Laurel Hill - Fall Stocking

[MathFish]

I met up with a friend and fished the DHALO section of Laurel Hill behind the scout camp earlier today. It was a nice time to be on the water, there was about 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was quiet and scenic. We fished from about 10:00 till 1:30 and didn’t even get a bump...

This left me wondering if they did the Fall stocking this year. Does anyone know if they did? The website has it listed as “Time & date change” from the originally scheduled stocking, but there is no stocking date listed...

The water temp was 37, so the fish might not have been biting because of the temperature, but I was wondering about the stocking... I haven’t fished there since July so I don’t know how this fall has been there. Have any of you had any luck there this Fall? Just curious...

 

[Prospector]

I have a book written by Jay Thurston about fishing spring creeks in Wisc. He kept records of his days on the streams and has many interesting observations. The one below applies to your question.

Water has its greatest density at 38 to 39 degrees and trout seldom hit when the water temperature is below 40.

 

[ryansheehan]

40 does seem to be somewhat of a magic number but I've had decent days at temps just above 32 as well.

 

[RLeep2]

I have no idea if the truck did or did not come to Laurel Hill Creek this Fall...

So far as minimal temperatures for feeding trout, I think we've been here before. My observation has been in PA freestones at any rate that while fish can be caught in water temps below 35F, it generally hasn't been worthwhile as much more than a walk in the woods until temps get into the upper 30's. When it comes to Winter fishing, It has always seemed to me that the velocity of temperature changes was as important if not more important than the actual temp. That is to say, I've had for the most part, better fishing on days when the water temperature rose from say, 34F to 38F than on days where it stayed at 38F all day. This may have something to do with the nature of metabolism changes in cold blooded critters like fish. I don't know. Theories abound and are a dime a dozen.

Additionally, with all due deference to Mr. Thurston, I've had a lot of pretty busy and successful days on Wisconsin spring creeks in water temps that never got to as high as 40F. The water temperature velocity thing seems to apply there as well and may even be more important than it seems to be in PA due to the more open nature (and sun exposure) of WI streams. For what it's worth, the best Driftless fishing/tying books have been the Ross Mueller books. I learned a lot from them..

 

[MathFish]

Thanks for info on stream temps and feeding behavior. I was suspicious that the temps might be the cause of the zero catch rate... Given that the snowfall happened just a couple days prior, I’m betting that the drop in temps was more influential than just the low temperature of the water.

I still don’t know if the Fall stocking occurred or not. However,I’m sure there are still holdovers from the Spring stocking because I don’t think the water temps dropped significantly enough this year given all of the rain that we have had this year.

 

[Prospector]

Just to be clear in my post above, Thurston says trout SELDOM feed below 40. Not Never feed. But by definition less feeding at lower temperatures would be expected of cold blooded creatures.

Here is another excerpt from the Jay Thurston book that may be helpful.

“Having kept thirty-four years of water temperature data I have concluded there are three significant water temperatures at which trout seem to feed best.  I have identified the three significant feeding periods as the 40 degree rise, the 45 degree rise, and the 49 degree rise. “

What refers to is when water temperature rises from 39 to 40, that seems to trigger an increase in feeding. This happens again from 44 degrees to 45 degrees and 48 to 49. I would not expect this feeding activity to approach the number of feeding fish you might encounter at say 62 degrees. As long as temps are in the 30s & 40s and are steady or increasing then you may encounter feeding fish. However Thurston also makes it clear that anytime you have even a 1 degree drop in water temps in the 30s and 40s, all feeding activity will cease. If you intend to fish in low water temps chose warm days or very sunny days. He checks water temps frequently.

 

[albud1962]

I fished Dunbar last Friday. I caught a few but not the normal number I usually encounter. I did see fish though and they were holding close to the bottom. They didn't seem too hungry. My go to fly this time of year is sucker spawn. I did manage 6 so all and all it was a good day. I think the cold water and high flow is playing a part in the slow fishing.