Delaware Water Gap area question

On Feb 12, 12:06 pm, Want2Fish
wrote:
Hello,

I'm fairly new to Fly Fishing. I started last spring in locally stocked
streams. Also, I was lucky enough to fish the Provo River, UT with a
friend. I'm hooked!

My question:

Can you Fly Fish for trout in Delaware Water Gap area? If so, when is a
good time of season and flies? If not would I have to go further North?

Many thanks...
/IMG

--
Want2Fish

You certainly can. Try the smaller tributaries in the Water Gap. They
usually have wild brown trout, small but bright. Beautiful fish, and a
handful on a short 3wt or 4wt, but 10" is likely to be the biggest
you'll see all day. They'll be agressive but easily spooked, so
practice ninja fishing. My experience is that you'll usually only get
one hit from each pool - the commotion of a hookup is enough to send
all the rest into hiding. They're mostly freestone streams, so I like
to fish on top with attractors and terrestrials, but when that doesn't
work, try a small generic nymph. Say #16 Stimulators, #12 hoppers and
#18 ants or BHPN and GRHE in 16-18. I'm sure that mayflies and
caddisflies are present, but I've never seen them hatch. I've only
fished there in the summer afternoons, so I don't know how things fare
otherwise, but with lots of overhanging cover, time of day doesn't
seem critical and the water usually stays pretty cold. Check the
regulations at PFBC - I think a couple of the tributaries have odd
seasons or special regulations.

The river itself has some nice smallmouth. I've caught good sized fish
trolling a small olive half-and-half behind the canoe, even on bright
days in August. Wading can be problematic, since you might be looking
at a hole 10' deep or a gravel bar barely covered, and it is fairly
swift up there. Get an NJ and a PA license so you can fish from either
bank. If you have one or the other, you can fish the whole river from
a boat, but not from the opposite bank.

Don't forget to hike up to Dingman's Falls - the view from the top is
worth it. You might also note that the NJ side of the river has fewer
park services and amenities than the PA side. We just pull over
wherever and fish on the NJ side, but the PA side is pretty
structured.

At one picnic area, we saw a Hasidic jewish clan and a Muslim family
sharing watermelon on a hot September afternoon. It seems that all you
need for peace in the Middle East is a trout stream and a couple of
Sugar Babies.