Tully float stocking report

[outsider]

Today was brutal. The turnout was pathetic. Only a couple of people to carry the buckets. Fortunately there was a teenager who volunteered to float stock the upper half of the DH with me. We each had our own barrels. Ben from TCO had someone to float stock from Rebers to the covered bridge with him. Which translated to 4 guys float stocking the entire 3.8 miles. And they didn't drop the water to 130 like all the other times. 210 cfs. Times I had to walk on my toes to keep water out of my chest waders. It took me and the kid 3 1/2 hours to stock from the dam to Rebers bridge. And his waders didn't have studs or felts. He took a couple of spills, had several cuts on his hands. I am exhausted.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Don't get out there very much but kudos to you and those that helped for spreading the trout around! It's hard damn work on any stream much less a substantial one like the Tully.

 

[steveo]

Thanks! I've helped in the past but it's difficult foe me to get away during the week.

 

[laurelrun]

I took the day off on Monday to help stock Manada Creek. I fully expected a small turnout and a long hard day of work. Very impressed by the scout troup that had 6 kids to tote buckets and the big turnout from TU for the float stockers. I helped with traffic control so the boys could enjoy the bucket brigade. Never even touched a bucket until we were at the last few stops and the crowd of help had thinned.

Long way of saying, it’s probably different day to day and location to location. Thanks for your hard work!

 

[Midge22]

Why did TCO not provide a boat? They usually float stock it with their raft (the last time I was present they had the NRS inflatable drift boat). I was fishing and in pulls the stocking truck (had no idea). My and a buddy helped them out, but there had to be 50 people there that day.

 

[Mike]

Outsider and others(?), thanks for helping the WCO with fish distribution. Fortunately, those that were bucket stocked have a long season to move and stocked Browns,in particular, tend to move more than the Rainbows. But in that stream they all move about in response to substantial variations in flow and due to a natural tendency to seek out good habitat, which reduces energy losses in poorer habitat and in higher flows. The fish also move substantially when flows are suddenly reduced and formerly good habitat under better flows then becomes poor habitat. Under normal flows to somewhat lower flows, about 30% of the DH Area is relatively good to very good holding water (physical habitat) for larger trout.

 

[outsider]

A big thanks to the WCO and to Ben at TCO for coordinating this as they always do.

 

[Opie610]

Hey Outsider tell us about the fish. Are there some nice bigguns swiming in the Tully now? And how about numbers? Just curious how the Keystone Select affected the numbers in the upper section.

 

[outsider]

We threw all the Keystone Select trout out on the banks of the creek so they won't eat the smaller trout. Then we came back after dark, gathered them up, and had a huge open fire fish fry. Ain't nothing like a freshly stocked hatchery trout for taste. Well, our senses may have been dulled by the copious amount of moonshine we drank.

 

[salvelinus]

^
LOL

 

[outsider]

Ben said the brown trout tasted like chicken. Well I know gator tail tastes like chicken and I hear tell possum tastes like chicken, and sometimes even chicken tastes like chicken, but I ain't never heard of trout tastin like chicken. Well I'll be durned!. I dun learned somethin knew.

We were gonna smoke some crawdads, but I plum run outta rollin paper.

 

[outsider]

On a more serious note:

1) I can't quantify the number of fish stocked v last years number, because we only had 2 float barrels and I did not see the point stocking.

2) The number of Select Trout was the same as last year but they were spread out over the entire DH area rather than in the lower half only, which occured last year.

 

[wbranch]

Outsider wrote;

but they were spread out over the entire DH area rather than in the lower half only, which occurred last year.

While it is correct that there was a disproportionate amount of large trout below the Route 222 bridge there was also an equally large amount of those 16" - 23" trout in the Refrigerator Pool.

While I was not present for the 2017 stocking I spoke with a fellow who participated and he told me TCO used a drift boat to float stock and put most of the large trout in that pool and only one bucket in the Paper Mill Pool.

 

[streamer-stripper]

I agree with the expert on this one! The Tully is prolly the #1 stream in the state that does NOT need float stocked. The habitat is so poor that the fish will move accordingly to find lies. Especially this time of year b/c with the pool elevation and spring precip that place is in for more high flows.

Good for the guys who helped, but probably could have just dumped them in 3 places and then turned on the spigot....

 

[outsider]

My son and I stocked Select Trout last year, and we distributed them pretty evenly throughout the lower half of the DH.

"The Tully is prolly the #1 stream in the state that does NOT need float stocked." I disagree, particularlly regarding rainbow trout.