Slippery Rock Creek Issues

[greenghost]

I fished for bass on Slippery Rock Creek this past weekend and noticed algae and foam like I've never seen it before. The photo below is out of focus but you can still seen in the foreground the brownish algae that coated everything. (NOTE: It was definitely NOT didymo.) That area is typically just rocks.... you couldn't even see the substrate. It was heavily coated.

Also, and perhaps more alarming were the "blocks" of white foam that periodically floated down. You can see them in the middle of the photo. Some were as large as basketballs. No smell was noticed.

Here's the thing: I've fished this area for 30 years and have NEVER seen it like this. Can't help but think there may be a serious issue going on. The fishing was good as long as you could keep the gunk off your fly and cast between the foam.

One thing I thought could cause it was the exceptionally wet summer we had. This watershed cuts through some serious farmland. All those fertilizers, animal excretions and other nitrates could have washed into the water causing the bloom? Just a guess?

Penn Kev noticed this too in the same section of stream, but have any other guys who fish this creek noticed? And would any of you stream chemists know what causes this?

 

[PennKev]

greenghost wrote:
One thing I thought could cause it was the exceptionally wet summer we had. This watershed cuts through some serious farmland. All those fertilizers, animal excretions and other nitrates could have washed into the water causing the bloom? Just a guess?

I was thinking these factors are in play also. Heavy weed or algae growth is not uncommon around here but it usually happens in mid to late spring, and then breaks up as water temps stabilize into a warmer low/clear summer pattern. I think it may be due to excessive nutrients from farm runoff as you suggest and the timing of it coincides with other factors such as stream temps, flow, which were delayed this year on SRC. The creek was not "low" until sometime well into July. Current flows are still above normal for August despite no significant rain for a while. Stream flow up until today was stable right around 200 cfs which is about twice what I expect for August. Rain overnight sent it up to 400+.

The weeds in your pic are much browner than when I fished only a week ago. I suspect they will break up and be washed out with the increase in flow this week. It will be something to check in a week or so.

Finally, a quick search on foam floating in creeks suggests that unnaturally high levels of phosphorus (amongst others) are a cause of floating foam. The source of the phosphorus... ...agriculture.


Kev

 

[streamerguy]

I have noticed that algae at a few spots on Neshannock last week as well. Wasn't widespread......just a few spots here and there. Very thick just like your photo. Definitely didn't seem normal, and I've never seen it that bad before.

No unusual amounts of foam though.

 

[StarvinMarvin]

Ya this stuff has made it a pain in the butt to wade

 

[Prospector]

The sand and gravel operations within reach of the SR creek have been a source of water quality concerns from locals for several years now. However in fairness I doubt the concerns raised here are a direct result of those operations. Although I admit I do not know what practices they have historically used or have recently adopted. Its just one more source to check and maybe cross off the list.

 

[Hounds]

The slippery rock has had these issues for as long as I can remember. I grew up on it. Yes the agriculture is a problem. Yes the sand and gravel pits have made it even worse the last 15 years. It muddies quickly and stays muddy after rains for about 5 days minimum. As for the foam, it's been floating down there for many years. I don't know the real cause, but I can tell you that it can be seen in most slow water sections and eddies 365 days a year. I can remember picking it up off the water and throwing it at my sister while swimming or searching for soft shell crabs. I cut my teeth on that creek and love it, I am very disappointed about how quickly it muddies and how it stays that way for long periods of time.

5 years ago I canoed down the stream from its beginnings with a geologist. I had concerns of why it muddied so quickly. If you go a ways up stream from 79 you will see that it's banks are all sand, dirt, and mud. Without getting out of the canoe it was easy to see that it is the streams make up now. As for pollution, it's never been real healthy, just fun to fish. My father explained to me that in the 60's there were only small mouth, carp, and catfish. After some changes were made it quickly improved from a limestone filtration system. It's a shame because it's deep and cool enough to hold over fish.

This past spring was the best fly fishing I've ever had because of our lack of rain. The stream was alive with aquatic life. After the second week of June however we stocked it with loads of trout for fly fishing classes and summer fishing. Well it rained for two months.

If anyone learns of how we can improve let me know. I know a lot of land owners that would love to see it improve.

 

[Chaz]

Is the sand gravel and mud along the banks a natural condition? If so plant trees, lots of them. If not find the root cause and use best management practices to hold back the banks.

 

[bikerfish]

Most of the banks are already wooded, but they consist of mud right down to the water. things do start to grow, but the next heavy rain washes it away, and in the spring, the breaking ice scours the banks clean, taking away any vegetation and rocks. It literally looks like a glacier when it happens.
bottom line, no matter what we try to make it, the slippery rock is NOT a trout stream, sure, it LOOKS like a trout stream in it's lower reaches. at it's headwaters, it flows out of a swamp that used to be a strip mine, and is surrounded by reclaimed mining land.

It's a decent bass stream, and a decent put and take fishery in good years. Over the years, I've caught some nice trout in it, but I doubt any of them were wild. In fact, over the past 25 years, I think the fishing has really gone downhill.

One of it's main tribs though, Wolf creek, flows out of a swamp, but it's mainly pasture land around it, and it has excellent water quality, and it's on the nat repro list.
there are a few other small tribs that have resident trout populations, and I know lot's of you have fished at least one of them!!

 

[FarmerDave]

Go to Hell, Al.

Sorry, couldn't resist. :lol:

 

[greenghost]

Hounds wrote:
As for the foam, it's been floating down there for many years. I don't know the real cause, but I can tell you that it can be seen in most slow water sections and eddies 365 days a year.

True. I too have been fishing it -- mainly for bass -- for more than 30 years. There has always been some foam in the summer. But this was different. I have never seen it in this particular stretch that includes alternating riffles, runs and pools. It was floating down the faster stretches without breaking up. These were larger blocks of foam too. Like I said, I have never seen it like this before.

 

[RLeep2]

For what it is worth… Pretty much all of the larger WW streams in Northwest Pa., including Oil, Conneaut, French and Brokenstraw Creeks have been problematic to fish this year even after water levels fell to customary summer levels. They have all been carrying much higher than usual levels of filamentous algae suspended in the water column that gunks up leader knots and flies. Some sections are better and some worse. Based on where I’ve been seeing this stuff in the creeks, I’m guessing that a significant portion of this algae is coming from stillwaters/lakes and marshes, etc. (all four of the streams have significant stillwaters in their watersheds) in the respective drainages and that the high flows of the first portion of the summer has flushed a lot of this stuff out of the lakes and into the streams. So, as others have suggested, there is an probably an agriculture/fertilizer component to the problem which is exhibiting itself more than usual this year due to the abnormally high water.

I am not familiar with Slippery Rock Creek and have no idea of the cause of what is being observed there.

 

[DanL]

FD, I do think it's funny that no one talks about that trib. It's the only class A within a hundred miles, not a secret anywhere.

But what the hell do I know....

 

[sandfly]

Pine is running with foam and algae as well, it's the frackers polluting !

 

[troutbert]

If you really think Slippery Rock is being polluted, report it.

Same with Pine Creek.

 

[bikerfish]

"Being" polluted? hell, it's BEEN polluted!!! while I like to fish it, no way I'd ever eat anything out of it!

 

[dryflyguy]

DanL wrote:
FD, I do think it's funny that no one talks about that trib. It's the only class A within a hundred miles, not a secret anywhere.

But what the hell do I know....

From my experience on that trib the last few years, the fishing has really gone to hell.
Probably why we're kinda reluctant to talk it up. It certainly doesn't need any more pressure

 

[greenghost]

dryflyguy wrote:
From my experience on that trib the last few years, the fishing has really gone to hell.
Probably why we're kinda reluctant to talk it up. It certainly doesn't need any more pressure

Yep. A classic example of too much promotion on this site as well as its listing on PFBC site. Of course, being the only stream in the area on the "list" doesn't help either.

 

[Prospector]

For the reasons you mention I won't fish that trib anymore. To me, not worth harming those fish.

 

[streamerguy]

Harvesting by the locals occurs as well. It has been talked about on other sites too, to include social media.....which is where I saw the first stringer pic a few years ago.

Back on topic, I fished a section of Neshannock yesterday and didn't see any abnormal amounts of algae. I wonder if the rains washed it away there and at Slippery Rock.

 

[streamerguy]

Another note: The Shenango River directly below the lake, and downstream aways, smelled HORRIBLE after they dropped the water level to normal summer flows in mid July. It was downright disgusting and unfishable...for me at least.

Fished it this past Sunday and the smell wasn't present anymore.

I wonder if it too was the result of the heavy runoff this spring? And the lake had(and still does I think) a very bad blue-green algae bloom this year. That could have played a role as well