Catskills post PAFF JAM blowout

[krayfish]

Headed up to Hancock Sunday morning after the rains blew out central PA. DaveS, Stimey, PhilC, NJ Tom and Josh showed up. My brother in law also brought the nephews up for a few days. I skipped the first day as the gauge in Stilesville read 5000 cfs. Too much for me. Stimey, Dave and Phil gave it a run and caught fish. They even found rising fish and hatches. Gutcutter and 3 buddies were at the WB Angler and we stayed in touch. Some good success was found wading / floating the lower Beaverkill. IMO, the main was dangerously high so we skipped it. I hit the east one day with the bro in law and youngest nephew but it was a bust. Dave and Stimey kept getting into fish higher up on the west so we floated that a few times. Fish were taken on streamers, caddis, hendricksons, rusty spinners, paraleps, My buddy Brandon that guides for Joe D had a few days off and lent his boat so I could take the kids down the river. Back to back afternoons I hooked 15-20 fish and handed them off to the youngsters. They lost all but one. LOL. The oldest nephew took one on a rusty spinner all by himself and it measured right at 20". In the end, we had a pretty good trip in spite of the poor conditions. Below is a video of the trip.

 

[Night_Stalker]

Cool stuff Andy!

 

[J55tyger88]

Great pics! Awesome fish too! Looks like you guys had some fun eh?

 

[timmyt]

Still bummed i didnt make it up there!!

 

[afishinado]

Nice Andy! Looks like you made lemonade out of a lemon. A good time had by all (cept for the oarman )

 

[GenCon]

Wow, that is some good stuff there.

GenCon

 

[krayfish]

Estimated that I rowed 46 miles. Barely fished but had fun. We lost 2 big streamer fish and whiffed the biggest trout I've ever seen rise to dry flies

 

[JackM]

There are no trout in the Delaware.

 

[Brownie101]

That's true Jack, only smallmouth in the Delaware. ;-)

 

[Six-Gun]

Wow - what a great trip! Those browns were looking healthy and big. Glad the kids at least got to work a few of those beast.

 

[JackM]

Liars are the worst!

 

[krayfish]

for anyone having trouble identifying the fish those were all smallmouth

 

[pro4mance]

Andy did you manage to stay dry and not miss that rock on the depth check with the net? Haha still have that vision in my head!

 

[Six-Gun]

Looks like I gotta work on my fish ID. I thought they were all bluegill.

 

[gfen]

JackM wrote:
There are no trout in the Delaware.

stripers eat em. read it on the internet.

 

[krayfish]

Norm,

Don't want to disappoint..... Yes, I fell. Instead of falling in 12" of water like last time, I tried to get out in 4' of water to take a leak. Failed as usual.

 

[DaveS]

I'd like to add a few comments;

First anyone who knows Krayfish, knows 46 miles is about two floats!

Secondly, After several years of struggling on the Delaware, this time the fish were pretty cooperative. The high water actually made it easier to get closer to the fish. A real benefit if you area lousy caster like me.

And "C", I think nearly every fish in every picture can largely be attributed to Krayfish. He has shared his wealth of knowedge, experience, and unique perspective with so many of us that fish the D. There'd be a lot fewer smiling anglers without his help.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure those aren't smallmouth bass, they are fine spotted walleye.

 

[krayfish]

Come on Dave. You anchored up several evenings and mowed them down.......I was on the opposite side of the river trying to figure things out.

Anyone that's been lucky enough to fish with Dave knows he flat out just catches fish. Every year, he drives 6 hours each way to meet us in Hancock. I always seem to invite 1st timers. Since Dave has a 2 man boat, he takes others down the river making sure they catch fish / enjoy themselves. If we float for 8 hours, Dave rows for 7 hours so others can fish. Very unselfish . I owe a big thanks to Dave for rowing my nephew and brother in law around for 3 days.

I'd also like to thank stimey. Jim is fortunate enough to have a driftboat and 2 man pontoon. He brings both and doesn't hesitate to share any open seats. Not many people would go out of their way to bring both.

Just 2 more great examples of quality people I've met on this forum.

We didn't even get a chance to hold our annual trophy fallfish tournament. Dave retains title for another year.

 

[Stimey]

Andy, good pics... I have a few on my camera that I will post if I ever find the cord to connect it to my computer. I have one of PhilC's 21 incher from the upper WB. Man that was a nice fish. As always good fishing with you guys.

 

[IdratherbePhishing]

Would love to get back up there. Next time ya head up Andy lmk. You can send a paper airplane down the hill with the dates or MSG in a bottle down stony.