Streamer Eater in June.
Another terrific season on the Delaware watershed has come to an end and the River Range Adventures team is now gearing up for a summer season out west on the Snake River, South Fork, YNP, and surrounding tributaries.
This season on the Delaware was no different from past seasons with the exception of a slightly delayed hatch chart. The Hendricksons were late and so on were most insects, culminating with the Green Drakes getting strongest towards the END of June!
First Trout.
The high water going into May helped a terrific streamer bite especially in the smaller water sections behind the dams. Their were periods where incredibly large flies produced very well — under high and stained flows with spilling reservoirs we were able to test some new swim styles on patterns that have us excited for next year. The tape never broke the 23” mark this year although a much higher percentage of fish fell in this range from 18” - 22”.
Evening Session.
On certain sections that are farther from the tailwater releases, we noticed fish populations were in very healthy shape. Their were lots of fish in the 7” - 14” range, especially small Rainbows. It seems the high flows from the previous summer definitely helped these freestone sections!
After the rains and cool temperatures of early May dissipated, the weather patterns stabilized, the water temperatures rose and the riffles dropped into shape. For about a month from May 20 to June 20, we experienced excellent nymph conditions. The water temperatures only broke 70 degrees on one evening and then returned to the 50’s the following days. These optimal temperatures made landing the large wild Rainbows something of a task. The odds became more like Tarpon fishing where beginner fisherman would land 1 out of 3 fish. Their high metabolisms and acrobatic surges were fun to navigate.
Head Hunted.
The Coffin Fly bite was incredible this year with two + weeks of excellent fishing after dark. In fact our best day of guiding ever on the system came on June 20th — where one of our boats was able to anchor on the lower river and cast at hundreds of targets with a size 6 Coffin Fly. The sheer biomass of feeding trout on large flies was incredible and the amount of 18” + fish was just amazing to see.
Coffin Eater at Night.
Again, most of the above conditions were small windows around typical fishing patterns where fish can be hard to come by. The Delaware doesn’t give fish easy or without working well past the easy stuff. Late nights, early mornings, rain, wading deep into riffles, long pushes, and even longer boat drags upstream were all necessary to avoid the crowds and find these coveted windows where unpressured fish would feed. Unlike out west, where rivers that drain off the cold and snow-laden Continental divide — the trout here are active mostly at night or conditions that mimicked these periods. So remember that your 8 hour guided trip may be spent hunting certain 2 hour windows and the best guides seem to always increase the amount of windows you might get in a day.
We want to thank everyone who fished with us this past season and hope to see you again somewhere down the line.
20”.
Rainy Day Riffle.
March Brown.
#RiverRangeAdventures
#wherethewildstillholdsdominion
Stay tuned for a quick trip to Baja and then a summer guiding the Snake River in WY!