Stream Changes

[Hopdemon]

I went out to one of my favorite streams to fish the past two Sundays and was amazed at the changes brought about by the flooding this past summer.This was the first time I fished this stream since before the flooding and the changes turned this little stream into a really different water.As some of you might know I'm a monoped (lost my left leg 30 years ago) so I usually pick my fishing water by the ease of accsess and this stream had that,well the flood changed all that...had to slide down the bank on my butt and climb out using tree roots as hand holds but it was well worth it.The flood made this a different stream...it removed a little dam and scoured the bottom and removed almost all the silt and left a gravel and rock bottom.Two Sundays past I caught 8 trout missed 3 and had 2 ldr's ,all brookies and rainbows.Now I knew this stream had natives but I had never caught a rainbow there in all the years I fished it,only brookies and stocked brownies.This past Sunday the stream was a bit off color and high but I still picked up 4 rainbows.All of the trout especially the brookies looked like they were painted with neon colors...amazingly beautiful.I also noticed that some of the rainbows had parr markings,I have an idea where they might have come from but I'm going to have to investigate further...anyhow the flood did a great job of fixing this stream,nature is really wonderful.

 

[Swattie87]

Hop - got a pretty good idea which stream you were on...I think you and I have chatted on the bank (without knowing it) of that stream a couple of times. The last time was late Spring/early Summer and I do believe I had an UL spinning rod in my hand that day. It was at the lot by the hatchery. Let me know if that was you.

Anyway, if I have the stream correct, I agree...lots of structural changes for the better. As far as the Brookies (again if I have the stream right) I'm pretty sure that most of them came from the same place that the Bows did. I've caught an occasional wild looking Brookie from that stream but for the most part (preflood anyway) it was a wild Brown stream. Since the floods, I've only caught one wild Brown, the rest were little Brooks and Bows as you described. Who knows with all those little Brooks and Bows in there now though...surely some of them will figure it out. I fished it in late September and the Brooks were coloring up like they were going to give it a shot...we'll see I guess.

 

[Hopdemon]

Yep that was me you met that day,im really impressed with what the flood did that day and yes you have the right stream..i was fishing down by the bridge this past weekend..the brookies i caught were highly colored I've also heard or read somewhere that there is also a strain of rainbow that spawns in the fall and the ones I caught were electric looking colorwise.I'm keeping my finger crossed that the changes will scare away some of the public.I know no one fished the spots I hit the last couple weeks cause I dropped a fly box one week and found it right in the same spot a week later.

 

[Swattie87]

Yep, the fish definitely looked good and were very active and aggressive. They acclimated well and spread out to more typical "wild" fish lies...riffles and runs. The usual Spring adult stockers in that stream tend to just hole up in a couple of different pools. Makes an excellent case in point for fingerling stocking IMO.

Other than the first couple weeks of the season, I rarely see anyone (other than you and a couple others I know) on that stream. Once May hits I have little fear of seeing another angler there, despite its accessibilty.

I'm kind of torn on what the impact of the "escapees" will be. The wild Browns are tough to find in the Spring when the adult stockers are present, but usually each Fall I could count on several nice wild Browns per trip. The Brown in my avatar is from that stream actually.

I think temperature wise the Brookies will have a tough time in the long term. The stream is well canopied for the most part, but those small, exposed low head dams by the hatchery artifically warm it in the summer. I did take a temp of 70 (in the shade) during one of the heat waves this summer. Bows outside of spring creeks just tend to struggle in general to take hold. My guess is that there will be some limited Brook and to a lesser degree Bow reproduction for a few years, but eventually the Browns will win out again. Should be pretty interesting to fish in the meantime though...

 

[troutbert]

I've seen some streams look better after a flood because a lot of trees got dropped in the stream, creating cover and pools.

But then someone goes through with a chainsaw and removes it all. Where people float stock they often do this, so they can get the float box down through. But it's often done in other places, too. Not for any good reason, but just because of some cultural idea that streams are "supposed" to be open and clear, i.e. ditch-like.

 

[Hopdemon]

This time it didn't drop any trees in the section that I fished ,but it scoured the stream bed and created some deep runs and riffles and totally wiped out a small and useless dam.It did make access a bit more difficult at least for me but I can live with that...hopefully no one will mess with the stream(there is a club there)..now it has some nice fast cold water and should stay that way.

 

[Swattie87]

Yeah, not much in the way of dead falls in that stretch by the bridges, but lots of nice new runs and pocket water. There's a new huge logjam further downstream that makes a nice plunge pool, but it will be difficult to fish.

In one spot (just upstream of the useless dam that got washed out) it changed the stream's course for a good 100 yards or so. This took out a nice corner hole, but added a new hole and a nice run leading into it.

TB - This stream is too small to float stock, and it only gets a fairly limited stocking of a couple hundred fish in the Spring...but you're right, hopefully everyone just leaves the new structure alone.

 

[Hopdemon]

Swattie ,I was amazed the way it changed the coursr of the stream,if it stays like that it looks like the one stretch will be good dry fly water... i just have to figure out a way to get there on crutches.. haha...i'll swim upstream if I have to... my avatar is a bow I caught on Sunday..not a good pic.. I took it with my phone camera while balancing on one foot..

 

[Swattie87]

Yeah, it did carve out a bit of a gully, and moved the streambed toward the ridge (and away from the road there). There's still a trickle that flows in the old stream bed, but I bet it will freeze in the winter and run dry in the summer. I will miss that corner hole though...a buddy of mine pulled a 14" wild Brown with a brilliant yellow belly out of that hole last Spring.

That's a pretty good pic, regardless of how it was taken! Yep, that's what the Bows I've been catching look like. Pretty little things.

 

[Hopdemon]

The phone camera really didn't pick up the colors on the fish...it was all but neon looking. That day we talked i picked up a couple wild browns and a little brookie right by the spot that no longer exists,i have a picture somewhere but i cant find it...I hope i downloaded it or didn't delete it. I'm going to try to hit it again this week if we don't get to much rain.

 

[wgmiller]

The floods and rains of this past summer were a mixed blessing. In some cases, it flushed a lot of silt and sediment downstream. In other cases, it carved already compromised banks away even further. It also moved the fish around to some extent. The freak October snowstorm also wreaked havoc with trees whose structural integrity was already compromised. No doubt that this past year has been a turbulent one on the waterways of eastern Pennsylvania.