Delaware small mouth guide service ??

[sebastin]

Looking for "local" Delaware small mouth guide service (float trip, local to Lambertville, NJ area)

Any suggestions

 

[Canoetripper]

A good friend of mine, and former roommate guides on the Delaware. I last went bird hunting with him 5 years ago and he was still guiding. We were living in Yardley, PA at the time. Bill Heller is his name and he was living in Hopewell, NJ when we last went hunting, which was northeast of Morgantown, PA.

Bill mostly guided for shad and striped bass, but they are very seasonal fish since they spawn. He knows the river very well. I was kind of his go to guy when he wanted to explore the river and try different tackle and techniques. He knows that I know the difference between fishing and catching fish. Sometimes you just don't do as well as other times.

He may not have a website since he has retired from teaching cooking at the Bucks County Vo-Tech School and coaching football at Pennsbury High School, but I am sure that he is still guiding. He also guides on Lake Ontario.

Try doing a google search with his name and see what comes up. He was featured on an episode of a TV show called the Jersey Angler. Google that too.

I hope you can contact him. Also try the Trenton Times. There was a fishing guide who wrote a column. I think his last name was Kasper, but I am not sure.

This is long time ago. I am 59 now. I was in my mid-twenties when Bill and I were roommates. In addition to all that he taught me about the Delaware River, he was a great roommate with that job he had teaching cooking at the Bucks County Vo-Tech School, There were five of us in that house in Yardley. The other three were recent graduates from Penn State. It was basically a post-college frat house.

Bill ran the cooking school as a restaurant that served lunch. Anything he didn't sell he brought home. It was nice having food in the kitchen instead of beer all the time.

 

[Dave_W]

Although they're not local to Lambertville, you might try contacting Skyblue Outfitters and ask for Nick Raftas. He's a member of our forum community and guides fishing trips on rivers across eastern PA. If Nick isn't available, I'd imagine he could get you a good reference for that section of the Delaware River.

Good luck with your trip.

 

[Big-Bass]

Another vote for Nick...floated the D with him a few years back (not guided just fishing with some friends) and he's a good guy. Give him a shout and he should be helpful.

 

[poopdeck]

Just head out. No guide needed. There are plenty of cooperative SMB in the lambertville area.

 

[Mike]

Agree, anglers don't SMB guides on the Delaware. Just look for rocks and current breaks and stay away from silty and sandy bottoms.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Maybe sebastin is only in the area briefly and/or doesn't have a boat...

 

[poopdeck]

Maybe sabastin lives in the area and/or has a boat. What you say sabastin? I'll gladly tell you exactly where to go for free and can even recommend a nice post fishing ice cream and burger spot.

 

[cl3]

Fish the riffles, and flip wet rocks to look for helgrammites. Or use a seine with a second person flipping rocks in faster moving water to get helgrammites. Wear gloves so you don't wreck your fingertips.

You won't need a guide.

 

[sgrim]

http://www.bigdriverguide.com/

Dieter Scheel has been fishing that area since he was a kid and runs all sorts of trips.

 

[poopdeck]

Dieter is a heck of a nice guy and his boat is a pure fishing machine. You can't miss the green paint job. Right now the SM are on fire in lambertville. They are hitting everything with plenty of action on top. It's a good time to go out. Even a first timer on the river by himself can catch at least a couple dozen in the morning.

 

[HeavyWater]

Lambertville sounds good. For those near the river, is it high and muddy now given recent rain? I looked at the gauge but have now experience there. I could get there today or tomorrow. If you can let me know if it's unwadable/unfishable today and tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[poopdeck]

The lambertville section of the river is pretty wide and not real conducive to wading. I do not wade the river in bucks county preferring to fish from my jet boat. I don't see people as a matter of routine wading this section. I see them fishing from the wing dam which is about 4 or 5 hundred yards down stream from the ramp. I see people fishing from a couple points but I rarely if ever see anybody in the river.

I consider 2 to 4 feet on the gauge as high water. Right now the gauge has been up and down and is currently reading 1.02 ft. That's about 3 times what I would consider summer lows and is an excellent level for jet boating. There will be current to deal with but it should be manageable. Haven't seen the river but I would guess it's brown.

 

[HeavyWater]

Thanks.

 

[testynesty]

Greg Boyd Jr guides for smallies from a driftboat, mainly around the Frenchtown area 267 446 9466. I think Raftas goes mainly to the Susquehanna and Lehigh. (He may do the Delaware, I'm not sure)

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

Nick Raftas at Sky Blue would be my first choice. He's been on a roll lately.