West Branch Delaware, Wayne County, 6/10/2011

[beeber2]

Fished the upper d on friday. What a difference since last friday. Launched late with calm winds. Picked up a dink brown and rainbow on a caddis soft hackle. I was looking for the wiggle green drake nymphs I got from Jonas with no success. So i put on a brown bugger and an awesome rainbow crushed it. It was as long as my net. I will have to measure that when I get home. A classic day on the west branch.

 

[RowJimmy]

Pretty rare for a Delaware rainbow to hit a streamer......if I had to guess you were below Hale Eddy?

 

[CPR]

I've never met a Delaware river rainbow so can you explain why they are reluctant to take a streamer? Is it the forage base in the river doesn't offer them the experience or are they somehow different than rainbows in other rivers?

thanks

 

[afishinado]

CPR wrote:
I've never met a Delaware river rainbow so can you explain why they are reluctant to take a streamer? Is it the forage base in the river doesn't offer them the experience or are they somehow different than rainbows in other rivers?

thanks

RowJimmy is correct; baitfish imitating streamers rarely take rainbows on the D. Don't really know why though. BTW, to me a brown bugger can represent a big nymph, hellgrimite, or crayfish and not necessarily a baitfish. One of the many mysteries of the River.

 

[beeber2]

Yes I was below Hale. It was a skinny bugger with a short tail and I was attempting to swim it like a drake nymph.

 

[beeber2]

The fish measured out at 19 inches, Willy is happy.

 

[RowJimmy]

How close to West Branch angler were you?

 

[jdaddy]

My uneducated guess is that there is such a biomass of macros in the D that the fish can be selective in what they eat. Bows typically stay in a little faster water, so maybe they don't want to chase crawfish and baitfish when nymphs are smacking them in their nose and they just have to open their mouths? /

 

[krayfish]

The bow strain up there is a 100+ yr old strain that's different than other places you'll fish. They do hold in some skinny water and seldomly eat streamers. With that said, I did see on in the 19-20" range taken in "frog water" on a caddis emerger. He may have just been passing through that area.

 

[wbranch]

You won't be seeing any more Green Drake nymphs or duns on the WB or main this year - it was pretty much over by last week on all the Catskill rivers. BTW I concur with the concensus the Delaware rainbows aren't that prone to eating streamers. Having fished the system for about forty-four years, and having caught zillions of browns on streamers, I've only caught (that I clearly remember) three rainbows on streamers.

 

[CPR]

Hopefully someday I'll get to look for a Delaware River rainbow. I'll be sure to pack nymphs.

thanks

 

[afishinado]

wbranch wrote:
You won't be seeing any more Green Drake nymphs or duns on the WB or main this year - it was pretty much over by last week on all the Catskill rivers. BTW I concur with the concensus the Delaware rainbows aren't that prone to eating streamers. Having fished the system for about forty-four years, and having caught zillions of browns on streamers, I've only caught (that I clearly remember) three rainbows on streamers.

Yup, been fishing the D a long time. I have caught some D bows on buggers, but I often fish them like a nymph. I really don't recall catching any on traditional streamers or Clousers that imitate baitfish.

WB, how many 20" or larger D bows have you caught on the D?

 

[TDB]

Good discussion. I have to go against the grain a bit here though. Brown has been an awesome streamer color for us up there over the years AND we have taken some great bows on streamers. In general I think it is safe to say that rainbows rarely hit streamers but based on the ratio of browns/bows on the D, and the West Branch in particular, I've caught many more on streamers than I would have predicted - and some absolute tanks! Several over 20"... They are always a pleasant surprise on streamers...

Tight lines
'