April 29, 2011 - PA Rains

It will be interesting to see how the rest of this season's rainfall pans out. Right now we are pretty much water-logged. All our bigger trout waters are blown out. And as we all know, we are talking prime time hatch-time!!! It even looks like the Friends of the Upper Delaware One Bug fund raiser will be a bust (fishing wise). Hopefully they can turn a negative into a positive. I bet they do!

Speaking of the Upper D system, we've got quite the situation going on. Right now (as of post) Cannonsville is at like 103%. So it is obviously spilling. 4,500cfs+ is flowing over the top and climbing steeply. Add to that, there is still more than 6K coming into the reservoir. Let's just say the West Branch will be a boat fishery for the foreseeable future. I can't remember the last time we had this sort of water around for the first of May on Upper D system. Usually the snowmelt and rains of early April ramp that river up. But this time of year, not normally the case.

April 28, 2011 - More Limestoner Reports

Not much to report with all the high water around. Trips for us have been on the local front, keying in on our close-by limestoners.

High water means bugger/streamer fishing. And boy can it be exciting stuff when the fish are on the feed. The visuals can be killer! Best conditions tend to be when the water is on the drop after it peaks. The dropping water also usually corresponds with clearing water, but still with some color. Black color buggers with an erratic strip. The more erratic, the better sometimes.

April 17, 2011 - Big

Just about everything is big right now. The only exception is our smaller, flashy streams which should run-off relatively quickly, barring any more substantial precipitation.

Now is the time to sling streamers. Hit those smaller SE PA limestoners with a bugger or small bunny strip streamer - - while the water is on the drop - - and you can have an exciting day. The window is small, so hit it.

April 14, 2011 - More Limestoner Reports

The steady olive action continues with this dreary, overcast weather we've been having as of late. In fact next time we hit the water, we might need to bring along a bit of vermouth and gin, because the olives are plentiful! :) That said, once we break on through to the other side of this of this pattern - - watch out!! Things are gonna explode! No doubt the caddis are gonna start popping, and then we can look forward to the progression of our seasonal hatches.

One thing we have noticed with the fish down here in SE PA is that they are becoming a bit more selective. I guess that happens when they are constantly being pestered and stuck with the same BWO patterns over and over again. One way to fool these fish is to downsize and maybe try a midge. A simple black midge will usually do the trick. 5x tippet will usually be more than effective, but micro drag can be an issue, so if you think you are not getting the looks that you should, try moving a step down to 6x.

The Lehigh....Remember, this weekend the Army Corps ratchets back the Lehigh release to 400cfs, so up by the dam, the conditions should be decent for the wade angler. Further downstream with so much inflow still coming into the river - - wading might be a bit sketchy for all but the most aggressive angler. Look for black stones, and maybe some April Greys. Paraleps, Quill Gordons and Hendricksons. Underneath, go with buggers and your larger attractor nymphs.

April 5, 2011 - SE PA Limestoners

Some decent weather coinciding with the weekend allowed us working stiffs to hit the local limestoners and fish in the most comfortable conditions of the year so far. The fish also seemed to enjoy the nice weather. They came out of their winter lies and scooted up into the shallow water so that it was a bit easier to suck down the steady supply of April olives. The most effective pattern this time around was a very dark olive comparadun with an antron shuck. In fact the olives were so dark you had to look very closely to ID. Two tails, and a small rear wing was a dead giveaway that they were beatis and not the blue quill - paraleptophlebia adoptiva.

An interesting note to the day. Despite the fact that it was opening weekend for trout in SE PA, and this was unstocked water; the anglers were out in force. I guess quite a few other folks were looking to get out and get away from the masses crowding the open, stocked water.

Not sure when we are going to be able to hit the Lehigh. But we heard from some angler friends who were on the river this past weekend that they found decent bug action - - mainly little black stones - - and some rising fish. This is very encouraging to hear.