The Delaware R. stripers are in

[Mike]

Best places to get at the stripers on the Pa side with a fly if you don't have a boat or a kayak: Trenton Falls, Morrisville, Bucks Co.; Fairmount Dam tail-race, west side, Schuylkill R., Phila. If you have a kayak, you can make a killing at a number of spots, particularly on the NJ side. Having experienced the fishing in the Delaware, I don't know why anyone would drive 1.5 hours farther to fish the Jersey shore at this time of the year unless they are intent on harvest of a 28" or longer fish.

 

[Fredrick]

Have you tried the airport area yet ?

 

[Fishidiot]

Great news! Been a long time since I've fished the lower D. Personally, I love the sites and sounds of surf fishing but, truth be told, big tidal rivers are often better places to locate stripers, esp big ones in springtime.

 

[greenlander]

Mike,

Thanks for the info. Been wondering a lot recently about getting stripers near Philly on the fly. Can you PM or post access info and any tips on flies, tactics, etc for the spots near the city? Or even Trenton?

Is stripping clousers the way to go? Or is swinging a better tactic in rivers vs. the surf? Would love to chase these fish near home!

Thanks,
Chad

 

[Mike]

Don't put it off if you think you are going to go. The best fishing will last for the next three and one-half weeks. The last 10 days of May can be much tougher because fish are starting to leave some areas and there are less females around.

 

[greenlander]

Definitely going. Would love some access info on the skuke near philly though. No idea where to go without a boat.

 

[sandfly]

below the fairmount dam is good. don't forget the herring runs also, they are good pickled.

 

[afishinado]

If he can do, all of you big burly fishin' pros should be able to latch on to some stripers on the D...

(Pic from Eastern Fishing Reports)

 

[greenlander]

But are there reasonable places to access the river on foot below the Fairmont dam? Especially in this high water ...

I'm assuming it would be from the western side?

 

[Mike]

Read my original post....carefully!! It's tidal so take your cleats or whatever you have to give you good traction on slippery rocks ( if you are from western Pa, then its good traction on "slippy" rocks )

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
Read my original post....carefully!! It's tidal so take your cleats or whatever you have to give you good traction on slippery rocks ( if you are from western Pa, then its good traction on "slippy" rocks )

Yup, and watch out for the "jagger" bushes along the bank... ;-)

 

[greenlander]

Better to fish high tide or low tide in the tidal areas? Or doesn't matter?

 

[ryguyfi]

afish... If that picture is from Western PA, I've got a good idea of where it is. The toughest part of that area is all those rocks. It's a VERY steep grade down to the river and most places are almost impossible to fly fish due to no room for a back cast. I've tried it before without much luck, but I've got a few other spots I may try out this year. I've caught a good handful of stripers on spinning gear though. Nothing like that picture though.

 

[afishinado]

ryguyfi wrote:
afish... If that picture is from Western PA, I've got a good idea of where it is. The toughest part of that area is all those rocks. It's a VERY steep grade down to the river and most places are almost impossible to fly fish due to no room for a back cast. I've tried it before without much luck, but I've got a few other spots I may try out this year. I've caught a good handful of stripers on spinning gear though. Nothing like that picture though.

Sorry RY...the D River back-east....

 

[afishinado]

greenlander wrote:
Better to fish high tide or low tide in the tidal areas? Or doesn't matter?

I'll save our friend Mike some typing. I searched his posts and every spring he makes a Striper Post. I cut and past his past posts. Here's some great info on the when, where and how for D stripers:

Best places to get at the stripers on the Pa side with a fly if you don't have a boat or a kayak: Trenton Falls, Morrisville, Bucks Co.; Fairmount Dam tail-race, west side, Schuylkill R., Phila. If you have a kayak, you can make a killing at a number of spots, particularly on the NJ side. Having experienced the fishing in the Delaware, I don't know why anyone would drive 1.5 hours farther to fish the Jersey shore at this time of the year unless they are intent on harvest of a 28" or longer fish.

Just released is a new report on the Delaware Estuary striped bass studies. Included is state-by-state tag return information from 3200 stripers tagged (600 tags returned) in the Delaware and Schuylkill between 1995-2009, inclusive. The fishing in the tidal river (Delaware Estuary) primarily occurs in late March, April, and May. Peak time is about the second week in April until the second to third week in May.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/reports/2010bio/6x06_23dela.htm

If you wish to fly fish for stripers on a C&R basis in spring along the tidal Delaware and Schuylkill in Pa, there are a few locations where the fish are frequently in areas that are accessible by foot from shore. The Schuylkill location has already been mentioned above. A Delaware Estuary location is off the public road that roughly parallels the shoreline behind the Phila Airport. Another one is the shoreline that runs along the mile long fall line at the head of tide, known as Trenton Falls. This is accessed via the Morrisville, Pa. side of the river. On the other hand, the NJ shoreline is much more accessible and some good places to start are the shorelines near National Park (near the public launch) and downstream from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. The shorelines that extend for a mile above and below the Cinnaminson walled waterfront are also good loctions to find the fish, but I do not know whether these locations are accessible to the public. I see people fishing those locations on occasion, however. You'll need to explore this on your own. There is a very tight window of opportunity along the Delaware shoreline other than at Trenton Falls. It is during the period from about May 8 to May 26. When you are on the NJ side the wind is usually in your face.


When: Sometimes as early as the last week in March, but more typically in April and May, concentrating on periods of steady or rising water temps. An especially good water temp range is 60 F - 68F, but the fish will certainly hit in cooler water than that. The problem is that they are not real common in near shore areas (for shore fly or lure anglers) until the temp hits around 60 F. The exceptions to this are in the few hundred yards below Fairmount Dam on the Schuylkill in Phila and at Trenton Falls, which is the tidal set of rapids between Morrisville, Pa and Trenton, NJ. At those two locations you can pretty much just go by the time of year and not necessarily the 60 F rule. That may also be true at some NJ creek mouths, but generally 60F is a good rule of thumb for near-shore areas. Good numbers are often present in the Schuylkill in April and May.

Where/when: Aside from what I mentioned above, once 60 F is hit and temps are steady or rising, fish near shore areas during the three hours before and three hours after high tide. Fish will typically be in 4-10 feet of water, but may be as shallow as 2 ft. So, if you wade out, they may be in front of you and behind you. Good spots on the Delaware Estuary are along sandy beaches with good current, creek mouths, island shorelines that face the main river channel, concrete rip-rapped areas, again paralleled by good current speed, sand bars, discharges from large wetlands, and, if you can stand it, sewage treatment plant discharges. Stay out of coves, other than at the points where the coves meet the main river. The greatest amount of shore access to good habitat in the Pa. portion of the Delaware Estuary is on the NJ side, if you can gain access. One good spot is the nature center at the end of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge where there is good habitat for about a mile below the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. That good habitat continues upstream to about a mile below Dredge Harbor, by-passing the walled stretch at Cinnaminson, NJ, but I am not aware of the legal access situation other than at the nature center. I see people shore fishing the stretch between TP bridge and Dredge Harbor at places, but I don't know the status of the lands they crossed to get to those places. Another potentially good spot is the shoreline along and upstream from National Park, NJ, where there is a public boat ramp. The fish sometimes show up on that sandy beach in big numbers.

On the Pa side, shore spots with good concentrations of fish are limited. One popular one is on the stone wall across the street and behind the UPS terminal, which is on the back side of the Phila Airport.

 

[greenlander]

afish,

thanks for putting all that info in one place. much appreciated.

 

[greenlander]

Well, gave it a shot today from around 11am till 3 pm at the Fairmount Dam. Water was incredibly muddy, wasn't able to see any fish unless they basically were breaching the surface. What I did see were shad.

Foul hooked a couple of shad, but that was it. No bass. Fished a variety of deceivers and clousers on the swing w/ my spey. Had a heavy sink tip on, so hopefully things were getting down. Had a tough time getting the sort of swings I would have liked. Current was strong and my casting was awful. Been awhile since I was out with the spey rod and room was very limited. I think I hit myself in the back of the head 3 times. If that was how I casted normally, I'd offer that rod free to a good home. What a disgrace.

Saw lots of shad even in that chocolate milk. Tried some smaller stuff to get them, and managed a few follows, but no luck.

Might try it again when the water clears.

For those that have fished this area before for stripers -- are they normally visible in clearer water, or is it hard to spot fish here due to the current?

 

[Fredrick]

Greenlander strip strip strip pause and count down till you hit bottom swinging flies does work for stripers but they are more of a ambush predator and they like to chase a fly down like a smallie . I might be heading out in the late afternoon today in the airport area let me know if you want to meet up . It would be a nice spot for overhand spey .Also stripers don't like the sun best times to fish are low light times and moving water

 

[greenlander]

Hmm, I just assumed swinging was a viable method. Well, I'll know better next time. Though I will say, I can't imagine being able to strip and let the fly sink in that current. It seemed like dead drift and swing were the only available options ... unless you fished out-of-current water right along the rocks/shore.

I'd definitely take you up on the offer to meet by the airport if it weren't game 7 tonight. I'd love some first hand advice on finding and hooking stripers in the river.

I'll definitely be out looking for them again soon.

 

[a10loadtoad]

Go Flyers!!!! Greenlander, I am planning on heading up and fishing a couple hours around the Burlington Bristol Bridge tomorrow morning if you are interested. High tide is around 0930 there and I will probably get there around 8 after I get done work. Also thinking about hitting the airport area tomorrow night as well. High tide there is around 1930. I'll shoot you a PM with my cell number if you are interested.