Teh Big D

I ran across The Wet Boots' recent post where he gives a shout out to the Delaware river. Since that is a river that I really enjoy fishing, it got me thinking.

Teh Wind Knot's first assault on The D was in the company of a buddy who is a Jersey homer but an otherwise fine fishing companion. It was an impromptu trip to kill some time before some event Jersey Homer's wife had planned that evening. As hard as it is to believe, TWK was completely skunked on that first visit. He did, however, learn the joys of a local delicacy: the Taylor Pork Roll. With egg and cheese on a hard roll. Yummy.

About a year later, TWK had to attend a wedding in upstate New York and decided to take a week to head up there and fish a bunch of the good streams from PA to New England. One of the stops was for a couple of days on The D. Teh skunking had left an impression and TWK was determined to bring the river to its knees. All that was necessary was someone other than Jersey Homer on the oars and your hero would show those fishies a thing or two. Wrong.

The thing about floating with a guide is that a decent guide can handle the boat so that as long as the sports can generally flop the fly over the gunwale, the guide can manage the drift and get the sport on the fish. It is not quite as easy on the Delaware. The fish in The D are selective and wild, wild, wild. Getting anywhere near them with a drift boat puts them down in the clear water.

TWK was having to make insanely long reach casts to rising fish his guide had spotted with binoculars as they subtly sipped dries. As The Wet Boots mentioned, a bad drift will generally put the fish down. It was sort of like bonefishing where the client almost never sees the darn things and just has to try to make the cast the guide calls for.

It was almost like work. Until the take. The fish in The D are big and can fight. The tally that day was not impressive, but the fish landed were. And landing them was an absolute blast.

Since then, I hit The D at least once a year, usually in the late Summer/early Fall when it is still hot at Teh Wind Knot Central but cooling off up in them parts.

This year, we are going to try it in May and bring along Lady Wind Knot. Can't wait. It is some of the most challenging trout fishing I know, but it is a great time.

You should definitely put it on the list if you have never been.