West Branch Delaware River Fishing Forecast

A regional note specific to this water: the river's most productive water is the water you walk past the first time, and walking past the water the first time is the mistake every new angler makes, and the mistake is the reason the locals catch more fish than the visitors, and the locals know the water you walk past the first time. the river's most productive hatches are the ones you do not see, and the fish are feeding on the hatches you do not see, and the flies you need are the flies that match the hatches you do not see, and the only way to see them is to spend a season on the water. The Walker River in the Eastern Sierra is a freestone river that drains the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, and the only river in the southern Sierra that produces a 5-fish day of wild browns and rainbows from a river that runs through a high-desert canyon. The river drains a series of snowmelt-fed streams on the eastern slope of the Sierra, runs for about 100 miles through the Walker River valley, and finally drains into the Walker Lake basin in Nevada. What the locals know: The most popular trout water is the upper river between the town of Bridgeport and the Walker River Canyon, and that water is managed as a wild trout fishery by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The most popular access is the public water at the town of Bridgeport, where the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest maintains a series of campgrounds and walk-in access to the upper river. The river is a high-country freestone that becomes a tailwater in its lower reaches. The most famous hatch is the hendrickson of mid-april, which is the hatch that draws the most anglers. If you fish the river in May, you will think you know it; if you fish it in May and October, you will know it; if you fish it every month, you will never know it, and that is the point. The most famous local fly shop is the Walker River Anglers in Bridgeport, and the owner's advice is consistent: fish the upper river, fish the caddis hatch, and stay out of the water. The most productive flies are 18-20 Black Beauty for the morning spinner fall, 12-14 Jujubee Midge for the year-round midge hatch, and a Woolly Bugger 6-8 a Sculpin for the larger cutthroats. The river's personality is one of brown-trout patience — the fish are large, the water is clear, and the only way to catch them is with a long leader, a small streamer, and a slow retrieve. Stay in Bridgeport or Walker, eat at the Bridgeport Inn Restaurant, and fish the river in two sections — the upper meadow water above the town of Bridgeport and the lower canyon water below. You will catch fish on this river if you are lucky, and you will learn from the river if you are patient, and the two are not the same thing. The fish you do not catch are the fish that taught you the most; thank them and move on.