Big wild trout like this are in eminent danger from the low FFMP releases

 IMPORTANT HATCH INFORMATION AND RIVER REPORT

November  2009  River Report

Current Flows and Temps  - (scroll down for links to the gages and reservoir levels)

My apologies for being delinquent with my river report during the month of October, it was a combination of being out of town a lot, nasty cold weather, and the fact that there was little happening on the river in the way of hatches, rising fish and significant flow changes! This has changed during the past week with better weather, hatching activity and rising fish - see below for more details. I will try to update this report several times a week over the next month, as long as the weather remains fishable, in the 40's and 50's.

 Note:see all the pertinent flow gages on the upper Delaware River system listed below, as well as the current percentage of the reservoir capacities so just click on! 

Hatches:  

The West Branch hatching continues to be on the slow side. However, hatching on the Main Stem and the EB is picking up, and has been good over the past week with decent hatches and rising fish between 1 and 5 pm. Decent hatches of tiny BWO pseudos, small Ephemerella BWO's and small sulfur colored mayflies are bringing decent numbers of trout to the surface. Small dark caddis are also coming off and egg laying in the late afternoon! There are still some sporadic hatches of Isonychia and Stenonema around.

I recently floated the EB and Main with my friend Mark for 2 days and we had some good dryfly fishing for med to large browns and bows. We hooked about 15 - 20 fish, mostly 12 -14 inchers and a few nice ones. I landed a 21 inch brown on a #22 BWO AARP emerger on 6x tippet. Great fun! Mark fished the Main a few days before, while I was on the Jersey coast chasing strippers, and did well with 12 - 17 inch rainbows rising to small BWO's. Trout can be hyper selective this time of the year so be prepared with 2 colors of Pseudo bodies, light olive and dark olive and small sulfurs. Small tan and dark caddis are also around occasionally along with Isonychia.

There are still periodic "flying ant" falls that produce excellent dry fly fishing as long as the weather holds out.  So have ant patterns in both red brown and black in sizes between #16 Through #22.

Current Hatches 

-Tan and charcoal caddis #16, #18 #20

- Psuedos, duns and spinners (tiny BWO #20, #24, #24) noon to dark

- Various Ephermerella speices (BWO's) #16 - 20

-Various Steno species, duns and spinners ( #14, #12) sparce

-Isonychia  #12-3x and 4xl , sparce 

-Sulfurs (H. hebe),   #18, #20 sparce

-Trico spinners and duns, #22 - #28 sparce

- Flying Ants (red/brown and black) #16 - #22

 Streamers can move, hook and land large trout, zonkers and other weighted streamers (and unweighted small streamers) in white, black, olive and yellow have worked well on the high water but the water has dropped drastically. 

Important - Take a few minutes - help improve the upper Delaware Fishery!                      

 The lower WB and Main Stem continue to deteriorate in the warm weather due to low and erratic (yo-yo) releases  called for in the  existing FFMP Release Plan. The current increase in releases the Cannosville and Pepacton reservoirs are temporary and available only during the Delaware Aquaduct Repair. All parties, including the "watercrats" who wrote the FFMP plan, realize that the FFMP is not acceptable for the trout fishery or for flood mitigation, yet they insist on keeping the destructive plan in effect until they see fit to change it (And they will only increase "releases" with pressure from folks like you). Meanwhile, the trout fishery, habitat and the local economies that depend on it, continue to suffer.

Aside from the noble effort by the Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR), board members, and it's affiliates, there is little being done to improve the releases in the WB and Mainstem Delaware! Recent support from the Pa. Fish and Boat Comm. for much higher releases on the West Branch has been welcomed and encouraged! To my knowledge, it is the only government agency, except for the NJDEP that has come out to the public with statements for much higher releases out of Cannonsville reservoir to protect the WB and Main Stem, at least to Lordville. Let's hope that they are not side tracked by the weak stance of the NYSDEC on the upper Delaware fishery issues.

If you are concerned  by the fact that the lower West Branch and Main Stem fishery are extremely vulnerable with the existing FFMP low releases during the April through Sept. period, you can do something about it by calling or e'mailing the leaders of the state agencies below.  Tell them that

"the West Branch needs a minimum releases of 600 cfs from April 1 through Sept 30 - that's what it takes to  keep the West Branch and Main Stem fishery, and aquatic insect populations, viable from the Cannonsville reservoir outlet at Stillesville to Lordville, on the Main Stem, with water temperatures under 68F degrees"!  

And it takes a 200 cfs release to keep the East Branch system healthy during the same period. Both release regimes are necessary to mitigate floods through the entire Delaware valley by reducing reservoir levels. See below to find the email list of politicians and agency folks that you should write to, or call,  and be sure to copy as many as you can or all - The fishery will not be safe without your help!

The Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR), together with 7 other river advocate and flood mitigation groups and more, have put forth a plan to NYC (below)and the parties of the decree in April 09  for a steady 600 cfs release plan. It is a comprehensive document based on science. FUDR's Plan does not increase the risk that NYC will not be able to meet its water supply need! The science shows that there is plenty of water  for the fishery and flood mitigation without jeopardizing  NYC and downstream users water!!   SEE LINKS, click here for the FUDR plan! 

Click here for my 2009 Delaware River Trout photos.  

Please Support Friends of the Upper Delaware to help the sustain the wild trout that we all love. Click here to find out more or e-mail info@fudr.org to receive the latest alerts and updates.

Check out our 2008 River Update Photo Gallery here

The size of these fish make the West Branch one of the top wild trout rivers in the world for dry fly fishing.

Click Here for Al Caucci Fly Fishing photos from around the world.

Politicians to contact for Delaware River Issues (Please copy and paste):

Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)
Carol Collier, executive director	carol.collier@drbc.state.nj.us
Bob Tudor, deputy executive director	Robert.tudor@drbc.state.nj.us
Jack Markell, gov. Delaware	jack.markell@state.de.us
Jon Corzine, gov. New Jersey	ed.mcbride@gov.state.nj.us
David Patterson, gov. New York	governor@state.ny.us
Edward Rendell, gov. Pennsylvania	gov@state.pa.us
New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP):
Paul Rush, deputy commissioner	pzanetti@dep.nyc.gov
Tina Johnstone, dir of ops west of Hudson	tjohnstone@dep.nyc.gov
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC):
Pete Grannis, commissioner	pgrannis@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Jim Tierney, assistant commissioner	jmtierne@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Chris Amato, assistant commissioner	caamato@nr.dec.state.ny.us
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP):
John Hanger, secretary	johnhanger@state.pa.us
Cathy Myers, deputy secretary	cathymyers@state.pa.us
John T. Hines	johnhines@state.pa.us
U.S. Geologic Survey and River Master
Stephen F. Blanchard, River Master	sfblanch@usgs.gov
Gary N. Paulachok	gnpaulac@usgs.gov

HOW TO FISH THE WEST BRANCH AT VARIOUS FLOW RATES

200 - when the river drops below 200 cfs, floating is not possible and wading is easy. Fish the areas of moving water as the slow pools can get difficult. The lower stretches can get warm on sunny days.

200-400 - This is a nice level as wading is easy and there is enough flow to keep the river moving. Floating can mean a lot of dragging too. Look for fish in the tails of riffs and in the deeper stretches of pools. Lower stretches can warm up on hot, sunny, summer days.

400-700 - Great wading and floating along the entire river. The whole river stays cool and usually fishes nicely. Look for active fish throughout the river system.

700-1000 - This level is the best of both worlds. There is plenty of water to float and you can wade the river nearly everywhere. At this level look for fish out of the main current.

1000-1500 - At this level floating comes into its own. Wading is still possible in some areas, but floating is easy and gives you the ability to reach all the working fish. You will start to find fish along the banks at this level. The fish will look for slower water in which to position themselves.

1500-2500 - the river really changes character at this level. Wading is really not possible, but floating the river can yield really nice fishing. Fish can be caught on streamers and you need to find surface feeding fish along the banks and back eddies. At this level big browns can be active during the day and will take streamers.

2500+ - At this level floating is possible and fishing can be good. Wading is not possible and is dangerous. Streamers cast to the banks will take fish. Dry fly action is limited.

For more information please refer to: Al Caucci's Online Match the Hatch Chart