Delaware River boasts big fish
The great thing about large rivers is that, from a fishing standpoint, they have many more similarities than differences. So it's no surprise the mighty Delaware, which forms our state's eastern boundary, provides a year-round fishery.
"I fish from fall straight through the winter, as long as I can find open water," said veteran Delaware River fishing guide Blaine Mengel. "When you are fishing from late fall straight through the winter, you are there for big smallmouth bass and walleyes rather than high numbers."
On river systems like the Delaware, when water temperatures dip into the mid- to low 40s, smallmouth bass and walleyes will be concentrated in the slow current holes and pools that will provide them with the protection they need to survive the winter.
"The bass you catch are almost all egg-laden females, so they are some of the biggest smallies in the river," he said. "And the walleyes are big, too. Most of the walleyes run from 15 inches up to 7 to 8 pounds."
While fall and winter conditions can be tough on even the hardest of anglers, the flip side is that the days are short — and the periods of fish activity can be even shorter.
"My toughest month tends to be January, because the sun angle is so low," Mengel explained. "With late fall and winter fishing, there is a window of activity from late morning into early afternoon, when the water is the warmest. By February, that sun angle is changing. It's higher in the sky, providing a longer period of activity.
"We've caught as many as 20 big smallmouth in February, during those two- to three-hour bursts of activity. But then the switch is thrown and the fish shut off," he added.
In Mengel's experience, the best times of day for fall and winter fishing is from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. He said the best cold weather spots are located on the inner bends of the river, where an eddy will typically form; if there is a bottom transition, from soft-bottom to rock, so much the better.
River conditions also play a large part in angling success at this time of year. While anglers generally like to see low, clear conditions — feeling confident a fish can see their bait — Mengel has learned that it's during higher water when the fall bite is best.
"The higher the water, the better," he noted. "The high water really stacks them up in those eddies."
In terms of specific locations, Mengel has his favorite areas, though he said the entire length of the nontidal Delaware contains a fair sampling of habitat that holds both wintering smallmouth bass and walleyes.
He said the Delaware features a lot of that type of water within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Many spots are best fished from a boat, though some areas, particularly where feeder creeks enter the main river, offer good shore fishing.
"There are some really nice wintering areas around Bushkill," he added. "But there are lots of those deep, slow pools and eddies throughout the Water Gap."
Also, the area near Matamoras, which is above the Water Gap and just below the New York line on the east side of the river, can be especially productive for walleyes.
Mengel prefers hair jigs, though he also catches bass and walleyes on tubes and grubs dragged along the bottom. When the water is fairly clear, suspending hard jerkbaits like the XCalibur Xs4 and Lucky Craft Pointer are also productive for not only smallmouth bass, but walleyes too.
The Delaware River's cold weather bass and walleye fishing will heat up by late October. Visit www.backwoodsangler.com.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
