Tulpehocken DH Area: Did you notice anything different this spring?

[Mike]

I am waiting to see if I can get some more info, either here or elsewhere. Apparently, few anglers that participate on this message board actually fish the stream anymore.

 

[krayfish]

I've been there with my nephew 4 times since mid June. I need some type of hint.

Fewer herons? More hotties on the jogging trail? If I remember looking at the gauges, they didn't blow out the river (like they usually do) prior to opening the lake. They built something large down near the paper mill. More suckers and fewer carp than in years before. More mosquitoes than any place I've fished in last 10 years. Am I getting close or am I just oblivious when I'm fishing?

 

[lestrout]

Mike - reflecting on your OP, my catch rates on the Tulpy were not as high this year as certain ones in the 90s, but the trouts were better in size and quality. The hatchery has changed the diet or some process so that the stockies are more beautiful, less banged up and better fighting.

To get over jet lag from a couple of weeks in MT, I hit the Tulpy this week to see what was happening, and at the gauge, all I caught and saw were browns. The big rainbows last month in the same areas were not around. Got a nice little rock bass and 2 sunnies too, and tried to get the couple of carp that were rising to eat a caddis. Kray observed that there are fewer carp and more suckers and that squares with my experience now that I'm thinking about it.

tl
les

 

[sundertrout]

I have noticed people standing on top of fish flailing away at shadows.
Where have all the carp gone? Were there that many lost in the fish kill a few years ago that they have not recovered? Canary in a coal mine?

 

[gunshy028]

I fished a saturday evening about 3 weeks ago. I was about 200 yards below Rebers Bridge. Caught 7, all browns. 5 were 14"plus and 1 native brown (didnt look stocked) about 10". All were taken on a #28 grey hackle against the roadside bank in the shadows. Saw lots of suckers but very true, no carp.

 

[Mike]

Water temps based on the gauge still look good in the AM and have been good for the past few days. In a normal year I would expect the cold water reserve in the lake to run out within the next 10 days, so if you are still thinking about tricos, etc, there is little time spare if this is a "normal" year.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
Water temps based on the gauge still look good in the AM and have been good for the past few days. In a normal year I would expect the cold water reserve in the lake to run out within the next 10 days, so if you are still thinking about tricos, etc, there is little time spare if this is a "normal" year.

 

[krayfish]

For an unknown reason, I fished it with PhilC this morning. We caught plenty of rock bass, crappie and smallmouth. A couple of trout were landed but not many. The tricos were quite weak this morning. The caddis hatched fairly strong though. Humbling morning and reminded me why I hate that sucker factory. LOL.

Seems to be fewer trout but the size is larger imo.

 

[RyanR]

Mike wrote:
A fisheries management change occurred this spring in the Tulpehocken DH area. Did you notice anything different from recent past years' fishing experiences vs this year's experiences. Were catches or catch rates worse, better, or the same? If your response depended upon the general location, then feel free to break it down into two stretches.....1) Rebers iron bridge upstream to Blue Marsh Dam and 2) Rebers iron bridge downstream to the covered bridge.
Thanks. Yes, I will reveal the difference after the responses are in.

Anyday now.

 

[bam]

I fished it on a hot Saturday morning in late June. Only time the last couple years. Catching was good early, but shut completely down around 10. Lots of healthy browns, only one bow. This was around the 422 overpass. Caught a number of smallies as well.

 

[pcray1231]

I haven't fished it at all this year. But I used to fish it a lot, as in 2-7 years ago. Based on the responses, I'll offer a guess on the management change, or at least the nature of it.

I'm guessing they flipped or adjusted where the bows and browns are stocked? I'm seeing that people are catching mostly browns below Rebers and mostly bows above. Is that flipped? At least, I know I used to catch my share of browns above Rebers and plenty of bows below.

So I'm guessing they only stocked bows above, and only stocked browns below. Don't remember exactly what it was like, but that's different. And I'm guessing, in the fall stocking, they did the opposite. With an attempt to measure what % of the fish this spring result from the fall stocking vs. spring stocking.

That's ignoring the fish movement issue, though. For instance, a few years back when they put the fingerlings in, I caught A LOT of them between Gring's Mill and the river. >20 per day. Yet, supposedly, they were only stocked in the DH area. So, unless they stocked down there too, those fish moved in mass.

 

[bam]

I'll add that the nearside water temp was in the low 60s and was approaching 70 along the far bank when I left at 11. Must have been cool enough for the fish as they were spread bank to bank.

 

[Mike]

The Tulpehocken between Blue Marsh Dam and Rebers Bridge Rd received a 21% increase in the number of trout stocked in spring, 2013 versus spring, 2012. The ratio of rainbows to browns should have been the same both years. Here (this Board) and elsewhere, I could not find any anglers who perceived this increase, which follows my previous remarks that deal with fishing rods being inefficient tools for determining trout abundance, including small to moderate size changes in individual stream stocking rates.

 

[krayfish]

Mike,

Up by the water plant, I've caught bows only but every other angler caught nothing but browns. I thought the fish were a good size this season.

 

[Gorosaurus]

If fishing rods are a poor tool for measuring fish abundance.. why stock at all? The entire endgame is an increased catch rate.

Not to dismiss the scientific surveys at all, but if increased numbers don't also mean increased catch rates, what is the point? I think informal fishing reports are important even if nearly scientifically valueless. I think that changes in trout populations, even if not individually noticed by the fisherman, amount to a whole increase/decrease of fisherman satisfaction correlated with the population size.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
The Tulpehocken between Blue Marsh Dam and Rebers Bridge Rd received a 21% increase in the number of trout stocked in spring, 2013 versus spring, 2012. The ratio of rainbows to browns should have been the same both years. Here (this Board) and elsewhere, I could not find any anglers who perceived this increase, which follows my previous remarks that deal with fishing rods being inefficient tools for determining trout abundance, including small to moderate size changes in individual stream stocking rates.

I'm not surprised that the addition of a couple of hundred fish stocked in a close to 4 mile area was not detected by anglers on the Tully. It may have added a fish or two to the catch for the day, but I wouldn't expect it to be a bonanza for any angler.

Hopefully the Tully temps stay down enough at the end of the summer for many or most to survive into the fall.

 

[Squaretail]

Couple hundred in almost 4 miles?
Really? Thats what this whole things been about?
Michael!

 

[JackM]

Earbuddy chooses the numerical expression that favors their view. Mike said "21% more." Who cares if that is 30 more trout, 300 more trout or 3000 more trout-- it is still 21% more.

 

[JackM]

More is better.

 

[Maurice]

Yeah....21% more. why bother.

So if I usually catch ten this year I caught 12. I am not going to boast that I caught alot more trouts. I may not even realize it. only think I am perhaps getting better at hooking trouts. Its not like there were scorecards passed out.

Now if I catch more wild trout than in the past that I may recognize. or more holdover trout in addition to stockies.

So I don't fish the tully but from what I've read on it its become a wide silty ditch. Habitat had dwindled and the stocking had gone from fingerlings to adult stocked trout to increasing the abundance of stocked trout. to I suppose now the reduction from original stocked trout numbers because there was no discernable difference in anglers knowing the difference what we put in there.

So whats the point of the science behind it if we are such fools as anglers. If you want to sell licenses just manage it to our perceptions. if we want fingerlings give us fingerlings. If we believe no stocking works better for wild trout, stop stocking. Its pretty obvious your throwing mud at the wall is having no positive result.

So what will it be now...a different kind of mud, less mud, wetter mud or dryer? We will wait for the mud wall to be put before us and we will try to figure out what the mad scientists did with the mud that we are too stupid to figure out.