Main Stem of the Delaware River, Wayne County PA 5/22

[MarkC]

Cloudy and 60 degrees, water clear 54 degrees, few caddis, some March Browns, and Grey Foxes, no Sulfur hatch.

Got to the river about 5, still a lot of water for the wading angler. Fished a tail out on foot and could reach most of the risers, could not cross. The fish were keying on the sparse March Brown hatch and would take a dry if they had just eaten a real one (patient fishing). I managed a few nice rainbows and one big brown.

Action shut down about 7 as a cool, damp, night settled in. No sulfur hatch, no spinner fall. I’m thinking the drakes won’t be around till the latter part of next week since they generally follow the bigger sulfurs by about a week.. Maybe the first of June around Callicoon?

Could be a great drake year, if the weather stays cool the drakes will hatch in the afternoon.

Mark C

 

[fisherboy3]

Nice report. Bug soup is coming. Hopefully the wading angler will be able to fish more and more water as the water levels drop. Too many boats this year. Its crazy.

 

[krayfish2]

Been waiting on "bug soup" but I haven't seen it this year. I have a buddy that fished way upstream from you and he sent this text around 5pm....."EPIC"

The flows are dropping back pretty quickly so in a few more days it may be at normal or below levels. They had predicted 1-2" of rain through Monday in the region but don't see it happening looking at current radar. Just keep the 90 weather away and we're good. Side note, hope they reach an agreement on the flow plan soon or there will be problems come June 1st

 

[timmyt]

Andy, what kind of problems could there be on June 1st? I am heading up to fish the 1st, 2nd and 3rd

 

[MarkC]

Fished a little up from Callicoon last night, very nice March Brown Hatch along with Grey Foxes, no Sulfurs and no drakes. June 1st seems like a great time right now, bring every fly box you own.

The not so secrete to being lonely while fishing the Delaware is morning fishing and hiking, the guides don’t want to spend 18 hrs. on the water and most people don’t want to walk for ½ hour before fishing.

Mark C

 

[timmyt]

Mark, i plan on bringing all my boxes! Thursday i am hoping to fish with a guide and then friday and maybe saturday i was planning on wading. I dont know my way around up there very well but i got no problem walking, i prefer it actually. I will give the mornings a shot as well, thanks!

 

[wbranch]

The potential "problem" for the Delaware on June 01 is the flow management program that is currently in place expires on May 31. To date all the Decree parties have not reached a consensus on a new release regimen. I forgot the name/number of the old plan but it means the reservoir authority has the power to shut off the flow basically and bring it down to 45 cfs. Yes 45 cfs, that is not a typo.

 

[timmyt]

45 cfs, wow.

Is this one of those deals where they always come to an agreement at the last minute? I cant imagine 45 cfs would be good for anybody...

 

[krayfish2]

They have for a few years but NJ is refusing to budge on their stance. If something doesn't change quickly, potential for very low releases from 6/1 - 6/15. Good thing it's been extra wet up there. I'd assume most fish would weather the storm but insect life could be impacted heavily

 

[timmyt]

Are there any meetings scheduled on this or anyway i can follow the developments? I am not gonna bother to spend time or money to go up there if thats gonna be the situation

 

[afishinado]

timmyt wrote:
Are there any meetings scheduled on this or anyway i can follow the developments? I am not gonna bother to spend time or money to go up there if thats gonna be the situation

The management of the New York City Delaware River reservoirs near the top of the watershed has many implications for the entire basin. Water releases from the reservoirs are used to meet downstream flow targets, repel the northward migration of the salt front from the Delaware Bay, maximize recreational opportunities, and ensure healthy aquatic habitat.

The current reservoir management plan expires on May 31, 2017, and the Decree Parties (NY, NJ, PA, DE, and NYC) have been unable to reach agreement on a long-term plan that meets the needs of all watershed stakeholders. For the past 5 years, the parties have approved consecutive one-year extensions of an unchanged management plan.

There's a new twist this year. In February 2017, the State of New Jersey declared it would not agree to another extension. In the absence of a unanimous agreement of the parties, this sets the stage for a return to a 1980's reservoir management approach known as "Revision 1." Water releases under Revision 1 will be dramatically lower than under the current plan and the entire river system stands to suffer. The parties continue to negotiate, but with each passing day, the likelihood of Revision 1 looms increasingly larger.

Coalition member, Friends of the Upper Delaware River, is asking groups and individuals to call or email the decree party principals to urge them to protect the Delaware River.

The message is simple: Work together to develop a reservoir management plan before June 1 that avoids Revision 1 and provides strong environmental and economic protections for the entire watershed.

1954 U.S. Supreme Court Decree Party Principals/Designees :
Paul Rush (NYC): prush@dep.nyc.gov, 845-334-7107
Mark Klotz (NY): mark.klotz@dec.ny.gov, 518-402-8233
Kelly Heffner (PA): kheffner@pa.gov, 717-783-2300
Dan Kennedy (NJ): dan.kennedy@dep.nj.gov, 609-292-4543
David Wunsch (DE): dwunsch@udel.edu, 302-831-8258

 

[timmyt]

I am not into calling politicians and begging them to do their job...

But if thats whats really going to happen it sounds like i need to find another place to fish june1-3

I have a guide booked to float on the first. There certainly wont be any floating if the release is 45 cfs. I'm surprised the guides arent more concerned, they didnt even mention it at WB anglers yesterday when i booked my float. Maybe they think its a given that its going to get worked out...

 

[timmyt]

I broke my own rule and called Mr Kennedy, apparently i was not the only one! The lady at the office said there were quite a few messages. I'm not sure it did anything to help my cause as far as my trip next week though!

 

[krayfish2]

Tim,
They surely aren't going to speculate if there will be water or not. For years, there's been periods of no water and periods of excess water. A press release will go out stating the release from the lake will be 750cfs until further notice......look at the gauge 4 hours later, the release is 190cfs with zero explanation. Conversely, they announce 225cfs release through next Tuesday. You drive 4 hours to get there and find the release has been bumped to 1600cfs which make it unsafe to wade.

You will learn that what they say and what you get will rarely match. You have to be willing / able to roll with the flow (or lack of flow), adapt fishing style, etc. It's frustrating but that's how it's been for years.

 

[timmyt]

Would it even be floatable if they went thru with the proposed plan?

 

[krayfish2]

Yes....just like the last 5-6 years. Sometimes you had to walk it through sections but mostly floatable in majority of WB. If you have any water in EB, that makes the main good as far as the temps will permit.

If you are trying to predict flows, quit while you're ahead. You can't and you never will unless they draft a mandated minimum flow agreement.

 

[wbranch]

While I have seen guides with clients bumping along at 300 cfs on the WB it is not something I would ever consider doing as a private drift boat owner.

Years ago there was an unwritten believe that flows less than 600 cfs on the WB were too low to float. When summer rolls around and the water temperatures on the main stem are hitting 70 and higher at Lordville and the EB at Harvard is running 200 cfs or less the only game in the area for guides to make a buck on is the WB. So they float with clients at pathetically low flows and at a number of historically low riffles they have to get out of the boat and drag the boat, and one or two clients, through 3" of water until the boat is in floatable water again.

During those very low flow periods the guides should really consider wade fishing with their clients so as not to be banging the shallows with their boats and disturbing the angling of the wading fishermen.

 

[wbranch]

Andy wrote;

I'd assume most fish would weather the storm but insect life could be impacted heavily

I agree as long as the draw down to a minimum release is not immediate. For conversation let us say the flow is 500 cfs now. If the plan is to drop it to 45 cfs I think if it was a gradual reduction in flow of say 100 cfs per couple of hours maybe the aquatic insect life would have a chance to migrate away from the edges to deeper water and be saved. If they dropped the water by 100 cfs and held each drop for a couple of hours I think it would help the fishery and the draw down could still be accomplished in less than 24 hours.

There are a number of deep pools on the WB. Some more than 10' deep. Fish near these deep water havens might be able to reach them and hunker down in the deep water for a week or so.

If the plan is to drop it to 45 cfs (which would be horrendous) - the lowest I can remember was 100 cfs up in Stilesville and I believe that was only for a portion of one day. If anyone is really interested they can look up the historical data on the USGS gage for Stilesville and Hale Eddy. It takes some time and a real interest but you can learn what the flows have been for over fifty years.

 

[krayfish2]

I agree Matt. You see the Hale gauge at 396cfd and the reports say it's fishable from a boat. Maybe if the boat has wheels on the bottom. I don't like to take a hard boat much below 700 but will do 600 if I'm already there. That's where the inflatables come in handy and are more for transport from one section to another.

Guides will push the damn boat down river if they can make a dime doing it. I do remember one time where the flow was cut to zero for 90 minutes or so while the dam performed tests. Guide boats were stuck all up and down the center of the river on exposed shoals. Some were beyond dragging out and had to wait for the release to reach them before they could start to move again.

Flows have always been an issue and it appears that nothing has or will change. You never know what you'll get until the fishing day is over and that's one of the things that increases the difficulty of fishing there.

 

[AFISHN]

Kray: your last post nailed it!!!And one of the reasons,I have cut back significantly fishing the WB from previous years,even though it is my "home" waters in years past