Pine Creek levels!

[BradFromPotter]

Here are 2 photos of Pine Creek in Gaines photographed a couple of weeks ago. I have never seen the roots on the closeup of the tree. The other photo looking downstream I was standing in the middle of the streambed!
Click the link to see a larger image.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/babireley/50340769263/sizes/l/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/babireley/50329651888/sizes/l/

 

[Baron]

So nothing came of last Sunday's rain, I Guess.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Baron, we would need to see two weeks of rain like this past Sunday to make an appreciable difference in ground water levels in much of NCPA.

 

[rrt]

That's awful. I don't imagine the brown trout club near Slate Run will be able to stock any of their trout this autumn. If all streams in n/c PA are like that, I imagine a ton of fish have died due to the drought. So sad if they have.

 

[Baron]

Yikes, that much rain is not likely as I see it. When I drove past the Allegheny in Coudersport and the pine below Gailton you couldn't even see the creek most of the time as flora is covering it in. That is probably a good thing to help keep whatever water is left cool.

 

[DaveKile]

BradFromPotter that's hard to imagine. Thanks for sharing.

So you are a film shooter? Nice medium format camera. I thinks it has been a long time since I checked out your camp photos. Great to see all your film work.

 

[just_jon]

Gauge in Cedar Run shows less that 5.5” of rain in the last 90 days.

 

[JeffP]

I remember seeing Pine for the first time. It was the fall 1989 and I was student teaching and we were up that way for a school field trip. I was so excited to see the mighty Pine and that's what I saw. I was shocked and hugely disappointed. I have fished it a number of times and know it looks nothing like that normally. Where do all the fish go like the sallies and suckers. You would think any pool with any depth was just packed with fish. I wonder what the mouth of Slate looks like right now. What % of total fish populations die as a result of droughts like that?

 

[bikerfish]

lowest I've ever seen. Had lunch last month at the hotel Manor, I think you could have crossed Pine without getting your ankles wet.

 

[BruceC2C]

Always disheartening to see your favorite water less than its best.
Few things compare to the feeling you get when you take your first steps
into the water to start your day.
Intellectually, you know these things run in cycles.
But it still hurts.

C'mon MamaNature ...
how about a big bucket of love and water here please????

 

[troutbert]

Sad to see streams "down in the rocks" like that.

And the black and white photos are awesome.

Could you tell us a bit about how you did that photography?

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Brad,

My wife and I have a vacation scheduled for the first week of October. We'll be staying in a cabin up on Rte 44 near Haneyville. We chose the spot because it's almost equidistant to Kettle or Pine.

We went the same time last year and while the stream levels were not good, they were better last year than they are today.

If the weather continues as it has, and it surely looks like it will, I might drawn buckets of water at the cabin and shuttle them out to the streams.

The only encouraging thing is that you will likely get frost up north this weekend and the long range forecast will keep the nights cool, and the daytime temperatures will remain reasonable too.

But there will be precious little water anywhere, unless things change drastically.

Given my incredible luck Tropical Storms Epsilon and Phi will hit on consecutive days.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Dave_W]

Dang! :-o

 

[UncleShorty]

While attending WACC in the late 70's I haunted Pine Creek, Little Pine, The 'Sock and Lycoming Creek, among many others.

After graduation I religiously made pilgramages several times a year to the Northern Tier not just for the fishing but for the soul cleansing peace, solitude and beauty of the area.

Then I had to run to TX to escape the economic dust bowl that was PA in those days.

But still, on yearly visits "back home" I'd make time to spend 3 or 4 days in "God's Country".

Every year since '81 I fished those creeks.

But not this year...

So I hope that next year Our Country's present troubles and the drought are behind us and we can all get back to living life, not just dreaming about it.

The pictures of Pine are horrendous, a tragedy...

 

[tomgamber]

i've seen bad drought relieved by only 4 days (seems like a lot these days) of steady rain. Not the big storm that causes flash flooding either. Just slow enough to be absorbed and not run off right away but long enough to bring the water table back up. What we got just two years ago though October. Was more than we need even now.

 

[afishinado]

UncleShorty wrote:


So I hope that next year Our Country's present troubles and the drought are behind us and we can all get back to living life, not just dreaming about it.

^ Amen to that!

Sorry you had to cancel your trip.

Next year has to be better!

 

[Mwheaps32]

My wife and I were up visiting friends in waterville today and pine creek is horrible looking just downright depressing.

 

[salvelinus]

Took a ride Friday. Almost made me ill. NWS says no rain for at least 7 days. Potter is under a drought warning. Stopped at Slate Run store. Jed said he's never see it like this, and for so long. I forgot a pic of Pine, it's nothing but rocks and puddles of water.

Kettle At Leetonia Road

Francis Branch

Cushman Branch

Cedar Run

Kettle at Rt. 44

 

[Swattie87]

Not good, but similar to when I was up in 2016 at this time, I would have expected worse based on the USGS gauges. Fish are still alive in all of those streams, guaranteed. And more than you would think.

Did you notice large numbers of fish stacked in the pools? The one on Cedar for instance? I did in 2016. When it rains and levels rise, they’ll disperse.

 

[salvelinus]

I saw very few fish. But it was bright and sunny so I hope they were in hiding. 2016 was bad, but how long was it bad? I don't remember. It's been a couple months of this, coupled with unusually warm temps.