fishing delaware river

daman1277

daman1277

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Joined
Nov 27, 2011
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Anybody fish big D where 95 crosses it? Is it any good? What can I expect to catch there?
 
I've never fished there, but i follow reports for shad in the susq and delaware. in the spring american shad and striper run up the delaware. I don't think the striper get up as far as 95 with much consistentcy, but i know the shad get that far, and even much further. Aside from the spring run there is probably just the usual mix of warmwater species.
 
Stripers, channel cats, bass, (both) walleye, shad, and musky all hang out around there. one of my favorite places to fish. back water, eddys, riffles, fast deep runs, the falls (scudder) bridge abutments. herring and white perch are there as well. there is a flat of sorts there where you can site fish to 10-20 lb. stripers in the spring. channel cats will go over 12 lbs. as well. deceivers in white/silver flash,yellow/gold flash, crease flys when the small shad are headed down river, clousers in chart/white, blue/white,brown/orange, gurglers, zebra caddis size 8-12 wet. 9' 7-8 wt 4 -10 foot leaders down to 8 lb. real low water 6 lb.
 
Stripers are caught all the way up to Hancock , NY.
 
i kayak the wave there ive seen some nice strippers caught in the diagonals

 
Were the "strippers" blonde or brunette? I prefer the blondes.
 
When you go over the bridge for 95 it just looks really shallow all the way across. So didn't know if it was worth it. Like u can wade across the whole river. All those rocks out of the water everywhere. Man muskie there huh love catch those. But only cause my home is Lake Ontario. Does anyone fish it want to show me around down there.
 
If i still lived down there I would gladly take you out. But I'm 4 hours away now and only get down once or twice a year to visit friends and family..

There is a parking area on the joisey side of river just north of the bridge. those low areas are loaded with stripers early mornings feeding, caught a 25 lber there in 2004. smallies like the pa side and main (center) flow. In august-september the zebra caddis hatch and a size 10 muddler "V" waked does wonders on them.
 
i kayak the wave there ive seen some nice strippers caught in the diagonals
so you are one of those yakkers I have snagged in the past ...lol
 
There's a herring run in the spring anything that imitates them is probably a good bet as far as flies. Trout are used as bit by some anglers for Stripers, so a trout imitation something to try There is likely to be almost anything there that you'd find in a river open to the sea. Striped bass and smallies many be the most popular fish to catch but there's plenty of species to choose from, even a few Atlantic Sturgeon and flathead catfish.
 
I don't get up there much I focus my efforts a bit south Rt 1 but could help you with basics. Pm me
 
A buddy of mine is a bass guide in that area, he nails them. I went with him last year and caught 16 stripers by noon. On another day we caught a dozen chad. There also is a catfish tourney held there and they pull in some real monsters.
 
what tides are best ? - last of the outgoing, first of the incoming ?

a good place for the double hander perhaps ?

 
Tides don't reach up there they end just north of Morrisville, at least they aren't noticeable. But a two hander could prove very effective that's why there is one on my Xmas list. If you do get into the tidal water it really depends on what time of the year for a given tide stage. Early (for stripers march april) when water is still mid 40's to low 50's I prefer sunny days with high around dark. Once the water is consistently into the 50's any tide will catch.
 
trenton wing dam/water works in the block for tides, also a good place for early shad. I used my 14' 9/10 spey there alot. a switch rob in 8/9 wt. would be nice too.
 
nice. sounds like a new place to play with my T&T 1309 ;)

if i may ask another question, what are the banks like - steep, rip rap etc , enough room to double spey cast with a traditional line or should i rely on fishing a skagit set up?

btw - speypages is a great place to buy used spey rods, my T&T was $300 versus $950 new a couple of years back...
 
Banks vary and I'm not very familiar with Spey cast/names. The Trenton area has some great variety in the rocks and boulders make sure you wear a wading belt tightly and have boots with good grip.
 
tidal water can be very dangerous,especially trenton.
if you wade scudder falls (rt.95) you can wade quite easy. I just used an over head cast same as I do on the beach with a 2 hander. I have waded from pa to nj there. scandi style is fine there.
 
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