Delaware River Watch

April 12, 1999

Dear Flyfisher:

We took a quick float on the West Branch of the Delaware last week and picked up two good fish: an 18-inch brown trout and a 15-inch rainbow. Both were caught on nymphs, but we saw some sporadic rises along the way.

Early black stoneflies are emerging, which is always the first sign of the river’s awakening insect life. There’s a small tan caddis that also is coming off, and it won’t be long before we begin to see some blue quills and blue-winged olives (baetis vagans), the first of the mayflies.

Due to an unusually light snowfall this year, the river is low and is already beginning to warm up. On the day we fished, the river was running at about 350 cubic feet per second at the Hale Eddy station, and the temperature was just over 40 degrees. The water was crystal clear.

Unless we get hit with some big-time spring storms, the river should be very wadeable throughout the early season.

The Cannonsville Reservoir, which controls the flow on the West Branch and makes a significant contribution to conditions on the Delaware’s Main Stem, is about 85 percent full and rising. Thus far, the releases from the reservoir have been minimal to conserve the maximum amount of water. With rain in the forecast early this week, the reservoir should be approaching 90 percent by the weekend..

The combination of low water conditions and warm days is likely to produce some very early mayfly activity this year. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Hendricksons begin to come off late this week or early next week. Last year, the first of the Hendricksons appeared on April 24, even though the river conditions were near flood-stage.

If you haven’t planned a spring trip yet, give me a call or drop me an e-mail and we’ll try to see if we can arrange a get-together. We have all the right signs for a great spring season, and I expect the fishing to be fantastic. Hope to see you soon.

-- Captain Adrian LaSorte

Adrian