Delaware Trout

Big Fish, Fun Times!

2010-05-07T10:30:00.002-04:00

The Fishing has been good! Sorry it has taken me so long to post again but I have been trying to get my fill of Hendricksons. Guiding has been pretty good recently, each day picking the right float has been the key. Plenty of bugs on some sections and in other spots not as many. Where there are bugs there are some seriously big fish that are rising. Young and Woo Jin came up and fished with me Young was rewarded with two awesome fish, one was an absolute slob.

Dave and Beth Fished and got 3 REAL good ones, all on Hendrickson emergers. It was a great day These two love to fish!

Last but not least. Nick stoped by, for his weekly trip at the DRC and was rewarded with his biggest ever Delaware Trout. It took us all day to get one but it was worth the wait.

I will be out bopth days this weekend and a whole bunch next week. Let's hope the Hendricksons and caddis remain strong on the WB and that we get some rain!

Past 2 trips

2010-04-29T21:19:00.003-04:00

Fished with Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. for two days this week, and let me tell you what, the fishing was fantastic! We boated 4 fish in two days they were all real quality fish. We lost another really good one at the net, and missed some other big fish. All and all it was a super fun two days, and a real pleasure to share it with two class "A" guys.
The second day of the trip we even had to battle snow showers, but that wouldn't stop the hendricksons, or Paraleps, in fact it seemed to keep them on the water longer to give the trout an easier meal.

Product Review

2010-04-23T15:35:00.003-04:00

Just got my new Simms Freestone Boots with the "Stream Tread" soles, and let me tell you, they are great! I was expecting to have a pair of boots that would be fine in the boat, but would leave a lot to be desired, however I was dead wrong. These boots are the exact opposite. In fact so far they have out performed my felt bottoms! They are worth the money. Not only are they great on the Upper Delaware, they are also environmentally friendly so that way I can do my part in trying to stop the spread of Didymo.

Another Big Delaware Brown

2010-04-22T10:28:00.005-04:00

Fished the Mainstem yesterday, and there were TONS of bugs again yesterday, however the fish were not as hungry as the day before. Got one big one to save the day. We had plenty of target to fish for from 4pm on. Hendricksons and Apple Caddis are the two bugs that are must haves right now.

Awesome day!

2010-04-20T22:44:00.002-04:00

Fished with Kevan, and we found some serious rising fish today. TONS of bugs and Tons of heads, and no one on the water. It was an absolutely awesome day. Kevan ended the day with an absolute SLOB.

A pictures worth a 1,000 words

2010-04-20T11:30:00.003-04:00

I will let the pictures do the talking. All fish caught in the past two days!

Hendrickson Time!

2010-04-18T17:54:00.003-04:00

Right now the Upper Delaware is fishing great. Paraleps and Hendricksons are coming in good numbers from 12pm until 5pm then it seems like the flies and fish shut off. Up during that window the fishing has been awesome. Many big fish are coming to hand, and the fishing has been as fun as can be. Not huge numbers of landed fish but it is definitely worth the trip up. Here is a pics of one of the bunch of landed fish from today. Hope the fishing stays this good!

The fun is just begining

2010-04-12T00:01:00.001-04:00

Fished the past two days and we have put the streamers away. It dry fly season!! Today was a very good day considering the conditions. I hooked a REAL good one on a blue quill emerger, but he came unbuttoned right at the net... heart breaking. Kevan got a good one also on a blue quill emerger.

and i finsihed the day with a 3 small ones on the mainstem. Things have really kicked off the past 3 days. Stoneflies, Blue Quills and Hendricksons are now the main bugs. Yes you read that right HENDRICKSONS!

get here before the crowds do!

will post pictures when i get them off of peoples cameras.

Bugs!

2010-04-09T08:39:00.003-04:00

Got out yesterday with another one of our guides, and fished the west branch trying to find some more heads. The weather was awesome with temps in the low 80's, but yesterday's HIGH winds really put a damper on the chance to find rising fish. The promising thing from yesterday's trip was it was the first day that we saw a good number of mayflies, Blue quills were the main bug, but we did see BWO's and even had a small flush of hendricksons around 3:30pm.

As I write this the weather has done a complete 180 and we are now faced with much cooler temp for the next few days. Kevan and I will likely be out again to continue to check things out.

It's on!

2010-04-07T11:12:00.004-04:00

Well my first trip of the year is in the books, and it was a success. Justin joined me on Monday for a float on the west branch. We covered a lot of water, and threw streamers until we got to the likely places that we would see rising fish. We boated 4 fish on streamers and moved another half dozen. They wanted BIG streamers and ate they ate them extremely aggressively. We found consistant rising fish in two spots. We got one of them to come up and eat a stonefly adult however we were just a bit late on the hookset. Only got 3 pictures as the 4th got away right before i snapped the picture.

Yesterday hit the river with Ian and Buzz from the shop, we floated the lower west branch and main stem. Streamer fishing produced 2 boated fish, and we moved a bunch more. The real excitement of the trip were the rishing fish we caught. I hooked two and landed one. Buzz hooked one, and Ian landed one. Stoneflies did the damage for the day.

The Streamer fish:

The dry fly fish:

Tying away, and other thoughts on life.

2010-04-02T11:23:00.004-04:00

Continuing to sit here and wait for conditions to improve so that the fishing picks up and the guide season kicks off. With today's forecasted highs reaching almost 80 today is going to be an awesome day.

I have a friend up at the Salmon River today looking for some early dropback action, hopefully he has some positive news for me...

Trout season opened yesterday, unfortunately heavy rains on Tuesday blew out almost all of the small tribs, however did get a few reports of some buddies getting in to some fish. April 1st has lost a lot of significant to me over the past 8 years, as I have been scratching my fishing itch all winter long, chasing trophy fish. So the April 1st, while it is still fun to know that i could go fish the local streams that i used to frequent with my father, the allure is simply not what it was when i was a child.

Happy Good Friday and soon to be Easter.

Product review

2010-03-30T20:46:00.004-04:00

Just a quick product review:

Rio SuppleFlex is a new(ish) tippet material out from Rio. I started using this last season, and it really impressed me. Although the strength to diameter may not be as high as some other Rio products, I believe the pros, still outweigh the cons.

As the name implies this tippet is extremely supple, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find in many tippet materials on the market today. Also this tippet has a great coating which makes knots perform well.

I believe that it is extremely important to use the softest and most supple tippet available when fishing the Upper Delaware. You can pick this product up at many shops including the Delaware River Club

Give it a shot! Its worth it!

Random

2010-03-30T20:40:00.003-04:00

cabin fever is still hitting me, Getting ready for spring by ordering new gear and tying new flies for the year, and on nice days even going on and working on some distance casting. Thursday I am going to be going to Utica to tie up some new bugs with bob and Frankie. These two guys are the best, and we have been spending a lot of time together the past few weeks, swapping fishing stories, talking about casting, and teaching each other new patterns. So hopefully I will have some new flies to share.

One quick side note, This morning i placed an order with Chifly.com man those guys are nice have a great collection of stuff, fair prices and my order has already shipped, thats hard to beat! so if you are looking for anything give these guys a try!

first outting

2010-03-26T21:04:00.002-04:00

Hit the river for the first time of the season, this past weekend before the big rains came. It was a beautiful day. Almost 70 and sunny, getting to fish in a t-shirt in march is a real joy. The fish was slow, moving just a few fish on streamers and seeing some extremely sporadic heads. it was a great first trip!

2010-03-08T16:48:00.002-05:00

WOW!!
what a beautiful day in CNY as i type the thermometer reads a balmy 45 deg. warm days like today make us all wish that spring wasn't a month away, it was NOW. Have a buddy out on the mainstem today looking for some early stones, hopefully he will have some good news for me!

either way I have been spending a lot of time dreaming about the early season hatches that will make the upper delaware come alive. Paraleps, Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, and apple caddis are just around the corner; not to mention the early stones which I'm sure are already flopping about.

stick with me and I'm sure i will have some good news to share with you within the next 30 days. RISING FISH!

new rod

2010-02-24T21:59:00.002-05:00

i am trying to decided what equipment i want to buy for the up coming season.

i am between a sage Z axis 9' 5wt or a 9' 6wt
and a nice rio line for it.

its almost time.... cant wait

i hear the boys who are down on the D already have taken some fish on streamers!!

2010-01-31T22:24:00.001-05:00

Wow long time no post.

Have had a crazy fun fall and winter in Pulaski NY fishing for salmon as well as steelhead. A good salmon run this year, was followed by red hot steelhead fishing, however the unseasonable dry fall has left us with low water conditions, and tough fishing. However I am still catching fish. My days are now winding down in Pulaski as I am starting to gear up for my return to the Delaware. Tying flies and working on licenses will keep me busy from now until then.

I will post some pictures of some of the flies that i come up with in the coming weeks.

FISH ON!

Transition

2009-08-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

My last few days at the DRC are winding down, and I am getting ready to head north to chase the mighty fish of the great lakes. I will be posting some pictures from time to time if i catch some good fish. If you need to know anything about the salmon river feel free to email me or stop in to Fat Nancy's where I will be working during salmon season.

Its been a fun year, lets hope my salmon season is just as good.

low water :(

2009-07-11T15:33:00.002-04:00

The West Branch release is 350 hopefully tonight's forecast comes true and we get the inch of rain they are calling for. Thankfully we havent seen any 90 degree heat yet this summer so temps are still not to bad. Sulphur fishing up top has been good and will be very good during the month of July. Huge fish eating small bugs is sure fun...

2009-07-08T11:44:00.000-04:00

Fishing has been red hot! simply put that is all you need to know. Hopefully the rain continues and the res. starts to spill again. This summer has made me enjoy 1500cfs+. The fishing is so much better!

Holy streamers!!

2009-06-23T08:19:00.001-04:00

yesterday was epic... for the number of fish moved. I sucked big time and missed alot of takes. But the number of fish moved off the banks was just stupid. If I told you the numbers you wouldn't believe me. We even found a few rising fish and got them to eat! If there were more bugs I'm sure we would've saw more rising fish.

we found em

2009-06-20T10:52:00.002-04:00

here is just one picture from yesterday

Streamer Time...Again

2009-06-19T12:10:00.002-04:00

Well the recent wet weather has left the reservoir spilling, so the release pan calls for 1500cfs until the spill stop. In the mean time fish have been very willing to eat streamers, as well as some fish eating off the surface. Yesterday we moved a bunch and boated 3, in addition to some to some dry fly action. Today the weather looks great again, so it is to the upper west branch to try to pull a slob off the bank. I am having some trouble uploading pictures, so once i get that figured out i will post a bunch of shots.

Picture Time

2009-06-08T21:50:00.000-04:00

Report

2009-06-08T18:52:00.002-04:00

Weather has been less than favorable. We need something to change to hopefully get the fishing back to awesome. Blind casting iso's has produce some fish, but overall The fishing has been less than stellar. The one exception being the late evening sulphurs have been coming off in HUGE numbers and the fish are eating them, but all of this is happening is with very little day light left. Any day now the upper west branch sulphur fishing will kick in and fishing will be back to awesome.

I have some more picture to add this week. Bob finally came through for me. keep an eye out for them.

Report

2009-06-03T15:58:00.013-04:00

Fishing has been very good recently. With both dries and streamers...

Tuesday and Wednesday of last week we hammered on them. Bob and I had two great days in a row with fish coming on drakes, march browns, sulphurs, and spinners. We boated a bunch of really good fish. I am waiting on Bob to get me our pictures. some great shots to come.

Thursday and Friday I fished with Cal, Friday the water was up and we found some fish, but the rain brought the river up so it was a little tougher. Cal ended up getting two fish. A nice rainbow and a great big brown. Bob also has the picture of that brown. He happened to be right next to us with his clients, so he snapped a few shots for us.

Thursday night the rains came and brought the river up even more. Woke up to 1000+ cfs and off color water. Perfect Streamer conditions! And boy did we get them! I will let the pictures speak for themselves....

Saturday and Sunday I had the pleasure to guide George and Shane. The rains continued and the river was up even more. The conditions were not the best for dry flies, we moved some on streamers but ran into some bad luck. George had a few small ones on dries at the end of the day and missed a few other good ones. Sunday Shane missed a couple but we called it a day early so everyone could get on the road, and be home in time.

Monday i fished with Larry and we did a short evening float and as soon as the boat was in the water we found heads. A great night of dry fly fishing. Took fish on spinners sulphurs and drakes. Only snapped one shot of Larry's fish

Taking a couple days off and will be back on the water Thursday-Saturday. I will have a new report then. Hopefully Bob comes through and gets me his pictures.

Reports

2009-05-31T09:24:00.002-04:00

Sorry there has been no new report.

I have been busy guiding. The long days make it tough to come update. I have a bunch of pictures to post. The fishing has been excellent. The high water has really improved the fishing conditions here. Many big fish coming to the boat, on both dries and streamers.

Get here now. The fishing is great.
More to come later.

report #7

2009-05-17T15:46:00.004-04:00

Saturday I was greeted with REALLY high winds. The fishing was needless to say not very good. Floated the upper main stem, but the winds really put a damper on things. Just a few March Browns and some caddis. no rising fish... Pulled out early and waded the West Branch got one fish and missed another eat. (Pictures will come soon hopefully) Day ended a little early due to some serious rain.

Rained all night!
Woke up to a blown out West Branch (less than 18" of visibility) it looks like steamer fishing could be good in the next few days. Chucked some streamers around this morning and had a few fish follow, but no takers. Out again in the morning hopefully the fish decide they want to eat some "chew toys".

2009-05-14T13:24:00.001-04:00

Holy Wind!

Report #6

2009-05-09T22:23:00.006-04:00

Well today was a blow off. Too much wind and sun. Decided to shoot the breeze with some friends instead, and tie up a few new flies to try out. Heading home to see my mom for mother's day. be back shortly.

Here are a few pictures from "The Legend" from his trip up last weekend... some real slobs...

Report #5

2009-05-08T23:45:00.002-04:00

Got a late start go to Young's car troubles, however we were able to find some rising fish. LOTS of hendricksons again today, but the fish were being extremely picky. Had some refusals, but no takers. Put the super secret plan into action and found some nice fish on top. Young was a little heavy handed and excited and ended up breaking 2 off in a row on the hook set. Finally at the end he fooled a nice brown into eating his spinner pattern. Sorry too dark for a picture. Well tomorrow is a new day and it looks as though I will be out on my own tomorrow! Look out fish here I come!

Report #4

2009-05-07T23:41:00.002-04:00

Holy Bugs!

West branch was carpeted with bugs today... caddis and hendricksons. The fish however did not respond as well as I would've hope. John landed one small one and dennis had a tough day bringing them to the net. broke 2 off, rolled 2 and have 1 jump off. So all and all not too bad. But it should've been better for the number of bugs that I saw today. Well tomorrow is another day. Hopefully I find some hunger fish with Young. We sure did last year ;) I think I have a trick up my sleeve for tomorrow.

Report #3 cont.

2009-05-04T15:33:00.002-04:00

Well the fishing was pretty darn good. Hendrickson, Blue Quills, Olives, and lots of caddis were around, and the fish were looking up and very willing to eat. The overcast conditions with little to no wind made for some great fishing. Friday, the fishing was fantastic on the West Branch with numerous fish willing to eat our flies. Les and Aaron had the pleasure of expirencing some great west branch fishing. Saturday Aaron and Les wanted to try floating the river so we headed down the main stem. Same bugs same rising fish however these fish were a little tougher to convince to eat. But still hooked a few and missed a few others. Sunday morning I met Guy and Tripp for a morning half day float. The am temp was a cold 38 degrees needless to say the fishing was very tough, with no bugs on the

water. The afternoon I got a chance to fish on my own, which was pretty darn good. Landed 2 broke 2 off and had some other eats that i was sleeping for... all in 4 hours of fishing...

The release increased to 190 as of Friday May 1 however all rivers are still very low. It is raining as I type so that should do nothing but help the river conditions.

Report #3

2009-05-04T00:12:00.001-04:00

Wow!

it was real good... more to come tomorrow, time for bed

It gets worse every day

2009-04-29T12:49:00.004-04:00

This morning the release from cannonsville is a raging 85cfs, yep you read that right, 85cfs simply pathetic... luckily the warm weather has passed and the river temp should come back to more normal spring time temps. Bugs are really popping now and the fish are responding! This weekends weather forecast looks great with rain Thursday through Sunday. Overcast skies should really improve the fishing.

Working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday should have some good picture from the weekend. I promise I wont forget my camera, hopefully I will have some fish porn from this weekend.

Report #2

2009-04-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

Well... what a strange weekend.

Wow was it hot! the weather that is. With highs in the upper 80's it felt like late July not like april. In additon to the heat the wind was howling(up stream) on Saturday which made fishing even harder.

Holy caddis flies. The apple green caddis were snowing on the river, that hatch is in full swing. Saw some Hendricksons they are growing in numbers every day...Also saw some fish eating Paralep duns.

I had John and JR who had never fly-fished before. We did a lot of learning and practice of the basic skills needed to catch Upper Delaware trout. On sunday JR hooked his first trout on a fly which was a fun expirences for him, however we dropped the fish right at the boat. Too bad!

I wanted to take some pictures of the blizzard of caddis, however I forgot my camera... damn!

Keep praying for rain! Hale eddy at 191cfs this morning... sickening

2009-04-23T18:34:00.001-04:00

Talked to Al Caucci today and he said that the Hendrickson were pretty good on the Mainstem yesterday, and the fish were on them!!

West Branch has good numbers of Blue Quills coming off as well as more hendricksons. Fish were on top today on the West branch... sorry no pictures...

I will on the water Friday-Sunday. I will hopefully have fish porn up at some point this weekend...

West Branch is still very low, pray for rain!

Until next time

Water Levels

2009-04-22T09:10:00.001-04:00

Well the West branch is still really low this morning... The rain had no effect on it. 235 cfs
A quick update about the Hale Eddy gauge it appears that the temp. unit is not working here. The Stillesville gauge is reading a higher temp than at hale eddy...strange. So i have been looking at the Hancock station to get a better idea of temp. on the WB link. This is a Delaware Trout Blog exclusive, This is a strange gauge it is hard to find, but it is a great resource. Enjoy!

The east branch however looks to be in good shape, at 915 cfs and rising.
Beaverkill is is in great shape if you want to fish over there at 598 cfs.

Here is a picture to show you whats to come in the VERY near future...yes those are all Hendricksons

Hendrickson Emerger/Cripple

2009-04-20T16:55:00.000-04:00

Here is an awesome Hendrickson pattern, tied by the legend Phil Kee. This is a spin off of Rene Harrop's last chance cripple.

Tail: Zelon Mayfly Brown
Abdomen: Brown Turkey Biot
Rib: Small Copper Wire
Thorax: Hendrickson Pink Dubbing
Hackle: Light Dun
Wing: Medium Dun CDC

report #1

2009-04-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

Fished with Larry from Maine on 4/18

fishing was spotty but we manage to hook a few on nymphs. First good day of bugs on the West Branch. A mix of stoneflies, caddis, Quill Gordons, Blue Quills, Bateis, and just a few Hendricksons. Only saw a few sporadic risers.
Water was gin clear and dropping all day, it made it tough to throw streamers, although we worked hard at it. Small nymphs were the best today with a small copper john hooking 2 fish for us. Not bad for the first trip of the year...

However our best fish of the day came on a large black stonefly nymph.

The water is real low we need rain bad!
Hendrickson will be pouring off in the next week to ten days so you will want to be here for that.

Welcome

2009-04-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well this is my first post...

Just wanted to let you guys know a little bit about me.

I guide for the Delaware River Club in Starlight, PA April through September. This is my 4th season at the DRC.
When I am not guiding I enjoy chasing Salmon and Steelhead in the Lake Ontario tributaries. I also enjoy photography.

This will be a place for a reports and some flies that I tie up to try and fool the big upper delaware trout.

I am passionate about dry fly fishing as well as streamer fishing(The Bigger the Better!)

If you would like to contact me shoot me an email any time sshen51@gmail.com