Got an invite from Leif to join him and his son, also Leif, for a few days up at the Buckhorn Lodge on the East Branch of the Delaware. With the okay from the boss I took them up on the opportunity to visit the Delaware River, just some 200 miles north of where I usually fish.
I was on the road by 0930 on Monday, Memorial Day, and by 1230 Leif and I were sitting at Raimondo's Pizzeria in Roscoe for a few slices before heading west to East Branch, New York where I'd call home for a quick 72 hours.
Day one of fishing brought us to Cadosia in the afternoon and then Long Flat in the evening. I can't remember but I think the boys got a couple during the day in the rifflely water.
Long Flat was a disappointment as there were sporadic hatches of March Browns, Sulphur, and Green Drakes. Just before it got dark the spinners showed up in the sky, most likely Coffin Flies,
but the wind had kicked up and we called it a day. Long Flat is the perfect place to fish if you like to be tortured as those fish, by this time of the year, have seen it all in the way of flies, and probably most have been flossed, hooked, or caught.
After a good nights sleep we hit it early at Junction Pool looking for any garbage pickers at the tail out or rainbows in the riffles. Leif caught a small walleye as by-catch but there were no trout to hand by any of us. We had targets but without a hatch it was one and dones rising here and there.
We moved upriver to Methodist and I lugged the tank and a bucket down hoping to a nice fish in there for a picture but we were early so there was nothing to cast to. We did leave one guy there and the next day we saw him again and he said, "I wish you guys stayed. The Green drakes came off at 3". His proof was a nice photo of him holding a 22" butter brown that took and large emerger not too far off the bank.
It was a three days of blind casting if you wanted to, and the two Leifs could cast all day, where I preferred the hunt for that one, or a pod, of fish that were eating. So needless to say my casting ratio to theirs was about 1:100. But, like they say, flies dangling over the water don't catch fish, so I didn't.
In the evening we went back to Cadosia and I walked upstream while boys stayed below. I had a long pool with a foam line that never really had any pickers patrolling around. Again, sporadic hatches that never turned on and most of the risers I saw were working the outside of the foam line. The boys had fish in the faster water with some coming to hand and others not so much.
Oh, I forgot, I did sneak up on and set up on a nice rising fish closer to the bank. The no-bubble rise had me fooled when I set the hook and landed a beautiful fallfish which croaked and groaned as I removed the hook and let it go after documenting the proof, to myself, that I could catch a fish.
Before dark and on the way back to camp we hit Fishes Eddy and had fish up and everywhere but again here, there, and everywhere, except where you stood. It doesn't pay to chase these fish, although I tried. As soon as you got to where you thought they were they would rise where you just left. We did get treated to a nice sunset downriver, and that's me center frame in midcast.
On day three they were calling for big rain coming from the south so the younger Leif jumped on his Harley and headed back. It wouldn't matter what time he left as he was going to meet the rain head-on somewhere, and he did, somewhere in Hunterdon County. We were spared from big rain, just overcast skies with some rain in the afternoon.
As a Squimpish guy, and big fan of David and Stephanie Nelson, and the Rinkers as well, I wanted to stop into their Fish Whistle Trading Post which sits next door to the Knotweed Farm retail store. It'll be a fishy stop in one door and a selection of local grown cannabus products in the other.
Store manger Brian Picorale gave us the tour of the post and it's a neat concept of consignment fly rods and reels, some gear, flies, books, and local artsy kind of swag. It'll also be ground zero of the Squimish line with blends mixed and brushes spun here in the back. By chance Stephanie popped in and finished off the tour giving us a preview of the Knotweed side of the building.
Both stores sit in what was the F.N. Conlon store which sold mens clothing and things like that, previously it was called The Shanty Store, which could be called a general store. Before the turn of the century, the last century, a big fire across the street destroyed those buildings and The Shanty Store, which was rebuilt as the building you see today.
We then headed upriver to Deposit and did tour around. I was surprised to see my friend Tommy Cox's old house torn down and replaced with the one above, which doesn't fit in as well as the house that stood there. I know it had seen a multitude of floods, but this one is just characterless, no offense, it's just the way I feel when I look at it.
We stopped and fished at the old train bridge and were joined by two other anglers. It was there, on day three, I finally landed my first trout, a fine rainbow that chased a small streamer in the fast water. It was a nice fish and it just felt good to get one to hand for the trip.
We jumped downriver stopping at Methodist where the guy we had left yesterday told us about the day he had had. So we stayed, making sure we had our rain gear with us if the rain
came, and it did, but just a light soaking. It was here were we had a nice little short flurry of sulphurs coming off and fish up, just not in one lane or neighborhood. I did find a few and
worked them for awhile before fooling one nice brown. It was a really nice effort and execution, it I say so myself. Worked them, changed flies, found one they liked, hooked em', backed my way to the bank, nice net job, quick pic, popped the fly out, and a nice release. You know how some of these catch and releases really go, no matter how hard you try and be a professional and cause the least stress to the fish.
We had a plan after stopping at Fishes Eddy, go back to the camp, regroup, and then kill them at night back there. After a quick power nap and a beer we were back on the water by 7. The problem was it never got good. Sulphers, Drakes, and March Browns, but again, floating downriver or taking off in flight only to be eaten by any fish in the area. No two bugs took the same lanes twice.
By 11 pm we were talked out and I had to take a shower as I had to get on the road by 4 am to be at work in Newark by 8. It would have been a good day to sleep in as we put the time in
the waders over the three days and my body felt it when the alarm went off at 4 in the morning. It was relatively easy drive until you hit the Thruway and then it was finding a hole shot to avoid being cremated by the commuter buses and traffic heading into New York City. Today was a
special day, kind of, as my tenure came to an end at Essex County College. It was a good run but it's time for me to find a closer gig where I can work hard and do good work. I have something in the works so we'll see if that pans out. But it will never be home like ECC.
Without me around to screw up Leif's plan he spent the day solo working what he does best. Going to where he likes and catching fish, lots of them. He hit the Buckhorn, the Lower
Beaver Kill, and The Jaws and sent me photos through the day and evening of the fine fish he caught. I was happy for him because I know he's a creature of habit, and why change things if they work just the way you like them.
So on my way home from work Delaware Joe called to say he was at the river and had found some fish. Now I didn't have my stuff but I thought I'd stop by to say hello. well, that lasted about 10 minutes. Soon I dug through my truck and pulled out the
Hydros 7 weight and a Double Bunny fly and went to work. It took some time but I finally hooked a nice sized striped trout.
I am thankful for the invite, for good times with good friends, and even bringing a few fish to hand. The days go quick up there as the action comes in flurries only during certain parts of the day, or not. I've lost a touch of my trout game over the years and I needed to stop and make a few casts close to home to see if I still had my striped bass game on.
