IMMIDIATE HELP NEEDED TULLY FLOW TO BE CUT TO ZERO CFS

J

jfetkin

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Mar 23, 2009
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this is the subject of the e mail i just got being a member of the Tully TU chapter,,,here is the e mail in full,,


From: "newsletter@tullytu.org" Add sender to ContactsTo: jfetkin@yahoo.comI just got a call from Mike Kaufman who is the fish commission's biologist who informed me that the Army Corps of Engineers will be cutting the flow of the water being released out of Blue Marsh dam to 0 CFS. (no flow ) They will start this at about 11:30 TODAY (4/19) to do some repairs at the dam. This means that there is a possability of fish being stranded and possible fish kill. If anybody can get out there with a pair of waders and a net to help move fish to pools that get stranded, it would be greatly appreciated. The flow is expected to be cut off for 2 hours but we do not know for sure. Sorry for the late notice but I just found out a few minutes ago. The critical area will be from the dam release to plum creek, below plum creek will not be quite as bad as the tully will receive water from plum and cacoosing creek. regards: gene markle

this is horrible i cant believe this and im sad that the Tully TU was not notified of this sooner,,wtf i would have been out there to help save these fish. would have been a good oppertunity to see if there were any big ones left holding over in there as well,,well i guess we are looking at another Tully fish kill..thats awesome
 
jfetkin,
This is very disheartening. I too would have been out there to assist any stranded fish. Please let us know how it went when you are updated. The Tully is a good stream, and although it was off last year, I have spent many enjoyable mornings and evenings fishing tricos and caddis over the past few summers. I certainly owe it a bit of a return.
Jim
 
Me and Jay talked on the phone @ length about this and here is the way i see this:

1. Someone dropped the ball. Whether it be the army corps not giving enough notice, the PFBC not informing the Tully TU until last minute or the Tully TU waiting till last minute to inform people. Maybe a combo of the above. Either way, im not pointing the finger at anyone party at the moment.

2. If there is a fish kill this was a waste of angler dollars and someone should foot the bill to restock the stream. Why stock it in the fall and spring just to have this happen?

3. More notice would have been really nice. I woulda packed my kid up in the carrier and we coulda walked the stream and help stranded fish. Im not doing anything other than sitting right here working on a project. But finding out @ 12:30 didn't cut it. It would have been cool to show the kid some fish, see what the fish population is all while saving precious angler dollars.

I have stated in the past that I hate the Lower Tully. It should be a smallmouth bass fishery and not a trout fishery. BUT im pissed that our money stocked the stream and now this. I would rather have seen the trout be put into a bait section and been creeled.

WASTE.

Lets hope for the best.
 
Flows.

It looks like they only cut it to 25 or so, and it was for a very brief time. Hopefully the damage is minimal.
 
back up to 372. Hopefully all is well.

I don't believe the 25 reading. I'm guessing they cut it all the way back, but it took some time for the spillway to drain out completely. There's probably a bit of groundwater flow that undercuts the dam as well.

I'm not sure about that specific location, but most of the guages just go off of water height and the cfs are calculated based on the basin dimensions. I wouldn't be suprised if their water column guage is a bit off. The difference between 25 cfs and 100 cfs may only be an inch or less if it's taken on a wide section of stream
 
The gate was closed for 1 hr. 6 min. No kill occurred and no distressed fish were observed. The original prediction of a 2 hour period to do the cleaning of the dam's trash racks (by divers) in front of the gates fortunately was an overestimate of the time required.
 
Mike, how many concerned anglers were on hand to help in case there was a problem? Just curious.
 
My gut feeling from the alert was the fish would be fine, cool temps today and the short period, (even shorts actual time) shouldn't hurt the fish too much, We would only be talking about the potential for diminished dissolved oxygen through consumption and the time frame expected would have definitely been short enough to restore turnover before oxygen depletion.

Much ado about nuthin.

Had it been June thats a whole nuther ballgame.
 
The guys that feel the lower Tully should not be a trout fishery are really missing the boat, IMO.

Have you ever fished MT? Tailwaters have saved/created some of the best trout fishing in the world. How can anyone dispute that?

Glad Mike and the boys could minimize the negative impact, Thanks.
 
I'm Not missing any boat. The Tully will never and can never be a tailwater like MT. Its comparing apples and oranges. It doesn't have enough cold water release to last the entire summer and it has no wild fish. I think its an insult to MT tailwaters to even compare the 2.

Yes, this was "much ado about nuthin" if your looking at what happened in the end. I think the response time given to anglers was horrible and should be made much ado about. They plan on doing this more in the summer, be nice to have some prior warning. It was the entire point to this thread, so i doubt the concerned anglers even knew about it. TCO flew down there once they found out lmfaooooooooo
 
theres a bunch of aples and oranges here. Are we comparing the Tully of 5-8 years ago with a damn good holdover rate and a bunch of good sized fish? or the Tully of today thats Imho just another stocker stream? I dont know what went wrong or where it happened but the Tully used to be awesome 5-8 years ago were talking great hatches and lots of holdovers. There was even a fishing show filmed on the Tully. Now im a member of the Tully TU and iv made numerous attempts at making stream inprovements and if I remember correctly there was a grant that was given to do work on the Tully but iv seen no work done and to my knowledge theres not even any plans in the works. I used to love fishing the Tully but I find my self going else where as of late just because I know what it used to be and its not even close to that anymore. Not pointing fingers but I just dont see any passion in the TCU either, where is the Passion to do restoration work and better streams with wild trout, or just improve the Tully to help it be what it used to be? No Passion, Im just a member im not on the board so I have no control but I do reccomend things and allways here an excuse. Its a shame,,I wish I could do more
 
I like to add a few thoughts...i'd stretch the 5-8 yrs ago dates to a tad longer. Maybe more like 15 yrs. I'd say the mid-90s is when the Tully holdover fishery took a decline in both fish and macros.

Back in the late 80's early 90s, I remember catching plenty of big bows (14-20") consistently...double digit C&R outtings were the norm with these size fish. Fingerling survival and growth rates were darn good. The fingerlings would grow 6-7" a year.

Not sure what went wrong. I think poorer water quality in the Lake as a result of Ag runoff has contributed to it. Angler pressure??? Water release management???


I too am a member of Tully TU... I don't attend meetings but have heard the "Lack of Passion" or "Motivation" complaint about the board in the past.

I also agree there is no comparison of the Tully to the MT or Western Tailwaters, even in its "hay-day"
 
I tend to agree with Maurice on this but will add that there was probably more risk of danger to the invertebrates if it was shut off for 2 hours.

Just a guess.
 
It goes beyond bad water temps.

It's also got almost no habitat. The work that TU has done improves that marginally, but it's basically a big chute.

I started fishing it in the late 90s, and noticed a decline since then. The hatches were incredible when I first started fishing it. For some reason, after the dam was did a full blown storm release in summer of 2003, the upper stretches aren't what they were back then. Perhaps I just set that as the official mark of the end of my tully days, but I felt like it had an impact.

It's a tailwater. Having fished the bighorn, I'd have to say that the comparison ends there. Wild vs stocked, good habitat vs marginal, and incredible macro population vs an average macro population, year round 50 degree water vs mid 70s in the summer.... no comparison at all.

If I still lived back that way, I'd spend one or two evenings a year to fish the never-ending caddis hatch, assuming that still happens. It's certainly not worth a drive from my place now.
 
I wasn't around when it was "good", so I have no memory. I live 5 minutes from it now. It's local and a quick fix, so I do fish it some. But in no way is it a "good" stream.
 
You guys say you are members of TCTU and then complain about a lack of action from the board. I can tell you that that the board members alone can not do much without members who are willing help. We have well over 300 members and can't get more than 15 to attend a meeting much less help out with any of the actual work. Active TU members are volunteers and give up family and fishing time to improve and protect the streams that YOU enjoy.

It's really frustrating to hear members complain that nothing much gets done when they themselves are not involved. Being a "member" and sending in your dues does absolutely nothing for the local chapters. Your dues go entirely to State council and National TU. If you want to complain show up at a meeting and complain. Better yet get involved and help the cause.

These are the type of guys that don't vote but then complain about who gets elected. When the call goes out for volunteers all we hear is dead silence! You're either part of the problem or part of the solution. I'd rather be a part of the solution, how about you? Sorry for the rant.
 
there ya go,,woo hoo we have some passion. First of all I would love to be at every meeting but I work second shift I have asked many many times about having meetings on a saterday so everyone can come. Im sure im not the only member who is a second shifter. Hell even the picnic was on a weekday nite, the swap meet, yup again weekday nite. Im all about doing restoration work theres tons of streams that we could be working on. How about all the class A streams that wont be class A much longer if we dont do anything. but all I hear is funding funding funding. I sent Gene Markle about 5 different grants that we could apply for, did we apply???? I know we got a grant last year for work on the tully wheres the work ? whats the plan? So to answer your question. I am tring to be part of the solution, maybe we need to look at other chapters and how they get there work done and model ourselves after them. Donegal for instance has like 3 projects there doing rite now. How about Doc Fitcherty look them up and see the work they have going. I wanted to get a stand at the mifflin community days this year and mentioned it back before Christmas, nothing ever came of it at all. do you know how much we could raise there that week. Iv been tring very hard to get involved and to also give a little push to get it going. Im sure Gene will back me up on this. we talk very often on facebook and he knows my heart. But he cant do it alone either. I joined Trout Unlimited because i wanted to make a difference not to be social. not to attend dinners or breakfasts and chat. To help wild trout thrive so that my 2 year old son will grow up and have streams with wild trout to catch, To bring back populations of trout that are on the decline and to help get regs on streams that are being raped of wild trout by people who see these gems as a free f'in meal. so yeah steveo im part of the solution ,whats next ?
 
jfetkin,

Have you tried to organize a committee of volunteers from the "2nd-shifters?" I think steveo makes a good point, though I also think he overstates it. If you are not part of the problem, you are part of the solution. This is the correct and logical construction of this often repeated "truism," in my opinion.

Yet, it is also true to say and live:

"If not now, when? If not me, then who?

Volunteerism loses its right to the name if it becomes compulsory. People who volunteer should not be looking for recognition, nor looking around to see who else is helping out.

Another wise saying: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
 
Sorry Jack but every Tu chapter is only is as good as it's leadership . Do you think that the state would of givin jfetkin the grant money if he applied for it, if he wasn't a board member of the chapter or at least applying threw one .
 
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