Easton to Riegelsville float

[mellowluke]

I'm thinking of floating the Easton to Riegelsville stretch in a drift boat to try and hit some SMB water. Has anyone floated this stretch before? Suggestions?

 

[afishinado]

mellowluke wrote:
I'm thinking of floating the Easton to Riegelsville stretch in a drift boat to try and hit some SMB water. Has anyone floated this stretch before? Suggestions?

Should be a nice float. It's a good distance and I can be long float in a drift boat if the wind blows from the south.

The River doesn't hold nearly as many smallies as it did a few years ago, but hopefully you'll find them somewhere along the float.

Have a good time and post a report.

 

[Sabot]

I really like that section. I usually do well on smallmouth there. That used to be my "go to" stretch for smallmouth bass. I'm not sure that the numbers are down but the ones I catch seem to be smaller than in past years. This could be my fault though as I'm always messing around with new patterns. I strongly recommend crayfish patterns be used, at least for part of the time. I've hooked lots of bass and some really sporty carp on crayfish patterns in that stretch. There are muskies in there too and I've caught an occasional striper. Good Luck!

 

[beeber2]

That is my home stretch. I've only floated it once this year in July and the fishing was slow at best. I sure hope it rebounds. I've been doing somewhat better above the confluence of the delaware with the lehigh.

White poppers, buggers (white,brown,black), clouser minnows are good choices.

The fish have been around current seams lately and in the fast water.

I launch from the phillipsburg nj ramp, there is better parking there. It is a nice float, good scenery.

Good luck!

 

[sandfly]

If you see to giant banana's floating wave to the Beeber2...

 

[mellowluke]

Trip report: weather was great, fishing was just okay. I didn't get to fish very much as I rowed, but the fly rods did not elicit a take (fishing clousers, white wooly buggers, sneaky pete, and a dry dropper). My friends picked up 2 smb and 1 sunfish on spin gear jigging tubes and fishing minnow patterns. I'd return for another float. Scenery was quite nice and lunch at 2 rivers brewery post float was really kick-***.

 

[afishinado]

mellowluke wrote:
Trip report: weather was great, fishing was just okay. I didn't get to fish very much as I rowed, but the fly rods did not elicit a take (fishing clousers, white wooly buggers, sneaky pete, and a dry dropper). My friends picked up 2 smb and 1 sunfish on spin gear jigging tubes and fishing minnow patterns. I'd return for another float. Scenery was quite nice and lunch at 2 rivers brewery post float was really kick-***.

Sounds like a good time, but yeah, fishing for smallies has been tough. I've taken the o-fer several times in in that section of the River.

It may be a while before decent SMB fishing returns to the River. It will take a few years of good smallie spawns and a few years for them to grow up.

 

[troutbert]

afishinado wrote:

mellowluke wrote:
Trip report: weather was great, fishing was just okay. I didn't get to fish very much as I rowed, but the fly rods did not elicit a take (fishing clousers, white wooly buggers, sneaky pete, and a dry dropper). My friends picked up 2 smb and 1 sunfish on spin gear jigging tubes and fishing minnow patterns. I'd return for another float. Scenery was quite nice and lunch at 2 rivers brewery post float was really kick-***.

Sounds like a good time, but yeah, fishing for smallies has been tough. I've taken the o-fer several times in in that section of the River.

It may be a while before decent SMB fishing returns to the River. It will take a few years of good smallie spawns and a few years for them to grow up.

What happened to them? Did the smallmouth in the Delaware River suffer from the same infections as on the Susquehanna?

 

[afishinado]

troutbert wrote:

afishinado wrote:

mellowluke wrote:
Trip report: weather was great, fishing was just okay. I didn't get to fish very much as I rowed, but the fly rods did not elicit a take (fishing clousers, white wooly buggers, sneaky pete, and a dry dropper). My friends picked up 2 smb and 1 sunfish on spin gear jigging tubes and fishing minnow patterns. I'd return for another float. Scenery was quite nice and lunch at 2 rivers brewery post float was really kick-***.

Sounds like a good time, but yeah, fishing for smallies has been tough. I've taken the o-fer several times in in that section of the River.

It may be a while before decent SMB fishing returns to the River. It will take a few years of good smallie spawns and a few years for them to grow up.

What happened to them? Did the smallmouth in the Delaware River suffer from the same infections as on the Susquehanna?

No, I believe that the downturn in the SMB population in the Delaware River is part of a natural cycle. There have been numerous years of unsuccessful spawns due mostly from high water events wiping out or preventing the fish from successfully spawning in the spring.

Here are the results of the D River YOY surveys from 2012 (the latest I could dig up). Check out the graph for the Middle Delaware, which is the section discussed. And from my knowledge, both 2013 and 2014 were bad spawning years.

Maybe Mike K will comment and give us more info.

 

[mellowluke]

Thinking about doing the same float in the spring. You think it's worth wasting the day during the spring?

 

[krayfish2]

You should have shad blowing through in another 5 weeks or so. They are worth a float. The fresh fish should be feisty compared to what I've caught up higher in the system. Bass will also be getting ready for their spawn April / early May. Find the right structure and you'll find the big ones.

 

[sandfly]

fish deep along the channels for shad good section to get into them

 

[Mike]

Yes, angler's are experiencing the results of a number of below average year classes brought on by natural conditions related to river flow at critical times. Some years of average to good spawning success will straighten the present situation out. Average year classes are good enough to improve and maintain the fishery. Meanwhile, continuing to focus on the river's better habitat areas should bring good fishing. Just drifting along and fishing all of the habitat may not be the best tactic under these conditions.

 

[Dave_W]

Thanks for the YOY link Afish.

Good year classes in 07/08 but just average since then, especially in the lower river. There have certainly been complaints of poor SMB fishing in SEPA for a awhile. Perhaps 2016 will see a good YOY in the big D.

 

[Sabot]

As I said in my previous post, I have fished this section a lot. Mike and Sandfly are right on the money. There are some deep, I mean really deep, holes and eddies in that stretch. Use quick sinking line and sinking flies to get right to the bottom. In addition to SMB and carp, I've pulled legal walleyes and stripers out of those holes.

 

[Sabot]

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, Two Rivers has great beer and burgers. Try their "duck" fries, yum!

 

[Mike]

I won't specify where, but this stretch contains the absolute best half mile of Smallmouth bass electrofishing abundance that we have ever found on the Delaware from Easton to Yardley. It has been consistently great and the abundance just slams anything that we have ever seen elsewhere on the lower River. It also contains some pretty bad stretches that happen to look good.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
I won't specify where, but this stretch contains the absolute best half mile of Smallmouth bass electrofishing abundance that we have ever found on the Delaware from Easton to Yardley. It has been consistently great and the abundance just slams anything that we have ever seen elsewhere on the lower River. It also contains some pretty bad stretches that happen to look good.

Lol^

I believe I know the answer, but what type of habitat should a smallmouth bass angler be looking for to find a decent population of fish with respect to flow > depth > structure > cover > bottom composition, etc.

 

[afishinado]

afishinado wrote:

Mike wrote:
I won't specify where, but this stretch contains the absolute best half mile of Smallmouth bass electrofishing abundance that we have ever found on the Delaware from Easton to Yardley. It has been consistently great and the abundance just slams anything that we have ever seen elsewhere on the lower River. It also contains some pretty bad stretches that happen to look good.

Lol^

I believe I know the answer, but what type of habitat should a smallmouth bass angler be looking for to find a decent population of fish with respect to flow > depth > structure > cover > bottom composition, etc.

I'll take a stab at how to find and Fly-fish SMB:

As far as where to fish in general, SMB usually prefer areas with some current, depth and plenty of rocks/boulders. Work these areas well, and concentrate your casts in and around the rocks and current breaks. Try all types of presentations: dead drifting, swinging, fast stripping and everything in between until you find what the fish are looking for at the time.

Move and search. When you find where they're hanging out and hit the right presentation (a pattern), stick with it and hammer them! The pattern may change during the day so remain flexible and don't be afraid to experiment with different water types, presentations and flies to get back on them.

You don't need a whole lot of different patterns and flies to catch smallies. A couple of different flies in a couple of light and dark colors should do the job. You can't go wrong with a wooly bugger. Bass sometimes key in on colors or just even light or dark flies. Try some olive/black buggers (my & the fishes favorite) chartreuse, white, and maybe brown. Clousers work well at times with the classic color being chartreuse over white. A few medium sized poppers and maybe some sliders in light and dark colors should round out the selection.

If things are really tough, it would be a good idea to have some large nymphs in your box, stonefly patterns work well. Try dead drifting and swinging them if the smallies aren't chasing.

 

[mellowluke]

Has anyone actually targeted Shad on this float? I've hooked quite a few shad, but in the upper D when they're just about dead.