Lower D Smallies

[rckrego]

Any of you guys fish the D regularly? I've been hitting the scudders falls area regularly, but not been regularly into fish. Curious. Anyone else got any insight?

 

[sandfly]

Typical of scudders, tie and fish some muddlers "V" waked in the surface. Also a size 10 zebra caddis and a size 6 shad pattern to match the small shad coming down river. Watch for the tiger trout there as well and stripers. The flat below the falls on the joisey side has 20 lb. stripers at times in 2 foot of water feeding. The tigers run 16" to 25" most evenings.

 

[rckrego]

Thanks Bob! (It is Bob right?) Will do. Had some luck earlier in the season with olive zonkers, but have thrown just about everything since without much luck, other than the occasional take on a woolly worm dead drifted.

My buddy and I were out the other night. He tied on a giant double bunny from hell and sunk it to the bottom with a sink tip. Got a massive positive hook up with something out in the main channel that quickly broke him off. I thought flathead, but who knows.

Seen quite a few, very large, dead walleye lately.

 

[sandfly]

(yep) Could have been a striper or a channel cat too. There are some monster fish in that area.

 

[sholgate]

Staying at the Del Water Gap beginning of Aug. Thanks for the information. I have admit, at times I am little intimidated by big water and waders, but I am getting better.

 

[rckrego]

I think I'll increase the test on my tippet!

 

[sandfly]

Just make sure you have a wading belt on you will float. If you go in face down stream and keep your legs bent and up so as not to hit a rock with them straight out. Water gap should have nice schoolie stripers and lots of smallies now. Try a small shad imataion as there will millions of them up there getting ready to head down river.


Almost forgot, if you wet wade remember there will be hundreds of rafters/tubers above you peeing in the river....LOL...

 

[rckrego]

Wet wading is the only way to go. That way you can pee right along with everyone else.

 

[JeffK]

Will second that wet wading is the way to go. However, I have been fishing a lot between Foul Rift and the Water Gap this summer. Have also heard good reports above the Gap from guys I trust. With the low, clear water this year the rocks in the rapids have a thicker than normal coating of algae that is super slick. Therefore, I have been forgoing the usual sneakers and have been using wading boots with tungsten cleats and neoprene wading socks. Even with the cleats some sections have been hard to wade.

The good news is that the fishing has been great. The better fish have been in the deeper runs/rapids during the day (where the wading on rocks is a bear). Shallower parts of rapids are full of the smaller guys. At night fishing the shallows at the tails of pools/mouths of creeks can be hot for fish busting schools of minnows, plus the wading is easier since the bottom in the shallows is usually sand or gravel.

I've been doing better so far with natural colored flies, but the white ones are picking up with the shadlings growing up. Always liked a pencil popper for night fishing shallows because I prefer surface action, but a white bugger or Zonker is just fine.

The canoer/tuber/rafter hatch has been unusually heavy this year, but I have also found them to be very polite and I haven't had any problems other than the non-stop "watchyacatchin?" Fished the Housatonic/Farmington two weeks ago and it was rare that the canoers had enough skills to keep away from the fishermen. The situation is better in the Delaware.

As far as the river being big, just worry about the water within casting range and the river will get smaller. Fishing the rapids is mostly like trout fishing. In the deeper runs few rocks come to the surface, but there are always foam lines and seams that concentrate fish.

 

[RyanR]

If you're in the DelWaterGap area in mid-August and wearing waders you're friggin' nuts! Sholgate, the water temp will still be in the high 70s low 80s, wet wade that and stay comfortable.

 

[sholgate]

Good advise:

Wade wet.
Wear boots w/ wading socks.
Watch out for paddlers and pee.

 

[JeffK]

Like anybody needs another fly recommendation, but you rarely go wrong with a chartreuse over white Clouser minnow. Clouser minnows are just one of those flies that seem to work for smallies just about anywhere.

 

[rckrego]

Got some schoolie stripers the other morning on all white thick profile clousers.

 

[sandfly]

Try a white deceiver with a little silver mylar, works great on the schoolies.

 

[rckrego]

Cheers. Will do. They're fun.

 

[sandfly]

Try the center bridge area above new hope, theres a mill just above stockton with a parking lot next to it (look for small white building) fish the river down and across to the pa side, good place for stripers and walleyes. up river in the flat is a good place to find tiger trout, and bass.

 

[beadhead2]

Sandfly
That area has all changed from the floods
All the nice holes are gone
Got skunked the last few times I went there

 

[Alpabuck]

Sandfly,

You mention these tiger trout in the D, who is stocking them?

 

[JeffK]

I think the floods stocked a lot of the tigers (and big tigers too! - to 10 lbs) out of the Musky Trout Hatchery's Carpentersville, NJ ponds. After the one big flood receded it seemed the mouth of every trout stream up to Hancock had a big tiger or two.

Just an August update. Fished 8/1/10 and the river around Foul Rift to Columbia was filled with little shadlings. Bottom techniques that had been working great for the last month drew a blank - a few fish on shad patterns. I think the fish are getting well fed with with all the bait around ( or the fish weren't biting because of the weather). Saw a few schools breaking and got most of my hits around breaking shad. Fishing the bait pods was tough as the bait was everywhere and didn't seem to concentrate the fish.

 

[sandfly]

A blados crease fly colored to match the shad and fished on a sinking line with a short (3') leader will work now. Fish it near the schools of bait but under them.