The Delaware...

The "D" river is any fly fisherman's indulgence and likened to home away from home. In an approximated 1 hour and 20 minutes from Brewster N.Y. to Roscoe Diner, I can grab a quick bite to eat then head up another 22 miles to the Main Stem in the town of Hancock, through rolling hills of green, only to be rewarded by the river's inviting girth and beautiful creatures.

At Bard Parker (Junction Pool) where the West Branch and the East Branch converge, a truly enjoyable journey begins. A pool that spans the size of a few football fields is filled with browns, crazed rainbows, walleye, smallmouth bass, and shad. During the late summer mornings, you will witness 24-35 inch stripers too and if you aren't quite awake just yet, your adrenaline will start pumping once they swallow one of your streamers!

You may even be graced with Bald Eagles, as I was fortunate enough to film, as well as deer and fawn. Just think, to be surrounded by such life only 140 miles from downtown NYC is an unbelievable gift. The first 6-7 miles down to Buckingham are also noteworthy and during the last week of April and the second week of June, the magnificence is that much more enhanced. If you proceed further down river, you can appreciate more solitude, but there is a less abundance of fish. Therefore, I prefer to stay in the upper Main Stem.

By the last week in April, the West Branch is coming alive. This marks the time to stop fishing the Housatonic and head north. Floating the West Branch is a Monday through Friday event, but in these spring months there are so many other drift boats that they can startle the wild fish. Regardless, the entire stretch along the West Branch, specifically from Deposit to Hancock, have many points of interest. As with many blue ribbon rivers that bring out fly fisherman in numbers, there still remains places where one can find solitude and peace.

Water levels can sometimes be an obstacle too, but check prior to making plans and you should be fine. When the cooling waters are released from Cannonsville, you can expect 45-52 degrees in the spring. With regard to temperature elsewhere, granted the water warms as it runs south, but with a good release it can stay in the low 50's to the low 60's, even at Junction Pool in August.