Fly Fishing Report for the Upper Delaware and Catskill Rivers

WEEKEND OUTLOOK

Above are the hands of Hugh Cornwall who took this Urchin Bugger eating beast during the heat of the day from crystal clear water on his float trip yesterday.

THE REPORT

This weekend will offer visiting anglers the best river conditions since the Trout season opened on April first. Our rivers are finally at manageable flows and there is good weather forecast for the next few days. Currently all of our rivers except the Main Stem Delaware have good flows for wade anglers.

Here are this mornings flows. We can expect them to steadily fall over the next few days.

BK 535 cfs. Willow 260 cfs. EB upper 508 cfs. EB lower 1220 cfs. WB 1160 cfs. MS 3270 cfs.

There are plenty of options in the coming days. Right now Dry Flies, Nymphs and Streamers will take fish. We are however in the prime time for dry fly fishing. The next month will bring the yearly emergence of all of the Upper Delawares big insects. Right now the bigggest and baddest bug is the March Brown.

These are emerging in sporadic numbers daily from all of our freestone rivers. They are also present at times in the lower sections of the tailwaters. Anglers should remember that these insects dribble out in small numbers over the entire day. The only time they normally emerge in mass is during lousy rainy weather. When you see these guys on the water watch them. They will usually reveal where a trout is holding. The big March Brown Dry Flies are also a great searching patterns for prospecting the water. The nature of the hatch makes blind fishing very effective. My favorite blind fishing patterns for this hatch are our March Brown Cripples and Comparaduns. Both float well in the faster water where the nymphs of these insects live.

Anglers should also keep in mind that the next few weeks will see a major change in the action as the trout will slowly move from the slower pools to the riffles and pocket water .One other heads up about the current fishing. Now is the time to stay on the water until after dark. The appearance of the sun has moved the action later and the last few nights it has been crazy at dark. This will be the standard heading forward.

For you nymphing addicts the waters are now finally low enough to get around and hit the best runs. All of the standard time proven patterns will take a few fish at this time. Our guides like to use our Ice Caddis patterns and our Soft hackle Pheasant tails and Copper Johns. Species specific patterns like March Browns will also have their moments in the coming days. Booth tight line and indicator styles will be effective but anglers need to judge every location on it's own merits or limitations. In the higher water areas long line indicator nymphing may be the best option to get to prime areas. We have been using this method with success from our drift boats over the last week..

If you are heading out stop by for location specific trip planning. Our guides are in the shop early every day. They will also help you select the flies that we are uning every day to fool the Upper Delaware trout.

For guided trip bookings give us a call today at 607-290-4022