H: Home pool is home to some of the biggest and prettiest rainbows in the Upper Delaware river (honestly, I'm not at all biased :). These past two months I've been very fortunate to catch some real beauties.
Usually I can catch them on dries through the end of October. But this fall, the releases from the Cannonsville reservoir have been so erratic that the dry fly fishing has been hit or miss, mostly miss over the weekends. I've seen the river jump from a bare bones 500 cfs to 2300 cfs in a matter of days. It's been a crazy yo-yo rollercoaster ride for these poor trout and all the other creatures that call the Upper Delaware home.
So I've gotten into the habit of taking my trout spey rod down to the river, along with my dry fly rod, to swing streamers. It's turned out to be a successful tactic. I can cover large amounts of water (my home water is pretty big) and when the releases are especially large, I've been using sinking polyleaders and big flies. Plus, it's gotten me ready for steelhead fishing.
Here are some rainbow highlights from the last couple of months.
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Caught my biggest rainbow to date on the Delaware. She didn't fit in the net. Of course my phone battery dies after a quick photo LOL. |
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A gorgeous rainbow that just fits in the net. Photo: M. Chapple |
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A real stunner. The beauty and power of these Delaware rainbows never fails to blow me away. Photo: M. Chapple |
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A double rainbow afternoon on the Delaware. Just being on the river to see this would have made my day. |
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Another rosy cheeked beauty from home pool. |
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See ya later Ms. Rainbow! |
What are the benefits of a sinking poly-leader? Never heard of a sinking leader. I used to use a braided leader to turn over heavy flies in a tight spot and provide a litle give on white bass.
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