Little J and Spring Creeks?

[MD_Gene]

I know that this is a subjective question but at what levels does the Little J become reasonable to wade? Spring Creek?

 

[dryflyguy]

This question was just asked recently about the little j.
Anyhow, the answer in cfs was about 500 or less.
I always used the gauge level for the little j, which is what the fly shops always went by years ago - before we had the internet.
And 3 feet is about the max for safe wading - and you'd want to pick your spots at that level.
A level of 2.5 feet lets you wade pretty much all over the river.

As for spring - it has 3 stations.
I go by the houserville gauge, since I tend to mostly fish the upper portions of the creek.
And there, I like a flow of 100 CFS or less

 

[boychick]

Little J is OK under 500 CFS, but better at 450 and down. Not so sure about Spring Creek, but I think 150 CFS on the Axeman gauge is OK for streamers.

 

[evw659]

^ I agree that the Little j overall is best below about 450, but it really depends on what stretch of the c&r you are fishing imo. Some are heavy and borderline treacherous at 450, while others are near perfect at that flow. I will fish up to about 750 if water is clearish during this time of year but you have to choose your stretch wisely.

 

[PATroutMan]

Here is a good website

http://www.littlejuniata.org/flow-rates-on-the-j/

 

[afishinado]

MD_Gene wrote:
I know that this is a subjective question but at what levels does the Little J become reasonable to wade? Spring Creek?

Bookmark this page: USGS Flow PA streams

The page gives near real-time reading of flows for nearly every PA stream. You can pull up this same page for any state.

Click on any stream and most have current flow and average flow for that date. Some sites even have current temp readings.

After you fish a stream a few times, you become familiar with how the stream fishes at what level. But, if you are not familiar with a stream, as a general rule, in the springtime a flow close to or even a good bit below the average is a good fishing level. In the summertime, when average flows are usually lower, a reading near the average or sightly above may be a good fishing level.

You can see the Little J and most every stream in the area are running very high. Not a good time to plan a trip.

HTH.