Summer gets the bookings, but ask anyone who fishes this corner of Pennsylvania seriously and they'll tell you the same thing: fall is the honest season. The crowds go home after Labor Day, the water cools, and the fish feed like they know what's coming.
The river in October.
The Upper Delaware is one of the best wild trout fisheries in the eastern United States, and fall is when it shows off. Cooling water wakes the browns and rainbows up after the slow late-summer stretch. October brings blue winged olives and, on the right afternoons, iso hatches that get real fish looking up. The West Branch and the main stem from Hancock down through Equinunk fish well through the month, and you'll have runs to yourself that hold three boats in June.
One of our spring guests, Matthew, booked the cabin specifically as a base for a two day Delaware trip. His review said the location was ideal and, his words, much nicer than the highly priced resorts. He also caught fish off our dock without leaving the property, which brings me to the lake.
The lake in October.
Shehawken Lake is 54 spring-fed acres with bass, pickerel, yellow perch, and sunfish, and fall turns it on. Bass feed heavily before winter, and the pickerel get aggressive in the cooling shallows. Guests fish from the dock, the row boat, or the kayak, and because the lake allows electric motors only, an October morning out there is completely silent. Vasyl's family stayed in the fall and his 7-year-old caught bass, yellow perch, and pickerel from the boat. If a second grader can do it, the fishing is not technical.
What a fall fishing weekend looks like.
Friday night: arrive by 8 with the three hour drive from the city, get the fire going. Saturday: coffee on the dock at first light, fish the lake through the morning, drive 25 minutes to the river for the afternoon hatch, dinner in Hancock or back at the cabin. Sunday: one more session on the water you liked better, then home by dark. Two waters, one base, no hotel.
Licenses and the practical stuff.
You'll want a Pennsylvania fishing license for the lake and the PA side of the river. If you fish the New York bank or launch on that side, that stretch needs a New York license, so most river anglers here carry both or stay on the PA side. Both states sell licenses online in a few minutes. The cabin's shed has the row boat, kayak, and paddle boards, and the propane grill handles anything you decide to keep.
September and October weekends book ahead of the season. Midweek stays are the quiet secret: the river fishes better on a Tuesday than a Saturday, and the cabin is easier to get.
