Water temps

[Mike]

Yesterday while on a walk around 10 AM I intentionally checked some water temps in the stretch of the Jordan Ck that I fish. It is a stocked trout stream with a minor warmwater fish population. Last week I was fishing in 65-69 deg F water temps. Yesterday morning the water temp at the upper end of where I fish was 80 deg F and about 1.75 mi downstream, after passing through some limestone geology with a larger spring and a few small springs, the water temp was 75 deg F. I checked two spots where I knew a few trout had been holding and saw one freshly dead trout at both. Fortunately, most of the trout in this portion of the Jordan are either harvested or otherwise disappear, including the effects of delayed C&R mortality, predation, etc by the time the water warms to acutely fatal temps or enters the phase of chronic excursions into the sub-lethal zone, which also produces nearly complete mortality. It’s just a slower process.

 

[JasonC]

The creek had quite a healthy population of bass when I visited earlier this week, no bluegills to be seen however. Caught one trout as well but was otherwise skunked. Temps read 66 at the start around 0830, then read 67 when I stopped an hour later. Trout were sipping at the surface on the way out, otherwise I did not see any dead anything actually. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Mike]

Yes, while biking I saw a couple of trout pods working on tricos on Tuesday off Mickley Rd and 13 trout were lined up below the mouth of Mill Ck (near Trexler Game Preserve).

 

[Troutmeister]

According to the temp gauge on the usgs site it was 83* Tues afternoon at the Game Preserve. No wonder those trout were lined up below Mill Ck. Surprised there are that many left in that section.

 

[jifigz]

Our stream temps here in Mifflin County have been faring bettering than I expected they would for the conditions. A fellow forum member here and a fishing friend texted me some stream temps he took and I was surprised.

The Juniata right in front of my house on Wednesday was 86°. I couldn't believe that.

 

[Bamboozle]

jifigz wrote:
The Juniata right in front of my house on Wednesday was 86°. I couldn't believe that.

I never forget a 93 degree reading I got once on the Susquehanna south of Duncannon during a hot spell. I was so shocked at the temperature, I took it again three times and it was the same!!

I wet wade most of the time and that was one time where it felt cooler OUT of the water than IN...

...which brings up a point, as a wet wader I can tell as soon as I slip into the water whether or not I will be "slipping out," even before I drop a thermometer into the water.

One time after sharing my beer with the landowner, I hiked into a Class A portion of Owl Creek up in the Skuke and walked right back out again because as soon as I stepped in the water, I knew it was too warm...

Although it wouldn't have worked there, I now carry a thermometer in my glove box on a LONG cord that I can lower down into a creek from a bridge when the weather is warm. That saves me the trouble of hiking down or worse yet, suiting up for nothing.

I can also lash it to an ever present wading staff I keep in my car to check temps where there are no bridges and the deeper water is a few feet out.

 

[JasonC]

Same, there is a point where you can feel it on your legs that it's just not the right conditions to fish. Give it a rest and find some warmwater species. Maybe they're not as pretty as trout but they give a great fight and are still just as fun to catch.

 

[Mike]

If too many stocked trout remain in a regular stocked section (no special regs) and accumulate at trib mouths, stocking rates in my view for those specific sections should be cut if the PFBC knows about them. I would not call 13 trout below a trib too many, but in the extreme I have seen 200-250, specifically in Kettle Ck near Leidy last year in late June or early July.

As for the Susquehanna, it will be interesting to see if the temps this past week, particularly in the shallows, precipitated disease development in the YOY SMB.

 

[troutbert]

Mike wrote:
If too many stocked trout remain in a regular stocked section (no special regs) and accumulate at trib mouths, stocking rates in my view for those specific sections should be cut if the PFBC knows about them. I would not call 13 trout below a trib too many, but in the extreme I have seen 200-250, specifically in Kettle Ck near Leidy last year in late June or early July.

As for the Susquehanna, it will be interesting to see if the temps this past week, particularly in the shallows, precipitated disease development in the YOY SMB.

Kettle Creek near Leidy: I think large numbers of hatchery trout move up out of the lake when it gets warm.

I don't know how many trout they stock in the lake, but I've gone by there on opening day morning and there were really large numbers of anglers fishing the lake.

 

[troutbert]

The only place I've eve seen large numbers of hatchery trout floating up when the water got warm was in the delayed harvest on Lycoming Creek, at the big bend pool.

 

[riverwhy]

Why is it so common on Lycoming? Lack of cold tribs?

 

[larkmark]

I kind of forget the regulations but I think most areas that are still FFO are not Delayed Harvest. Now some of those also get warm and I have seen trout stacked up and even dying. I do not have an opinion on it really, just an observation.

 

[Prospector]

troutbert wrote:

Mike wrote:
If too many stocked trout remain in a regular stocked section (no special regs) and accumulate at trib mouths, stocking rates in my view for those specific sections should be cut if the PFBC knows about them. I would not call 13 trout below a trib too many, but in the extreme I have seen 200-250, specifically in Kettle Ck near Leidy last year in late June or early July.

As for the Susquehanna, it will be interesting to see if the temps this past week, particularly in the shallows, precipitated disease development in the YOY SMB.

Kettle Creek near Leidy: I think large numbers of hatchery trout move up out of the lake when it gets warm.

I don't know how many trout they stock in the lake, but I've gone by there on opening day morning and there were really large numbers of anglers fishing the lake.

I don’t know how many trout are stocked in Kettle Creek Lake but I can say there are a lot of trout in the lake within park boundaries.

 

[troutbert]

riverwhy wrote:
Why is it so common on Lycoming? Lack of cold tribs?

The delayed harvest area is pretty far downstream, there is a lack of cold tribs there, the DH regs cause people to release the fish, and the stocking rate was apparently very high, and there is a large pool at "Powy's bend" which provides good holding habitat, but then it just gets way too warm.

 

[Troutmeister]

Don't know if it's true or not, last year over on the First Fork I talked to a couple guys that were on Kettle the day before and they said there were thousands of trout stocked at the Leidy bridge. They said it was like fishing in a hatchery, they thought the whole truck got dumped there. Could be why there were so many there yet in July.

 

[lestrout]

Yo T'meister - I've done a lot of stocking with the Commish over the years, till last year (COVID). Due to the lack of volunteers, float stocking and bucket brigades were not getting done. A lot of the stocking had to be done at access points where the trucks could be parked right next to the stream and the trouts were literally hosed in. The Leidy bridge may have been the only good access point for the run designated for that particular truck that particular day.

 

[discomidge]

I put this in another thread (where it doesn't really belong), so I figured I should post it here:

BFC was 59 at 7pm in the narrows last night and up a bit from the recent storms, but still low.