October 2008 Report

2003-2008 Reports
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October 29, 2008 - Streamer Water!

With the recent heavy rains, waters here in the eastern part of the state are running at some really nice levels. Once they begin to level off, start to recede and clear up - - we could be looking at some great streamer conditions. Maybe the combo of the beefed up flows, and the onset of that urge to begin to prep for the spawn will get them feeding well and chowing down on the larger stuff.

Hope to be able to get out in the coming days to see what is going on.

Oh yeah....GO Phillies!!!!


October 20, 2008 - Salt and Fresh

Well the weekend comes along, and so do the gales. Any hope of throwing along the NJ beach front was quickly dashed by a serious blow that caused Gale Warnings to fly, along with Coastal Flood Advisories. And so it goes...hopefully we will be able to get out in the coming weeks.

For those looking to fish some not-so-low water (due to the drought-like weather we are having) - - head on over to the Tully. It appears that the Corps is in the process of drawing down Blue Marsh to its winter pool level...therefore we are seeing some higher than usual flows. Right now the release is around 200cfs, which is a really nice fishing level. In fact this is the highest water we've seen in more than a month. Fish should be feeding well, with the higher water, and cooler days. Good weather on the horizon might make for some fantastic weekday angling with little in the way of pressure.


October 12, 2008 - Lehigh Update

The final (finally!) whitewater release of the year is taking place this weekend. I guess from a whitewater point-of-view all was a success, due to every single releases being met, and then some. Most likely we had more releases this year than any other year, ever! The icing on the cake for the whitewater enthusiasts is the 1,200cfs two-fer...followed up by a 600cfs ramp-down, psuedo-whitewater release on Monday. After the 600cfs ramp-down release, management at Walter will revert back to the inflow = outflow regime. So with not much in the way of inflow we will be looking at some very wade friendly water. With quite a few fish up and down the river appearing to have weathered the summer quite well, we expect the fall fishing to continue to be quite good.

This time of year you don't have to get too fancy with fly selection. If you are a dry fly angler go with something that floats well, and you have confidence in. Good drifts, and proper presentation are more important at this point, then matching things up perfectly. Maybe hang a dropper off the back end as well. A pheasant tail, or hares ear, or maybe even a prince nymph.

Underneath streamer anglers should run some buggers through the longer runs, and deeper holes. Focus in on the current breaks, and slack water. Photoed above is a saturated streamer pic from a few years ago. Good luck!!!


October 7, 2008 - Saltwater

Other than one out-of-season summer flounder, the salt was dead over this past weekend. Although we did see some mullet here and there. You could tell though that they felt comfortable, since they were not moving all that fast along the beach or the rocks. This is a tell-tale sign that there are very few predators around. The water was also extremely clear, and virtually waveless. At this time of year this can work against you since a little color and whitewater gives the predators some cover, and very well can allow them to let loose during during brite daytime conditions. Whatever the case, the fishing was slow.

In the coming weeks with cooler nights, we should see a larger, more sustained migration of bait along the beach front. This migration year after year coincides with our Fall Blitz Trip. Check it out if you want to experience this phenominal fishery.


October 1, 2008 - Update

That POS disguised as the Flexible Flow Management Plan (FFMP) failed to garner support and was shot down for now. This all went down at the most recent DRBC meeting. Looking ahead, at the December meeting the DRBC will once again sit down with the agencies in charge of determining the Upper D's releases and flows. The task...come up with a plan that is flexible enough so that one of the most impressive large trout, dry fly fisheries you'll find anywhere, gets the coldwater it needs.