New water. What do you all do????

[A-5]

My buddy just sold his jet boat and gave up fishing the Delaware. SMB are awful and has totally given up. He fished the river and owned a bait shop and loved it. But it’s just not the river it was 10 years ago. It’s just not. Susky has out fished the SMB world and out performs the Delaware.

 

[A-5]

We won’t get into where the 5lb plus fish live.

 

[HenryDavid]

Was up in Wilkes Barre for job #2 today. I drive all over the eastern half of PA for them and notice lots of interesting looking water. One day when I have the time I'd like to drive around and just check out whatever weird or interesting little creeks, lakes, and ponds I find.

The further up river you go the nicer it gets

 

[Bootfoot]

My buddy just sold his jet boat and gave up fishing the Delaware. SMB are awful and has totally given up. He fished the river and owned a bait shop and loved it. But it’s just not the river it was 10 years ago. It’s just not. Susky has out fished the SMB world and out performs the Delaware.

I agree it’s not the same river it was 10 years ago and neither is the susky but we have no idea what the next ten years will look like. I don’t compare the two rivers. One is 20 minutes from my door the other is 2 hours. I’ll happily fish the one in my backyard. I'm still catching. Perhaps if I wasn’t catching fish I would think differently but I’m still catching plenty and I truly believe It’s gonna start ticking up. One thing I noticed about jet boat owners is they like to drive right over the fish. Where most of them go I have no idea but they are doing more driving over fish in their quest to find fish upriver.

yes the smallmouth fishing has declined but you can pretty much catch small stripers bigger than most susky smallmouths on any given summer day. personally, I give the river a break in July and August. It’s just to hot to be out in the boat. The fall SMB fishing on the river is still very good.

Have you two compared the locations or areas you are fishing?

No need to. We fish the same general area loosely referred to as the lower river. He rarely fishes the river and his results are directly related to time spent fishing the river. you have to put the time in no matter where you fish.

 

[Don]

Central Delaware fishes poorly for lmb. SMB run 11-12 and are not improveing.

Wild Trout have been getting better I’m told. They’re moving out of the creeks and into river in winter and return to creek in summer.
Very few walleye are caught. Never met anyone that fishes for them on purpose.
Everything improves as you go north or much further south.

 

[Bootfoot]

Don where do you derive this from? The numbers of SMB caught have declined but the size of SMB has increased recently. This is both my observations and that of the PFBC biologists. Yes many 12” fish are caught but so are 15+. Sort of just like fishing the susky.

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www.fishandboat.com

if You want LMB you have to fish for them in the tidal river. It’s always been like this. LMB king in the tidal water, SMB rule the non tidal. In 40 years I have never caught a LMB in the non tidal river. Not even 100 yards up from where the tide stops, an area I fish regularly. The central river is considered the water gap area. Easton is considered the lower river. The tidal river is considered the tidal river. not catching LMB in the non tidal river is not a change. In fact if anybody goes fishing for LMB or complains about the lack of LMB in the non tidal river, it’s a sure sign they know zero about the river.

I fish for walleyes and so do a great many others. Some people fish exclusively for walleyes. I also catch walleyes when I’m not fishing for them. The Delaware river has one of the few self sustaining walleye populations in PA. It’s also helped by the fact the other states stock walleye in the river.

just where are you trying to catch wild trout at? Again, trout, wild or not have never been in the lower Delaware river. I have to assume your talking the upper river in which case you could not be more wrong.

everything you say is completely wrong on so many different levels. its clear you are speaking on this subject with limited to no direct knowledge of the river. I sorry your records offer such a poor outlook. I would suggest spending a lot more time on the river.

 

[A-5]

Something is wrong with the smallies in the Delaware. Don is right about that.

 

[Bootfoot]

Correct there Is no denying the SMB has suffered for the last 5 or 6 years. However, their state is in no way shape or form as was stated. I was encouraged by what I saw last year. Not thrilled just encouraged. The numbers are down but the size has been going up and the numbers were better last year for me than the previous 2 or 3 years. I’m not catching 40 or 50 but I can reasonably expect 10 some in the 15”ish range. I can’t wait to see what happens this year. maybe it was a smokescreen and things get worse, maybe they stay the same as last year but hopefully they get better yet again.

in any event, I can still fish for walleye which are not rare, small stripers that are bigger than SMB, musky or catfish. It’s a great river with endless opportunities.