Sullivan County - stream conditions/water temperatures?

[salmonoid]

I am headed up to Sullivan County this weekend to so some backpacking and am trying to figure out if it is worth taking half of Friday off to get there early to fish for half a day, as well as if it is worth carrying my fishing rod with me on the trail. I saw that Ricketts Glen reported 12 inches of snow over a 24-hour period on 3/31, but according to the NOAA site, it looks like most of it has melted off.

My only frame of reference for conditions, at this point, is some of the posts about Pine Creek and water temperature and conditions there. Should I burn the half vacation day?

 

[steliejim]

Sock is clippin pretty good now at 1850 cfs and with more rain will only go up. That means all the streams up on the mountain should be flowing hard too. It's always worth taking the rods no matter what. Hope for the best, good luck.

 

[salmonoid]

steliejim wrote:
Sock is clippin pretty good now at 1850 cfs and with more rain will only go up. That means all the streams up on the mountain should be flowing hard too. It's always worth taking the rods no matter what. Hope for the best, good luck.

Thanks for the update. I will not be fishing the 'Sock, just small tribs in and around Worlds End (if they are fishable). Might just end up taking the rod for a walk but there are a lot worse things to do on a Friday afternoon.

 

[sandfly]

most tribs are ripping, you'll need a lot of weight to get down, plus they are cold yet and fish are very sluggish !

 

[henrydavid]

I was thinking of doing the same thing, however, my creek in Luzerne County still has 4 inches of snow and hard crust/ice on the stream banks, big ice shelves, makes it downright dangerous, I'm gonna wait for more of a warm up, conditions will probably be similar on most of those Sock tribs, only way to find out though is to check them out, report back if you get up there.

 

[salmonoid]

Fished one Loyalsock trib Friday (4/4). Air temp mid 40's, water temp was 40 even. Fished through intermittent showers interspersed with heavy downpours. Perfect conditions in terms of water level, if not a bit cold. Picked up five browns (10-13") and my first brook of the season. Discouraged to find some small tribes above any roads, flowing into the stream I was fishing were running like chocolate milk.

Completely different story higher on the plateau. I almost left the rod in the car, because I had such a fun outing on Friday but threw it in the pack at the last minute. Saturday was a raw, cold, windy day, with little sun, and we didn't get to our campsite until about 5:30. I set up my tent and was pretty sure I was going to get the skunk, but I wasn't going to carry the rod without at least trying. Water was flowing pretty good and there was still some ice and snow in spots. Fished a small bugger. They were not taking dries . Ended up fishing about a quarter of a mile and did not see a single fish. Forgot the thermometer but water at that elevation and in a shaded valley could not have been more than about 38.

Will post up some pics later.

 

[duckfoot]

If you're traveling from Lancaster to fish this area, send me a message. I travel through World's End twice a day and up Loyalsock / Tunkhannock once a week.

 

[k-bob]

fwiw a tiny mid luzerne ravine stream had no ice but only hit 42 yesterday pm. previous night had been 28. many nights this week will be 10 degrees warmer.