We need rain!

Good conditions today on a tiny Wyoming County trickle today. Water 61 degrees at 10 a.m., moderately high, slightly off color. Brookies jumping out of holes to grab dry flies, really nice. Given the high air temps, I don't know if it would have gotten too warm late in the afternoon, I quit by 1 p.m.
 
krayfish2 wrote:
Bass rivers are way too high or muddy for good fishing.
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I agree. My musky hunting efforts on the Connie have been on the back burner for what feels like an eternity. The slightest little thunderstorm seems to muddy up the Connie. Oh well, having a wet summer like this is far better than a hot, dry one, IMO.
 
Kinda funny how the weather has played out since this thread was first posted almost 3 months ago now.
After a cold wet early spring, things got rather hot and dry for a while in may.
Then it seemed to rain almost every day for the whole month of june, and half of july. Resulting in lots of high blown out streams, and I fished very little during that time frame. And this thread seemed like a joke then.
Now, the rain has shut off again the last few weeks. I've had to water my garden for the first time this summer. And my lawn is starting to brown out.
We just seem to go from one extreme to the other, and rarely have normal weather conditions anymore
 
El Nino. Thats why Florida is in drown mode. GG
 
The rainy summer pattern is good.

Much better for trout populations then the severe summer droughts we've often had in the past.

 
troutbert wrote:
The rainy summer pattern is good.
Much better for trout
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Certainly.
But for those of us who like to fish big WW rivers in summer, it's been a wash. I have yet to hit a bass river this summer and it's already Aug 1st(!).

Fortunately levels have finally dropped and I'll get out Monday. . .but it's been frustrating.

One positive note is small creek WW fishin. So far this year, even the local creeks have been blown out and I have only just started fishing them for WW this week. However, in my experience, higher water levels in early summer produce good creek bass and sunfish action in late summer/early fall. The big upstream WW migration seems to be better when water levels are high. When they're really low in early summer, the bass/sunfish just don't seem to get up in the creeks in good numbers.

So in addition to great trout fishing, hopefully, small stream WW fishing ought to be good this month too. If the big rivers settle, we could have a banner Aug for all kinds of FFing across PA. :)
 
I'd like August and September to revert to approximately normal precipitation totals with some reasonable spacing between major rain events. Good luck with that...

Of course, I'd also like for somebody to invent a Mallo Cup with no calories and have UPS leave 2 cases of them on my doorstep.

I'm not very likely to get any of these things that I'd like.

In the meantime, like FI, I just started to get serious about stream bassing in the past week, now that water levels have backed off some. And that's been nice and I'd like to be able to keep doing it for the next 60-90 days. And when I've been able to travel to where it matters, I've had good small stream wild trout fishing in healthy flows most of the Summer so far. That's been nice too...

When the rains are out of hand, I always find some other kind of fishing to keep me occupied. Often, once I get going on something like this, it makes me wonder where the heck I've been all these years to have missed this good fishing. This year, my new amusement has been wade fishing smaller lakes for SMB and some LMB. Usually, these are reservoirs because they most often have the sort of substrate that allows you to wade and fish in relative comfort without worrying about sinking out of site as is the case with most (there are a few exceptions..) of the natural lakes around here. This has been fun and I've learned a lot and caught some nice bass. I've been fishing mostly craft fur and ostrich herl Clousers and my fingertips are permanently ink stained from coloring them up with markers to match my latest wild hair or inspiration.

This is one of my favorite things about fishing. I don't have a choice as to whether to fish or not. I have to. So, I use crappy conditions to force me to learn and do things I've never really concentrated on before. Its fun to have a new idea, gear up for it and then actually have it pan out.

Even so, I've still had enough high water for this year...:)

 
wildtrout2 wrote:
troutbert wrote:
Kettle Creek at the Cross Fork gauge is at 429. That is not really that high.
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Not really that high Dwight? The max (record) for Kettle for the date is in the mid 500's, and it's 429, but that's not that high? hmm TB, I also think you're forgetting about the temps. I fished a nice NW freestone 2 weeks ago, where the flow was perfect as you describe, a bit of color, good solid flow, but it was 54F and the fishing sucked. When it gets near 60F I kick #censor# on this stream. A few degrees makes a world of difference with fussy wild trout.

On a nonrelated issue, is anyone having trouble logging in on PAFF? I couldn't log in at all, I had to use my old server for whatever reason.
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If the temp is above 50 and below 60 that's ideal, but you have to take into account cold fronts turn the fish off. I'd love to get up there when the conditions are what they are right now, but I have too much work to do at home.
The other thing if the temps suddenly drop it also puts the trout off, but they will recover.
 


Finally looks like a decent rainfall coming here in central PA today.
 
Well, flash flood warning issued for much of lower Susky valley. Looking at radar, if that stuff is hitting the ground......oh my. Smaller streams may recede by the weekend but everything else might be blown out.

We need it. My yard has gone dormant and the local waters were getting pretty low.
 
We're well below normal in LV so I'm glad we're getting rain. It's a good soaker so far, no downpours.
 
Droubt is having negative effect on corn around here (Eastern Ohio).

My bees are not doing very well either after a relatively good start.

No rain, no nectar.
 
It's about time to keep your fingers crossed and hope one of those tropical depressions slides up the spine of the Appalachians. We could you a good soaker. The small to mid size waters could use some volume and a little cool down.

Looking at the extended forecast, close to 90 and humid next week. Feel free to begin the rain dance.
 
rain-dance-o.gif

 
I'll try to send some rain up to you guys. South Florida is going to crazy with preparations right now. Very similar to when they predict 3 inches of snow for Philly. Super markets and gas stations are out of control.
 
Flows on limestoners are holding up fairly decent.

Getting low on the freestoners, though. You can still catch trout on the small freestoners when things are low, especially using terrestrials.

But I like fishing the mountain streams when you can hear them roaring from half a mile away.

 
troutbert wrote:
Flows on limestoners are holding up fairly decent.

Getting low on the freestoners, though. You can still catch trout on the small freestoners when things are low, especially using terrestrials.

But I like fishing the mountain streams when you can hear them roaring from half a mile away.
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You can have the roaring whitewater, and fishing big stimulators TB
To me, there is nothing like stalking along low clear freestoners - then plopping a beetle into a pool. And seeing the wake of a fish charging the fly. Love it!
 
Still in need of rain and the creeks are low......but still dangerous. See below. I know the story isn't breaking news but a reminder

2 teens drown in Pa. creek after wading into sinkhole

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (AP) — Two teens have drowned in a western Pennsylvania creek.

State police say 15-year-old John Mast and 16-year-old Seth Byler died Sunday while wading in Little Neshannock Creek in Wilmington.

Investigators say the boys slipped under the surface around 3 p.m. after wading into a water-filled sinkhole about 8-to-10 feet deep.

Two family members tried to rescue them.

Mast and Byler's bodies were found about 15 feet from shore. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officials say there's no indication of foul play.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/08/2_teens_drown_in_pa_creek_afte.html
 
That happened a few weeks ago krayfish2. The two kids were Amish or Mennonite and didn't know how to swim. The small town rallied around the Mennonite community in a show of support.
 
That's very sad.

Are sinkholes common in that area?

Does anyone know the cause of sinkholes there? Is it a limestone geology area? Or is there something else going on causing sinkholes?

 
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