Upper D - first week of august

[timmyt]

Beautiful fish mcjwilla, Awesome

 

[mcwillja]

Thanks Timmy some of them get really colored up in there

 

[krayfish]

Tim,

You got free admission to the gun show along with the fish pic. Lol.

 

[timmyt]

How did you guys make out up there this weekend?

I floated each day, fri and sat down around narrowsburg and sunday i went north to check out the trout zone, floated from the buckingham access to Lordville. We had fun on the lower river but when i get back up there i am headed right for that area we floated Sunday, its awesome up there.

I didnt see any trout activity Sunday up north but we certainly saw them in the water as we floated. Saw some random sulfurs and small what i guess were the tiny blue wings you guys were referring to but nothing even remotely what would be considered fishable. The wind was honking all day anyway which would have made fly fishing very tough but it was really cool to get up there and check out the area. I'll be back before the cold weather hits you can bet on that. The best quality smallmouths we caught were up there too, ironically

 

[krayfish]

We met a forum member at the motel parking lot. While describing the rig we use, I had my nephew unwrap the line from the tip of my fly rod.... also known as the nephew snapping off the last 6" of my nymphing rod.

We had mixed success. The weather was bright sun and that's not typically a good situation on any wild trout stream. Saturday was a little windy and Sunday had a few hours with a steady wind of 25-30. As luck would have it, during the high winds, we had a blanket hatch of iso (as much of one as you'll ever get to see), sulphurs, cahills and a few stones sprinkled in for good measure.

Monday & Tuesday were pseudo hells. #24-26 olives and the fish were on them. You could sit and watch 50 slate drakes float directly over a fish without being touched. The fish were feeding like it was a trico spinnerfall on the Tully. I don't carry anything smaller than a #20 so I simply went to faster water searching with an iso emerger or nymphed.

I averaged 7-10 fish a day. I did catch a pile of little guys that I won't count (3"-6").

Click on the pic of my nephew casting. He's got 6-7 months under his belt. He can toss a pretty good loop and reach out there 40'. I was impressed.

 

[krayfish]

The largest number of fish were taken under the surface but the biggest were taken on top.

Other than the youngster breaking my favorite nymphing rod, dropping a rod into a weed bed (5' of water) and having him run into me which resulted in me dumping 200+ small nymph patterns into the river, it was a decent trip.

With 25+ years up there, I hooked the biggest rainbow I've ever seen in a riff. He jumped, ran up river, jumped, ran down river, crossed the riff and hid by the bank. I though he was done so I closed in with my net. I was wrong. He bolted, jumped into the side of my anchored pontoon, did a 180 and shot down river only to hide by the grassy shoreline again. I walked closer with the net and he shot up river jumping like a flying fish. The #18 nymph and 5x fluro couldn't take the abuse and broke. I know someone will have an issue with my estimate but I almost had him in the net twice and had him jump 12 times right in front of me. I know that the bows can reach sizes above 20" but that is typically seen on the big river and a trophy bow is 20". I am positive this fish was 4 lbs or more and would have measured around 23"-24". I hope I can find him next time up.

 

[krayfish]

Tom elected to stay another day or two. He text me letting me know he was tearing it up with the overcast conditions. First fish of the day was a 21 3/4 slab.

 

[albatross]

Nice report Andy. Glad you got into them!

 

[timmyt]

Sounds awesome krayfish!

Were you guys fishing the main stem or one of the branches? Where do you guys stay in a motel up there. Up around Lordville those towns all seemed like they were 3 houses and that was it. Go up to Hancock i guess?

 

[mcwillja]

Nice Report Andy. Im bummed I couldn't make it down. My friend has been at our camp since monday and Im still at work. I thought I was going to be able to make it down tuesday but I just couldn't get off work. Were you seeing the Isos down river? He got into a big olive hatch yesterday evening. Should be about the same conditions today.

 

[krayfish]

Olives were all up and down the river. Just depends on the day.
PM sent J.

Yes Tim, we just stay in Hancock. Forced to camp as a kid and that's why I won't camp now. Bed, hot shower and microwave are way to important to me at this point.

 

[MrMustard]

Looks like a great trip, and some very nice fish. I am extremely jealous haha. Wish it wasn't such a hike from Pittsburgh.

 

[krayfish]

Yough is close and it's the only place you'll find the youghness monster.

 

[MrMustard]

This is true. And it certainly has eluded me thus far.

I'm probably most jealous of the fact that you were able to spend 4 days in a row fishing there. Sounds quite nice right about now...

 

[krayfish]

Well, I had a young un along which cut my angling time by 50% or more. It also cost me a rod and a entire nymph collection of flies #16-#20. Half way through the 4th day, I was maxed and handed the kid off to Tom. The weather was cool but straight sun and wind. That killed much of the rising. Nothing to be jealous of there.

You've got DaveS and the crew in Pittsburgh area. They've taken fish exceeding 25" in that river. Touch base with them. There's a chance to get some help or maybe find an open seat if they have another cluster Yough float.

 

[BeastBrown]

Well, I would have been the happiest kid in the world if my uncle took me fishing at 16 anywhere, let alone the Delaware on float trips for 4 days. The kid may turn in to a fishing bum, but it will definitely keep him from being the worse things in life.

 

[boychick]

Awesome report. That rainbow sounds like it was the size of a small steelhead. Sounds like you had a good trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

[afishinado]

Nice! Andy. Good for you and your nephew.

Oh, and I'd check your glasses with that bow. Perhaps you had your head up high and you were looking at it through your bifocals.

 

[DaveS]

Geeze I missed this report until last nite. Nicely done. Well except for the rod. And the flies getting dumped. But still you would have eventually lost those flies anyway...

Nice report Kray. You got that nephew in the advanced fishing class!