Juniata conditions

That stinks. The NOAA flow prediction dropped on the Susky but held pretty firm for the J. Had a guide trip for tomorrow morning and the guy wanted to see fish in the shallows and stalk them. With the volume coming down the rivers, he's decided to wait for late July 2024 which is his next stop from New Hampshire. Want to bet if it will be too low to float next year? LoL
 
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krayfish2 said:
That stinks. The NOAA flow prediction dropped on the Susky but held pretty firm for the J
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Dear krayfish,

The big lump in the Susky passed HBG yesterday when I checked the gauges. Everything north of Harrisburg was dropping and the CFS in HBG was higher than downriver.

It should improve depending on what tomorrow night brings. But wade fishing the Susky will be dicey for the foreseeable future.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
Well, we are going to give it a shot. Susky or J.... won't know until morning. Susky has been fishing pretty hot lately. Think there's a yak tourney tomorrow though
 
Guys

Little help. Planning on floating tomorrow from Lewistown to Arch Rock. Looking at the gauge she's up a little. Was wondering if anyone has been in the area and seen what the water clarity is like. I see we got some rain coming tonight do you think it'll be blowed out by morning?
 
Wetfly01 said:
Guys

Little help. Planning on floating tomorrow from Lewistown to Arch Rock. Looking at the gauge she's up a little. Was wondering if anyone has been in the area and seen what the water clarity is like. I see we got some rain coming tonight do you think it'll be blowed out by morning?
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Dave,

No, unless it comes down extremely hard from the heavens, I do not think it will be even close to being blown out. The river is low and clear here. I just drove by it 10 miles the entire way to work this morning. She looks beautiful. I think a little rain and stain would only be beneficial.

But being blown out is a long shot by tomorrow, I would say.
 
Josh,

Thank you much for the report. And thank you for being our eyes on the water conditions on the Juniata. Still trying to get a handle on the Juniata gages of good flows and blowed out conditions. Had 3 bad floats this year with late storms hitting the area. Again Thanks.
 
The river is most certainly pretty stained up this morning but, at this time, it is fishable. It is in no way blown out, but we will see how it continues to rise and either get more stained or clearer throughout the day.
 
ok, I call uncle. I cannot figure out how to correlate gauges and condition of the river. Lewistown flows doubled overnight. At Huntingdon it more than tripled. Perhaps I am used to interpreting flows on smaller rivers. One this big apparently can hold a lot of water. My ignorance is costing me fishing days!
 
nymphingmaniac said:
ok, I call uncle. I cannot figure out how to correlate gauges and condition of the river. Lewistown flows doubled overnight. At Huntingdon it more than tripled. Perhaps I am used to interpreting flows on smaller rivers. One this big apparently can hold a lot of water. My ignorance is costing me fishing days!
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Well, I will say this about the Juniata....I mostly use landmark references and I look at the river every single day. I will look at the gauge, too, but I am much more apt to look at river islands, sand bars, etc and determine the state of things. I will usually drive down to my family's farm and look at landmarks I have known forever to correlate the depth and flows.

This morning a small sandbar island that is nothing more than some water willow and gravel was still not underwater, so this tells me the river is still pretty dang low and very, very fishable. I think instead of looking at CFS you are better off looking at the gauge. The river only rose by a foot overnight. That isn't much at all. Now, it may continue to rise all day long, knows.

Either way, the river is in fine shape, especially from a boat or a raft.
 
Pretty blown out now and still rising. I wouldn't plan a trip until it gets back down to a more normal flow.
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How do you guys consider this "blown out?"

The river near Lewistown is nowhere near "blown out." It is muddy, yes, but blown out?

Maybe we all have different ideas of what is fishable, I suppose.
 
jifigz said:
How do you guys consider this "blown out?"

The river near Lewistown is nowhere near "blown out." It is muddy, yes, but blown out?

Maybe we all have different ideas of what is fishable, I suppose.
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Hey Josh,

If you live close by and are happy to chuck a few streamers and fish, it's no big deal. You might do well. But if you have a trip planned and drive hours to get there and have to drop a good amount of money on gas and tolls, my advice would be, if possible, plan your trip another time when the river settles down. Especially since the J is still rising. Plus reading above some of the earlier posters comments, they are have been burned by the high water this year on the river.
 
Tom,

I can understand not wanting to drive and be disappointed, but the river is no where close to blown out. I just walked from my office and took these pictures. It isn't even high. Look at my pictures that I just took, this is directly by the Lewistown gauge, and note the clarity of the water, the lack of ripping water..... In fact, the river couldn't be more perfect for fishing right now.

When the Lewistown gauge reads 5 feet, the river is not blown out.
 
I follow the flow because of clarity. Another important varible of differing opinions is familiarity with the water. I know where to fish my home trout waters regardless of almost any flow, even if dirty. On a big river, having it dirty limits visibility to locate good structure, drop offs etc. This effects both fishing success and safety. I am just starting to locate positions from Huntingdon to Newton-hamilton. I would feel comfortable going out in dirty water fishing these areas because I know where to chuck and not to wade
 
I didn't doubt it was low enough to fish based on your description, but I am impressed by the clarity. I definitely missed some fishing opportunities this year. I should have known because I have seen pictures at other rain events where the river was much clearer than I anticipated. I often wondered if they were taken the day before. Live and learn I guess. It's under an hour drive for me, but the issue is not getting work done that needs to get done sometime.
 
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