mike_richardson
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2010
- Messages
- 1,564
First I will appologize for my recent attacks on TU. These are mostly biased oppinions and not 100% rational. I will appologize for offending any of you. I get wound up easy when my family's club get dragged down or bashed.
That being said: I would like to ask you guys, that are deeply involved in the conservation efforts of your club:
What ways, besides the typical clean up do you make improvements to your trout streams?
I have a stream close to my home that is on the rebound, raw sewage, dish liquid, washing detergent, all of that used to be dumped in the stream. In the last few years there have been major improvements to the sewer systems and now there is no discharge from houses and such that flow into this stream. There is an effort to clean up the lower end of this stream from AMD but what can I do for the upper end that is fishable.
What are ways that I can improve this stream besides your average clean up of litter. The stream can hold trout year round, and as of today the fish are still healthy. I managed 4 with 1 bow about 16", 2 about 11", and a brown about ten. All were caught on red beadhead pheasant tails with red wire. One was caught on a coyote streamer.
It is nothing for me to catch hold overs all the way up until the first day and some hold overs I know are 2 years old. Not only do the smaller trout survive but I catch many of the 2 year olds as well in these winter months.
I love going to this stream and being able to catch fish year round. It is not PA approved trout waters, and has no real presence of Wild trout that I have ever noticed, There is a Class A stream that runs into this stream as well, that provides cold water and refuge in the summer months.
Anyone care to enlighten me on ways to improve this stream and give the trout a hand. I think this small stream, with no presence of wild fish could become a project for me to take on. THe abundance of trout that are stocked through our co-op and a firemans fishing rodeo is pretty high. There is a decent amount of harvest, but not so bad that it gets totally wiped out.
THere are many hatches that come off like caddis, midges, sulfurs, and a few various mayflies i do not know. There is also an abundance of baitfish and other aquatic life, that get these fish through the year. I would say the stream on average is about 15-20 ft wide. There are a few deep pools around -2 to 3 feet and one or two that are 4-5'. There are 2 railroad trussles that have large holes under them as well. There is decent cover for the trout but i have seen the water temperatures get a little high now and again in the summer.
I want to make an effort to really improve this stream, and have it provide great fishing for many years to come. Please give me examples of what you have done to improve streams in your area. Any advice is appreciated.