Gunpowder temps

[ryansheehan]

The temps on the gunpowder have been 72 degrees most of the day. There is water coming over the top for sure, just worrying about a fish kill if they don't release more water from below. Any of you gp regulars know anyone to call?

 

[jifigz]

I have never fished the gunpowder, seen it, or even know what types of trout dominate there. I will guarantee that 72° will not kill trout though. Just don't fish for them. My favorite brookie stream and my favorite wild brown stream hit 72° or better a lot. They are both still packed with wild fish. Yes, maybe there are spring seeps, etc but I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[sarce]

I think the concern is how much is spilling over the top and whether that's a sign that there's about to be a big dump of warm water without a cold bottom release to cancel it out. Could get warmer quickly.

There's gotta be a release soon with all the rain that just fell and is expected to fall...Do not know who to call though. Not a GP regular but am a water resource engineer

On the plus side the rain/flood water seems to be in the low 70s even on the larger rivers, potomac in DC temp is way down in that range, guessing lake overflows would be similar.

 

[redietz]

They have increased the bottom release to keep the temps down somewhat for the duration of the water coming over the top. This has happened in the past with no ill effect on the fish. Sometime over the next week or so, you'll see the flow drop from a few hundred cfs to 30 cfs and temps will be be back in the 50's.

Not that I'm planning on fishing it a 700 cfs anyway.

 

[ryansheehan]

jifigz wrote:
I have never fished the gunpowder, seen it, or even know what types of trout dominate there. I will guarantee that 72° will not kill trout though. Just don't fish for them. My favorite brookie stream and my favorite wild brown stream hit 72° or better a lot. They are both still packed with wild fish. Yes, maybe there are spring seeps, etc but I wouldn't worry about it.

72 at the dam release is very bad news for the great wild trout fishing 10 miles down river. The temps at the damn normally stay in the 50's.

Red, it looked to me like the release was still at 105 out of the bottom, am I wrong?

 

[jifigz]

I'm with ya Ryan. I am not familiar with tailwaters and have never fished one for trout. I just couldn't imagine the temps getting too far outta whack considering the cold rain and still some bottom release..I'll admit my ignorance on this one.

 

[redietz]

ryansheehan wrote:

Red, it looked to me like the release was still at 105 out of the bottom, am I wrong?

That's up from 30 yesterday. They bumped it up when it became obvious that there was going to be a spillover.

The temps aren't in the dangerous range yet, at least as far as fish survival (but too warm to stress the fish by catching them.) As I said, this has happened many times in past without causing a fish kill. (Think every hurricane we get, for example.)

The flow has already dropped to 522, so roughly 1/5 of that is water in 40's.

 

[ryansheehan]

Why wouldn't they jump it to 250 or 300 and bring down the temps?

 

[redietz]

ryansheehan wrote:
Why wouldn't they jump it to 250 or 300 and bring down the temps?

Because they're protecting Loch Raven.

 

[ryansheehan]

I didn't think it would make that much of a difference to bump it up just while there was overflow. I do know that prettyboy is just a holding tank for Baltimore drinking water, just seems like such a small amount of water considering all the rain that continues to fall.

 

[redietz]

I agree, but the water company doesn't see things that way.

 

[ryansheehan]

Temps hit 76, you worried Red?

 

[ryansheehan]

Over 75 degrees for 24 straight hours now. I've heard 77 is where things turn ugly, hoping for a change soon.

 

[redietz]

ryansheehan wrote:
Temps hit 76, you worried Red?

A bit. Not good, but at least the water should be well aerated. (The killer in the temps is lack of dissolved oxygen.)

And trout manage to survive in many of the tribs all summer.

I'd be more worried if they would run out of cold bottom water, which won't be replenished until winter.

 

[sarce]

The tributaries are probably cooling it as you go down from the dam at this point because they're all probably dumping in upper-60's degree rainwater. Balt Co got hammered yesterday. Might be the reverse of normal, because normally those tribs are too tiny to do much.

 

[ryansheehan]

77 degrees yesterday, not good. On the bright side fewer fish will lead to bigger fish. :roll:

 

[hunter1]

It's happened before with the GP. My worry is the poachers when the trout go into the deep pools. Happened years ago, poachers took a lot of big trout out of the GP. I'v FF the GP from it's beginning as a trout stream.

 

[Mike]

Hunter1: How do you know it was poachers and not water temp alone?

 

[ryansheehan]

This is what pisses me off, now they are releasing 355 with most of it coming from the bottom, the temps are in the low 50's. Where the f@#$ was this 10 days ago? Guess they figured out they won't run out of water this fall.

 

[hunter1]

Theo, the river keeper told me or Wally Vates at the time, I forget. Plus other FF 's. Water became low, fish went to the deeper pools, poachers were there with nets and buckets. They were reported, but at the time DNR didn't do much. A lot of it happened at night. Back then DNR didn't like the dark.