Fishing Report for the Upper Delaware River and Catskill Region

Weekend Outlook

It looks like we are heading into another great weekend weather wise. The forecast is calling for bright sun with air temperatures in the low 80's. Great weather for outdoor activities in the mountains.

The fishing remains very reliable around the system. Lots of options in our rivers, lakes and ponds for Trout, Bass, Carp and other species.

We put a lot of guests on the river this week. Our guides have been keeping their rods bent with Trout, Carp and Smallmouth Bass.

Below are a few pics from yesterday. Our guides are dialed in on the action and now is a great time to spend a day fishing!

THE SPECIFICS

The Trout action remains reliable and summer fishing varies little day to day. Angles can expect most every day to have morning, afternoon and dusk periods of surface feeding.

The hatches remain consistent with Tricos, Sulfurs, Olives, as the main staples. Isonychia, Cahills, Caddisflies, Midges and Terrestrials are also in the drift at times.

The Upper East Branch, Upper West Branch and Upper Main Stem Delaware remain the tops beats for Trout fishing.

The fishing remains technical. Light long leaders and pinpoint casting accuracy are the recipe for success. Small flies are key. Cripples, Knock Down Duns,Spinners and the flies that fall into the category of little crumbs are what works best.

Smallies

Our guides really do a lot of smallmouth bass fishing every summer. A lot of our focus has been on these hard fighting game fish lately. Our Main Stem Delaware trips are producing big numbers at this time. Anglers can expect to have steady action on the fly rod using a variety of surface and sub surface fly patterns.

Anglers fishing light tackle with soft bait can expect non stop action and a steady bent rod. The Main Stem action has been all about numbers. Most of the fish have been averaging 12" with some smaller and a few slightly larger.

We are also offering float trips that specifically target Big Smallies. We target different areas and do a lot of sight fishing. On these trips our smallies average 16"+ and we have had some 20 inchers recently. These fish are a handful on #6 weight rods. These trips are one angler per guide since we really hunt fish in some out of the way places.

If you are heading out on your own here are some flies to try. Clouser Minnows, Small buggers and Zonkers, Poppers, Circus Peanuts, Leeches. Don't be afraid to experiment with colors. While trout like flies that are fairly boring in color smallies like the bling. Florescent Pink, Yellow, Chartreuse and Blue are proven colors. Pink and yellow are my favorites followed by black but every color has it's time to shine. Keep experimenting smallies can be wierd at times.

Below are a few of my custom fly patterns that drive the smallies nuts.

CARP FISHING

I have been chasing carp quite a bit this summer. These fish are the ultimate fresh water challenge on the fly. Hard to approach, very spooky and hard to handle once hooked. Most fights are 20 minutes plus with mature fish.

If you have not given carp a try now is the perfect time. The fish are post spawn and this is their bulking up period. Our guides will put you on actively feeding fish and show you the techniques to get it done! My guests have been landing mature Carp on most every trip!

Carp trips are also one angler per guide due to the nature of the hunt.

If you are heading out the best time is when the sun is on the water. Carp may feed at random times but there is a definite up tick in their feeding during mid morning and late afternoon.

During the mornings it is best to search for disturbances on the surface or mud trails in the area where they are rooting around. In afternoon they have a tendency to move to shallow water and this is when you will see tailing activity.

Right now I am rigging about 12 foot leaders to 10 pound tippet.

I fish a variety of custom flies on both #6 and #8 fly rods. Below are a few of my patterns.