Can anyone explain dam release, rafting and fishing on the Lehigh as it relates to trout fishing?

[Underdog]

So dam releases are on Saturdays pretty much, a schedule put out? So are they bad days to fish or how about Sunday, the next day? Does the release mess up or help fishing in immediate 24 to 48 hours or is it neutral or bad? Very curious as to how all that functions?

How about rafters? Do the trout bite after the rafts, kayaks and pirate rafting ( I took my kids to do that once very fun) run over the fish? I'd think it's terrible for fishing, but again curious to expert thoughts

 

[tjsingle]

The Army Corp of Engineers puts out a release schedule ahead of time with specific dates for recreational releases for whitewater, fishing, and draw downs. As shown below, the stream gauge at the dam shows how the flow changes:

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/01447800/

As shown in early October, they had a release where the flow jumped from 190~ CFS to 1100~ CFS to 3700~ CFS. And conversely that flow was stepped back down over the course of a few days.

When its that high, fishing is unsafe even from a boat. Obviously as it decreases back to a floatable and than wadeable range the fishing would likely pick up in my opinion.

I don't have an answer on whether the fishing gets significantly better or worse over a certain time past the release, but I am sure the fish just adapt to it. I don't fish the Lehigh often enough to give an answer.

However, in my experience fishing tailwaters that aren't for flood control but rather power generation, the fish are used to the fluctuations and often times aren't affected in my opinion. For example, on the Magalloway in Maine, the base flow of 350CFS is released consistently at night. During the day, when power generation is operational the flow can get bumped up to twice that. These were the conditions that I fished in over the summer and prior fall. The fish did not seem affected in my opinion, its just the actual fishing itself was more difficult due to increased flow. On the flip side, over the summer on the Mag, the powerplant shorted out (along with several other plants on the system) causing the flow to go from 700 CFS to 150 CFS pretty much instantly. The fishing got crazy fast and furious when it dropped out. As the flow jumped back up after they fixed the issue, the fishing continued to be good.

My theory is the fish become acclimated to fluctuations in flow, but obviously other factors like water temperature play a role in that.

 

[JimNovo]

So what is a safe wadable flow based on this gage?

 

[tjsingle]

So what is a safe wadable flow based on this gage?

I think that's a subjective topic, based on peoples comfort level with wading. What's safe for one person may not be for someone else.

Typically when I fish the Lehigh I am floating, but as a general guide I like the Lehigh Coldwater Fishery Alliance chart on their website. Just as a note, these are based on the Lehighton gauge, not the outflow of the dam.

https://www.thelehighriver.org/_files/ugd/6e7004_379bb79c33954808a5abf2c6a4ff21f2.pdf

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[Chaz]

A person I know who has a cabin near FE Walter dam told me the lake basically empty. Everything form small streams to lakes are low in the extreme, not worth fishing.
In my opinion forget about fishing anywhere until substantial rains come. It may be a fishless winter for me.

 

[krayfish2]

I've been out there, anchored on rising fish when a wall of rafters came through. Splashing, carrying on and even throwing buckets of water at each other. We were run into by several rafts. Within 5 minutes of passing, the fish were back up feeding.

I'm not saying that is the standard by any means. Some fish are more sensitive and relocate when the rafters raise hell. Does it end fishing? Not generally.

That chart is interesting and I tend to learn toward high flows closing in on what they label as dangerous 🤣. It becomes something between challenging to safely navigate and life threatening. I've been white knuckled on that river more times than not.

Higher the flow, the less fishable water you have. It really gets hauling and messing around on foot is a good way to get the county coroner called. Be safe out there

 

[vcregular]

^^The lake is basically empty this time of year every year. Nothing out of the ordinary this year.

Each year the Army Corps pulls Francis E Walter down to 1,300' above sea level for the winter months. And with the bottom of the lake being 1,250' there is about 50' of water in the lake.

Right now the reservoir is a run of the river system. Which means whatever flows in to the lake, flows out of the lake. About 100cfs at the moment

I completely disagree with the post above about fishing the Lehigh right now - - get out and fish the Lehigh right now. Flows are low and you can get around relatively easy. Cover water. Explore. Hop on a bike. Check out the rails to trail. Access is endless.