Upper Delaware River
The Mighty D!
If you didn’t already know, the Upper Delaware River is one of the most famous wild rainbow and brown trout fisheries in the country. Between the West Branch, East Branch, and Main Stems of the Delaware River there are nearly 100 miles of wild trout water to explore.
Whether you’re on the West Branch, Upper East Branch, or the Lower Main Stem of the Delaware River, you’ll be fishing for large, wild, educated trout. These fish make you work for them too! No matter what method of fly fishing we’re doing that day, be prepared for technical fly fishing. The Upper Delaware River rivals any large river system in the country, no matter which stretch of water you’re fishing.
The East, West, & Main
The West Branch of the Delaware River is fed by Cannonsville Reservoir, a large and pristine New York water supply reservoir. The East Branch of the Delaware River is fed by Pepactin Reservoir, an even larger New York supplier. Large freestone rivers such as the Beaverkill and many other mountain vein streams feed these two large rivers as they flow downstream. These two immense reservoirs provide ice cold water to the East and West Branches, making them cold water fisheries year round.
The East and West meet below the town of Hancock and form the Main Stem of the Delaware River. The Main Stem provides nearly 50 more miles of big, pristine, wild trout water.
Tis the season!
All of the Upper Delaware River stems fish well throughout the entire year. The spring and summer provide some of the country's most diverse mayfly, caddis, stonefly, terrestrial, and midge hatches; making it a dry fly fisherman’s paradise! There can still be solid dry fly fishing throughout the heat of summer too, but we start doing more nymph fishing when things really heat up. Fall on the Upper Delaware River provides a mix of all your favorite fly fishing methods. You can be chucking streamers one minute, then casting to a riser the next. Winter calms the river down and forces us to choose our methods wisely. We’re usually nymphing and streamer fishing throughout the winter months.
Check out the latest River Conditions using the links below!
