West Branch of Delaware, Deposit NY, 7/10/10

sight_nymph_17109

sight_nymph_17109

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Mar 26, 2007
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Overcast skies, clear / cool flows around 50 degrees and 400 cfs. We put our 7 man float in and began fishing around 9:45am and had sulphurs on the water right away. Hatches of sulphurs, olives and a few ISO's continued until 3:30-ish when the sun came out and shut everything down. Between 3:30 and 8:30, virtually no bugs or rising fish. Action was quite hot between 11 and 2. Fish were taken using nymphs, wets, dries and emergers.
 
Man if that sun would have stayed behind the clouds and that light drizzle kept it up we would still be floating that river! The sun/lack of rain shut things down.

Yesterday morning I took a small bow but more of the unrelenting sun. Could only take about an hour of beer sweat. After getting my head right, going to Wendy's to eat some grease and finding a picnic table to pass out on for a few hours, my hangover subsided and I parked at the Hancock PD near the bridge and fished that from around 4:00 - 9:30 yesterday. No real bugs to speak of until late when some caddis came off. Nymphing that deep fast water worked well between 4:00 and 8:00, taking a few more fish including a really nice brown. Around 8:00 a pretty good number of caddis came off and the fish were pounding them until 9:15 or so. I caught a few, again with the small 10" bows. This day firmly confirmed my theory on the value of late sleeping! LOL! All in all a good trip for most, though some of us had varying degrees of bad luck events! Mine started with the realization that I had left my paddles (both sets at home). Some poor bastard towed me through the slow pools with a kayak. His arms have to be rubber today! Next time I am bringing my trolling motor and towing everyone else!
 
Good times. The sun sucks. If it could have stayed behind the clouds, I agree that we'd still be out there hammering fish. The nymphing was among the best I've had this year for the first hour or two of the day.
 
The fishing looked like it was going to be the best conditions I'd seen on the river in at least 10 yrs. The sun coming out was the spoiler.

That trip was f'd up.... really badly too. I fogot a pump, Jeff forgot oars, Brandons pontoon popped, etc, etc. Vomiting in the parking lot pretty much summed up the end of the trip.

FYI, it normally takes 10 - 15 minutes to get out of the river and load the boats. It took us over 3 hrs!! No excuse for that crap.
 
Don't forget that Brian and I forgot the cooler (which had jdaddy's stuff in it too!), and proceeded to leave his tailgate and bed cover open.

I forgot sun screen.

Also, I fished the first run and went to re-rig. I pulled some 4x from my spool, and got about a foot before I ran out. No big deal. I'll try 5x. Pulled about 8 inches off that before it ran out.

Two dozen mosquito bites and a shot of DEET right in the eyeball when waiting for you guys to come back pushed me over the edge. We'll get it right next time (which should be some time in early august for me!)
 
I had sunscreen, luckily I got it applied before it floated down the river. Now where/how exactly I lost my hat I have no idea.
 
If every float trip were like Saturday, I'd sell my boat and wade fish.

Hopefully everyone now sees how important it is to have vehicleS at the take out point.

BTW J, I have a text from you "heading to balls eddy to drop off the car". As we took the Deposit exit, you call and let me know there wasn't a car there. Launching should have been delayed to taxi cars down river. Live and learn.
 
Yeah, we went to meet you for breakfast first and then it got confusing.
 
dude, what a mess! Sounds like fun...🙂

Any trip on the D is a fun trip, but it sounds like you guys tried to complicate it... Did you seriously have 7 boats together?
 
streamer,

We had a honda civic at the take out for 7 guys and 7 boats! That's the best part. Jay stood w/ the boats for hours and got eaten alive. I used 1/2 tank of gas running from put in to take out spots. I had to lead each driver. Never again!! I'll pay $30 for a shuttle, load my boat and go eat dinner. LMAO.
 
Not to mention we did 9.5 mile float, with launch on NY side and take out on PA side, requiring driving a few miles further down to cross the bridge and then back up on NY side. Also that PA side road is just terrible and the boats bounce around like crazy.

I did not get involved in the planning as I jumped in at the last minute when a room came open due to a cancellation of another guy in the party, therefore I will not comment on the planning, other than to say we will definitely work on the communication and planning next time. We effectively had 3 different parties, arriving at different times, staying in different places, etc and I think that was the biggest thing leading to confusion. If we all had been at the Green Acres or Capri or ____ and left from one location we would have been good. Cell communication can be tough there.
 
lol... 7 at the takeout. At the same time, trips like those are the most memorable. The $30 shuttle is money, especially if you're carpooling
 
bam,

We had 7 guys, 7 boats and 6 FREAKING CARS. 5 of them were at the launch spot though! LMAO. On my 3rd consecutive trip from Norboard to Balls Eddy, I was praying for a stroke. We should have jammed 6 guys in the Honda and driven to Norboard. It would have looked like a clown car unloading except they were wearing waders. 6 guys in waders in a little Honda would have smelled great too. LMAO.

Why don't you go next time? I'm shooting for 30 guys w/ 25 cars. All parked at the put in spot. We'll float to balls eddy and then I'll walk to the end of the gravel road and ask the guy with the school bus to run us back to Deposit.

I floated from Fishes Eddy to Cadosia this spring. Left my mtn bike at the take out. 30 mph winds up river 2 miles into the float. After rowing through 7 miles of hell, I had to get out and ride the back road to Fishes Eddy in 90 degree heat. Do you have any idea how hilly that road is? I was trying to save on shuttle fee but learned an exhausting lesson. I'll do it from East Branch to Fishes Eddy or Shehawken to Stockport but that's my limit.

PS- where are you finding a $30 shuttle? Coz and DRC are now charging $40-45. I've got the gals at the diner on speed dial. They move my car and walk the dog for me. Now that's a deal.
 
lol. Maybe I can make it 31 and 26.

You're nuts for biking that. I went a couple time last year in a buddy's drift boat and I thought it was $10 a piece, but I think he goes through DRC so it probably was $40 or $45. I'm far from rich, but saving all that time and trouble at the end of the day seemed well worth it... especially when you've got a 3 hour drive to cap it off.
 
Glad you guys caught fish. Otherwise, that sounds like a complete cluster-f! Personally, there is nothing worse than shuttling vehicles. Can't imagine doing it for a party of six. Sheesh
 
and the reason I was not invited??? I can fit about 4 boats on my trailer! KEEP ME IN MIND. JG
 
George,

I was thinking of how I should have shot you a PM when I saw a guy that I thought was you on the river, but I am HORRIBLE with recognizing people so I didn't say anything. I had already embarrassed myself twice by talking to random dudes like they were part of our group of seven! You haven't been around here in a while, so it slipped my mind. Keep an eye on your inbox for the next time around.

As you can see, this was kind of a last minute cluster****. Planning was minimal.

Edit: cluster**** passes the filter? I'll self moderate.
 
Sight_Nymph,
when you said "praying for a stroke" i almost spit my beer out....too funny.


jeff
 
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