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This is my first post and I am hoping this blog will be interesting and informative.  Well, here we go. 

Last weekend I took my yearly trip to the West Branch of the Delaware River.  I love this trip every year because I always learn so much from my friends from our our Canandaigua Trout Unlimited Chapter.  My friend Craig always does such a great job organizing this trip to the West Branch Angler every year.

I arrived Thursday night and only had time to get my gear ready to fish the next day.  We stayed at the “White House” at the West Branch Angler.  There were eleven of us and most of the guys got there Thursday morning.  WBA has done a nice job renovating the White House.  They blew out the wall that divided the house which created a big common area with some nice couches and chairs and a big TV.  I think it is a much better configuration.  Once I got settled in the guys got back from their day of fishing.  A couple of the more experienced guys caught some nice fish.  I do think they were all under 20″ though.

Friday morning we got up and had a great WBA breakfast to fuel up for the day.  When we got ready to go fishing I ran into a small problem.  My car wouldn’t start.  It is a Volkwagon Passat with only 20,000 miles on it and could not imagine what could be wrong with it.  Like any dedicated Fly Fisherman I hopped into another car and left my troubles behind.  We fished the “Main Stem” of the Delware past Hancock NY.  We found some nice water.  The water levels had been low but this location showed some promise.  After fishing there for a few hours none of the four of us had success.  No rises, nothing.  After this, my friend Wil was kind enough to go back to the White House and hang out with me while I called AAA.  After some confusion about my location,  AAA was able to send someone to try to jump my car.  While we waited Wil and I decided to fish in the pond next to the White House.  What fun!  I think we each caught 15 twelve inch rainbows.  About an hour later the mechanic showed up and said that I blew a cell in my battery because I left my Sirius Satellite radio on all night.  He said that I would needto get a new battery.  He didn’t have one for my car so he told me to call NAPA Auto Parts in Deposit NY.  They did a great job and help get my car running again.

Now that I got all of this nonsense out of the way I could concentrate on fishing again.  On Saturday we decided to fish the West Branch Gamelands and I had much more success.  When we got to our location I decided to put on a sparkle pupa with a trailing pheasant tail nymph.  After a few casts I hooked a nice brown trout.  I played him for several minutes.  He ended up being a 17″ brown with shoulders.  Unfortunately he flopped out of my hands just as my friend Wil was about to take the picture so you will have to take my word for it. 

Not long after this I landed a fiesty rainbow.  This fish was not big but for those of you who fish the Delaware know what I am talking about when I say fiesty.  I also hooked up and lost one after my tippet broke.  Something that I should have replaced after catching the rainbow.  Delaware River wild trout will always put your tippet and hooks to the test.  After loosing a few fish to poorly tied knots, weak tippets, and stressed hooks, I have learned to always check and replace my setup after catching fish.