Pocono Fly Fishing: West Branch Delaware, May 16-17 2013

I made it up to the WB of the Delaware River in northeast Wayne County, PA. It was a beautiful drive from the Pocono's with all county roads after I got off I-380 North/Route 6. The flows have been low on the WB for a few weeks so I knew wading would be doable but I didn't realize that I could cross the river at almost any section I fished. There were few deep holes that would go past my chest waders. I fished mostly the state game lands on the PA side and below Balls Eddy boat ramp. Thursday brought a lot of bugs in the morning and a crazy evening hatch. There were caddis throughout the day and fish were rising to them but the wind was blowing hard which made it difficult to apply a good cast/presentation. The water was gin clear, the skies were blue bird, but the fish were still actively feeding in the middle of the day but most rises were in slow water which allows these educated fish all the time in the world to inspect your fly. Not good for me! I didn't experience any of the famed "super hatches" but caddis filled the sky after 4 pm and the spinner fall in the evening was insane. 3-4 different types of spinners were floating spent in the current. What were the trout keying on? Who knows! A rusty spinner pretty much covered most of the spinners that were floating down the river.

I landed 3 browns. One on a yellow partridge wet, one on a sulphur emerger, and one on a pale evening dun. I was amazed by how many trout I visually saw on the river. Once I would stop and read the water for 5 minutes or less, I'd start to see subtle rises. There were some splashy rises for emergers but most were sipping spinners.

I stayed at the Capra Inn Motel in Hancock for $50/night (after taxes)! They really cater to fisherman as they have a place to clean/hang your waders, free ice, boat shuttle, etc...The rooms are of a typical motel but they were clean and served its purpose. There were other anglers fishing the WB on Thursday and Friday morning but it was not crowded. I moved upstream from the upper state game lands parking lot and had a 1/2 mile on both sides of me to myself. Not bad for this famous river! I imagine the weekends are more crowded.

Conclusion: Next time I'll try to fish it on a cloudy or drizzly day with less wind but I was impressed by the river and everything that I'd read was true. It's a genuine dry fly river and it has quantity and quality and it took me less than 2 hours to drive there.