Pohopoco creek below Beltsville

[mkile]

Fishing near here this week. Is the dam release worth fishing .

 

[PhilC]

I'm not sure what you mean by "dam release"...there's a whitewater release on the Lehigh but I dont know about any on the Po

 

[lestrout]

Yo mki

The Po just below the dam is worth ffishing, since the water coming out is always the ideal temp. But the area is channelized and a little bit ugly. The trouts make up for it, though.

 

[outsider]

The Poho is subject to release from Beltzville reservoir, of which I am sure is a flood control dam. It is a deep reservoir, therefore the water is comparatively low in temperature.

 

[Mike]

Wild Browns are extremely abundant based on electrofishing. If they are willing and you have the correct technique, including good timing, for the day that you fish, you should have good fishing. Not much for size, but quite impressive numbers there.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

+1 with Mike. Occasionally you will turn up some rainbows along with bruisers that move up from the Lehigh. I still think the place is mismanaged given its enormous potential.

 

[mkile]

Thanks for the info. I didn't make it up last week, but i will be in the area again soon and plan to check it out.

 

[mcneishm]

Here's the link to the USGS gauging station flow showing both flow and temp.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/uv/?site_no=01449800&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00010

There are lots of fish there though the channelization as others have mentioned makes it look ugly. Nonetheless they are there. The outlet is deep water so the temp is always good. I've waded wet there in July and ended up shivering.

 

[sjangler]

I continue to hear the fishing there is good, but recent years' experience compared to 4-5 years ago doesn't seem to bear the out. And, even more telling, is the observation we have made on our 6+ visits this year which is "where are the fishermen?"

We used to encounter groups of regular anglers targeting the area below the Dam. Just not so anymore.

My sense is that good fishing will attract fishermen.

 

[Mike]

I recommend that anglers not equate poor fishing and low angler use with a lack of wild brown trout in known wild brown trout streams.

 

[LehighRegular]

Of all the times I've fished there, I've never had a bad experience and caught plenty of trout. Like anything, it takes patience and understanding of the stream your fishing and the trout habits. There are better stretches of water that hold more wild browns than directly below the dam outlet.

 

[albud1962]

I havent been up this year, but last summer i caught some very nice rainbows and a fair number of browns.

 

[PhilC]

sjangler wrote:
I continue to hear the fishing there is good, but recent years' experience compared to 4-5 years ago doesn't seem to bear the out. And, even more telling, is the observation we have made on our 6+ visits this year which is "where are the fishermen?"

We used to encounter groups of regular anglers targeting the area below the Dam. Just not so anymore.

My sense is that good fishing will attract fishermen.

Also could be due to reductions in stocking

 

[PhilC]

Mike wrote:
I recommend that anglers not equate poor fishing and low angler use with a lack of wild brown trout in known wild brown trout streams.

Mike has there ever been any research and/or experiments in relocating wild fish from heavily populated streams? Streams like the Po are great hatcheries for large numbers of wild fish but few large fish due to lack of habitat.
I'm thinking here the fish could be moved to below the dam in parryville where they can access the Lehigh when ready for a larger forage base and better habitat (maybe not so much in hot dry summers).

 

[LehighRegular]

Or just remove the dam at Parryville, but that's another subject.

 

[Mike]

Not usually, and to my knowledge it may not have been done since the 1980's. Pohopoco has too many fish to do it effectively and the access is much poorer than it was at Falling Spring and Big Spring where we did this yrs ago during general surveys.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Mike-

Please check your PMs when you get a chance. Thanks!

 

[Smike]

The town of Perryville (Dam owner) refuses to even entertain dam removal. The Lehigh River Stocking Associate is on their 3rd submission for funding to the Palmerton Superfund Site to construct a fish ladder at the dam. This would help with fish seeking thermal refuge and spawning from the Lehigh.

In speaking with John Arway from PAFBC he seems to be less than enthusiastic about potential benefits a fish ladder would bring. Mostly citing from sub optimal fish ladder success in the Susquehanna river dams.

Honestly this dam impeding fish moving in and out of the PO below Beltzville is a major factor limiting the potential of the PO for large wild fish.

Unless there is more support, and hopefully more data showing this is likely to be of benefit, its doesn't look like its going anywhere.

Huge miss on big potential here.

 

[Smike]

To provide a visual, the green is the length of accessible water on the PO from the Lehigh River, the Blue is un-accessible. All of it class A 55~ degree year round tail water.

 

[mkile]

what was the Perryville dam original purpose? i assume that its not working in function any longer.