couple of pics from Friday:

Hard to see but that is the MadMan way up stream from me:

So Saturday morning rolls around and we had a great breakfast at the hotel again. We took our time today since we knew the action really was not going to happen till the afternoon. We decided to fish the "No Kill" section of the upper West Branch. MadMan stuck to his guns and nymphed some nice runs, I was spoiled from yesterdays event that I was waiting for the hatch at 2:00 again So 2:00 rolls around and it was on again! :shock: The risers were not as crazy as it was on the main stem but fun to say the least. Winds were tough again and rocketing 60-70 foot casts were no fun. MadMan was the first to pick up one Brown that had amazing red spots on it. He then continues to hook in to a monster that went straight for the sunken tree giving Steve a great fight only to eventually break off.

Water temps on the upper WB were 39* F and winds were blowing at 20MPH and sometimes even harder!! Line management was key. CFS were 174

Here are a couple of pics:

What a great weekend! Thanks for reading
Fredy

 

[Rusty Spinner]

Fredy - just remember what we talked about regarding the wind and the hatches on the no-kill

Glad you guys had a great trip, it will only get better as more bugs come off. That is until the WB becomes the only game in town by June and every wader and every drift boater will crowd the water....but you can't do anything about the lack of rain or snow pack.

 

[Fredy]

Brian,
Thanks for the heads up on the no kill stretch.

 

[bkill]

Dont you love when a plan comes together:kewlpics:

 

[Future Fanatic]

You guys are dressed for a frickin' polar expedition....

Almost makes me want to stay home on Thursday.

But you guys bein' from Jersey and all... I'll probably still go out... in a T-shirt.

 

[Fredy]

Temps in the morning were at 22* and warmed up to 40-45* I wore my wading jacket to cut the wind.

Hopefully it does warm up so you can fish in your bra and be proud :thumb:

 

[Future Fanatic]

Temps in the morning were at 22* and warmed up to 40-45* I wore my wading jacket to cut the wind.

Hopefully it does warm up so you can fish in your bra and be proud :thumb:

Well, Nanook, I think I'd be able to find the nice black frilly one she left around here somewhere... and since your money paid for it and it seems you'd like me to wear so you can see it again... it's the least I could do. :thumb:

Do you want pics?

 

[Fredy]

LOL! Yes, make sure you post them pics up on NEFF uking-smiley:

 

[Future Fanatic]

LOL! Yes, make sure you post them pics up on NEFF uking-smiley:

I'll do a profile to highlight my THOs....

 

[mbwmn]

You should know better than to let the young caddis smoke, and a dog rocket of all things!

 

[Fredy]

You should know better than to let the young caddis smoke, and a dog rocket of all things!

No dog rockets here, Montecristo White! I would never let a caddis smoke anything less. :smokelots:

 

[CTobias]

No dog rockets here, Montecristo White! I would never let a caddis smoke anything less. :smokelots:

Still not a Monte Cristo number 2 from Habana. Smoked one the other day and have four sitting in the humidor right now.

 

[Alan_B]

Fredy,

Montys' are for wimps!

If your gonna partake step it up man!

Lets hit JR Tobacco some night


Pick up some nice La Flur Dominica Double Ligeros

Then drive straight thru to the upper gamelands

camp out and hit the river the next day!

Hey I just realized,. I am posting in Golden Beetle format

Yes! thats right Alan_B is going Beetle on your ass!

Alan_B kinda misses the Beetle

So from now on Alan_B is going to honor THe Beetles' passing by posting in this format

Its easy

Just refer to yourself in the third person

Kinda talk like Mr. T.

Stop smokin those cheap sticks fool!

Alan_B gonna kick your ass!

Don't @#%& with Alan_B

 

[pitbull]

nice pics Fredy..

 

[Fredy]

yada...yada...yada.

You need to smoke an Arturo Fuente Opus X like this one.
My humidor is pretty well stocked :smokelots:

 

[Philthy Phil]

Nice...
I don't think you can buy Opus X's at JR unless Fuente has whored out the brand...she's not so special after everyone else has banged her

 

[Fredy]

I think I got them from Thompson Cigar.

 

[pitbull]

screw those cigars..pack a big redman or levi garret and leave a slick in the water..

 

[Alan_B]

Well if you need room in your humidor bring some to the next tying night at MWA:smokelots:

 

[Fredy]

Well if you need room in your humidor bring some to the next tying night at MWA:smokelots:

Did you smoke the ones I gave you the last tying night?

 

[30Cal]

Wind was HONKING yesterday. Blue wing o's showed up heavy at around 1, hendrcksons shortly after and kept coming and going until about 6. There was some surface action, but tough to tell with all the wind. We picked up a half dozen fish between the two of us; missed a million.

Ran into the guy that owns the cabin on the opposite bank at the burger joint afterward; he said he's never seen that many insects.

Same deadfall as the OP's 2nd to last pic

 

[CTobias]

All my years living in New York and I have never fished the Delaware.

 

[Trout Fever]

chris the delaware is awesome done get me wrong guide service is pricey and the trout are unpredictable you got do it thow its beauitful....

but if your looking for a float with quiet the the main stem would be the place to go/...... just my thought on it i live in barryville where the big d is only 2 miles away and i very rarely fish it

TF

 

[Future Fanatic]

I made it out Friday.

Bugs everywhere and windy. It made fishing tough. Yeah, I said tough.
Rises all over (crammed into the small water of a low level wb). It made it hard to focus.
By the time I left, I figured out that the fish were sucking in the dead and dying bugs floating everywhere.

BTW, the bra was all I needed to keep me warm (and the center of attention of all the Jersey fishermen there.)

 

[Fredy]

I made it out Friday.

Bugs everywhere and windy. It made fishing tough. Yeah, I said tough.
Rises all over (crammed into the small water of a low level wb). It made it hard to focus.
By the time I left, I figured out that the fish were sucking in the dead and dying bugs floating everywhere.

BTW, the bra was all I needed to keep me warm (and the center of attention of all the Jersey fishermen there.)

I don't believe it!!! Where is the pick of you in your favorite bra??
Was it warmer out?

 

[Barleywine]

Fredy, I didn't do as well as you did, both with fish and the camera (you've got great pictures there), but I did get 3 days in on the West Branch this past week. Started on Wednesday, which was probably the worst weather day they've had up there for a couple of weeks. Cold, rain, snow, and hail, mixed with breaks of clearing. And of course, windy as hell! Stayed at Dream Catcher with my wife and her mother, who is from Florida and had quite the eye-opening experience with the surroundings and weather. She loved the scenery, and the weather - not so much. Mostly fished the water in back of the cabins, and found rising fish in the afternoon, even on the crazy weather day. Didn't see a single Hendrickson on day 1, but blue quills were plentiful, and small emergers hooked fish. I lost every good sized fish; landed a frisky 11 incher, and decided that I truly suck at playing large trout. The next day, I landed almost every fish I hooked, so I either improved, or the fish were simply hooked better. I guess that's fishing. Hendricksons appeared in good numbers on day 2 and 3. A size 14 Red Quill sparkle dun worked best, even over the cdc emergers I tyed and thought would be the ticket. Got a couple of rainbows in the Shehawken area on day 3. Did rather poorly that last day; many risers but never got dialed in to what they were taking. Overall, a great time to be out there and enjoy those wild trout in a wonderful fishing area.

 

[Fredy]

Glad you were able to get out. Nice report and good pics too.
Rain, snow, & hail = no fun :snow::no:

 

[Rusty Spinner]

leaky waders and kindanewbie were up yesterday and had good fishing to apple caddis and Hendricksons on the B-kill and WB. I'm headed up to the WB with Agust and others on Tuesday. Gotta get my Hendrickson fix and catch a good spinner fall since they are long gone on local NJ waters...the Musky saw sulphurs today:crap:

 

[iflifish]

And a few March Browns on the main stem already...

 

[Rusty Spinner]

I know a lot of guides that saw a smattering of March Browns while floating the main. Too early for consistent action, I'm headed to the WB tomorrow for the solid Hendricksons and apple caddis coming off and hoping the winds will die (predicted to start tonight into tomorrow as a weak cold front passes the area) so we can pound some fish on the spinner fall tomorrow evening.