My son Scott and I took a little road trip to the Delaware River for a few days of fly fishing. The Delaware is about 3.5 hours from my house and about an hour from Scott’s. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and fished all day Wednesday and then headed back home on Thursday afternoon. The first thing we did was check in at Border Water Outfitters in Hancock, NY to get the latest on the hatches and pick up a few of the local hot flies. We talked to Jim “Coz” Costolnick the owner. He said the two main hatches going on were the Apple Caddis and the Hendrickson… Wow, was he right, the river was blanketed at times with bugs! Good for the fish but bad for us as our flies got lost in the crowd. I did manage to take one nice brown on a Korn’s Spent-wing Parachute Caddis even though the wind was howling. Scott had a take on a Hendrickson but the fish broke him off. With rising fish all around, switching up the flies and few takes — it can be very frustrating fishing. Wednesday it was very cold with high winds; rain, snow, hail and only a peek of the sun now and then. I stepped up on an unfriendly rock and took a header getting a chest full of freezing Delaware River right down the front of my waders. Even with my belt on I got soaked; chest, pants and puddles in both feet. I was done. We quit and headed to the motel and then to the laundry mat. We ate lunch and then got back on the water for an afternoon of cold rain and hail, nice! Thursday morning’s weather was a repeat of Wednesday’s but with fewer bugs. Tough fishing conditions in anybody’s book. We each had a few hook ups, but with few results to show for all our efforts — but hey that’s fishing. We’ll get them next time!
Yeah John the bugs were there… the fish were there… we were there…
But these fish are super smart and tough to fool even in good weather conditions. Clearly they won this round. These are the challenges we seek, right?
If it was easy, why bother? Maybe it doesn’t sound like it above but I love the hunt; tying new fly patterns, making difficult casts and precise presentations to big fish as-well-as learning new waters. I am looking forward to more trips.
EXACTLY. I was thinking yesterday, Doug, how it is the tough days that define us as fly anglers.
Now for a lot of folks, the hunt, as you describe it, is not the story, and that is great as long as they are having fun at the story they like, but for me, the hunt is what it is all about. When you’ve fished that new stream often enough that it is easy, it’s time to move on, to do some more exploring, to find some new challenges. One of the neat things about freestones is that they change dramatically, and constantly, over the course of the year, and often year to year. New water in the same place.
Thanks for the report. Could those nice looking browns have come from the WB?
I sure love fishing that entire river system, especially from about now through to early June. I only wish one could move back time 30, 40 years when I often had miles of the river system practically to myself…and the fish.
