Didymo in the Yough

[Tseg17]

Ohiopyle from the riffles at Ramcat and further downstream the didymo has made fishing very difficult with having to clean off nymphs after every cast. This bloom is way worse than last year. I'm sure it affects the insect life on the bottom as this stuff is like a carpet everywhere. You can also see it in mid column as it floats on by. What a mess.

 

[redietz]

It's the price rivers pay nowadays for being tailwaters.

Switching to dries is about the best you can do. Fishing nymphs is going to be about impossible. If you want to fish wets nearer the surface, fishing upstream helps. So does leaving the tag ends of your leader knots a bit long -- they'll pick didymo but keeps most of it off your fly.

 

[bdhoover77]

Does didymo have an impact on the fish? I suppose if it impacts insect life, then that ultimately affects the fish. It’s certainly a problem on my local river (Gunpowder) the closer you get to the dam. But I’m not sure how it affects the fish.

 

[ryansheehan]

Ohiopyle from the riffles at Ramcat and further downstream the didymo has made fishing very difficult with having to clean off nymphs after every cast. This bloom is way worse than last year. I'm sure it affects the insect life on the bottom as this stuff is like a carpet everywhere. You can also see it in mid column as it floats on by. What a mess.

That's interesting that there is didymo down at ohiopyle. I would have thought the temps in the upper sixties down there would have washed it away. I've had issues from ramcat up but not further down. Nymphing through didymo is definitely doable you just have to get your flies off the bottom slightly.

 

[redietz]

Does didymo have an impact on the fish? I suppose if it impacts insect life, then that ultimately affects the fish. It’s certainly a problem on my local river (Gunpowder) the closer you get to the dam. But I’m not sure how it affects the fish.

From what I've read it has some effect on the mix of insects, favoring smaller ones over larger. Back in the 90's, I'd see March Browns on the Gunpowder above York Rd. Haven't seen any since we started getting didymo blooms. I don't know if it's cause and effect, or if I've just missed the hatch or what, but it does correlate with what I've read. I'm also not sure if affects the fish at all, but it certainly affects the fishing.