Allegheny River Tailwaters; Warren County; 8/14/2010

[smitty17]

Started fly fishing about two weeks ago, have been out 4 or five times. I made a trip to Western NY to visit family, so I decided I would make a short drive to the Kinzua tailwaters to see how the fishing was there.

Went in about 4000' downstream from the dam by way of Hemlock Road. Waded to the most upstream point of the island located in this area. Fished using a BWO and some terrestrials without luck. Switched to a Orvis hares ear nymph when I reached the point. Landed 10 rainbows in the area from the point of that island downstream about 300'. All were in the range of 8" to 11", I am assuming that many of these were a fresh stock as they seemed much to easy to grab. Maybe it was the water conditions but there was limited technicality to landing these fish. Continued moving dowstream due to a large amount of fishers in that area and a large amount of water crafts.

Moved dowstream to a location where the river splits around an island. Fished the eastern split first with no luck. Fished the western split and landed two more rainbows in the same size range. This was a much better area to fish as it required a bit more skill to land the fish as they were sitting in a small pocket where a log channeled the water.

After that headed back. I am looking for a decent water proof camera so I can start snapping some photos to accompany the reports. Thanks.

 

[Fishidiot]

Smitty,
Nice report and welcome to PaFlyFish.
I believe you're correct about the trout being fresh stocked as the PFBC recently dumped some "excess" trout in the Allegheny and Yough Rivers.
Lookin forward to your photos.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

Nice report. Did you see much in the way of insect activity? How were the water temps? I've always wanted to try that place but the 4 hr drive scares me away every time.

 

[smitty17]

Insects: I didn't see anything to speak of major interest. I did arrive around 10AM though so that may have been a contributing factor in the limited insect activity. Also i am new to this so I am sure my eyes are not as keen as a seasoned veteran.

Water Temp: Where I went in the water was around 63 F at 10AM. At the point of the island it was in the 62 F around 11AM. Then the last place I took a look was at the downstream split I spoke of in the initial post and it was 63 F there as well at noon.

It was different from the places I have gone so far. I have seen others refer to it as "big water" and that it is for sure. It is more difficult to cover the the water effectively and to judge where the fish would most likely be held up. Also the flow rate when I was there was between 1500 and 1600 CFS, I couldn't imagine going if it were much more than that.

 

[ryguyfi]

I use a fujifilm z33 waterproof camera. It runs around $150 so not too expensive. I've had it for a year so far and it works pretty well.


Welcome to the site. You'll enjoy being on here, there's lots of knowledgable people here. Don't be afraid to ask questions and search around the whole site.


Ryan

 

[Alpabuck]

Sight....I'll have the the outcast 3 man by next spring we'll make the trip.....We can take Jdaddy and work on his rowing!

 

[jdaddy]

My rowing is fine . . . as long as I remember my oars.

 

[Alpabuck]

I was told a story about upstream winds?

 

[jdaddy]

Eff wind, imho! I hope the part where jdaddy said, "Mr. Sight_Nymph it is awfully windy out there, you sure this is a good idea?" was not left out. Or maybe the call to my wife advising that my fat azz was killing my draft, thus the toon's were half submerged and Sight was about 6 miles ahead of me and the only way I knew to get his attention was the conveniently place 9mm in my boat bag? Sight, you are a lucky man that my wife had to maintain a business relationship with you. Just remember, there is no business relationship there now. Ha! Ha!

Sight did man up and go retrieve the vehicle and for that I will forever be grateful. I was ready to just leave everything there and walk. I mean that wind was bad.

My favorite part was when Sight, sheepishly called me a month later and asked if that was something I thought I would be doing again. LOL.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

To correct the story....

Put in at Shehawken and it's was not very windy. When we rounded the corner at the junction, 1-2' waves coming upstream. I turned around and said, "Row like a MF or we aren't getting off this river until midnight". Didn't you tell me during the follow up phone call "Boat is for sale!" LMAO

I did manage to get out at Stockport, walk up River Rd and then 191 back to Shehawken. IN WADERS and under an hour. When I got to the car, poured sweat out of waders before driving back down.

 

[dano]

sight_nymph_17109 wrote:
Nice report. Did you see much in the way of insect activity? How were the water temps? I've always wanted to try that place but the 4 hr drive scares me away every time.

Caddis early AM and Evening.
Mostly 18-14 in dark & light / tan. A few early arrival cinnamon caddis.

IMO, not worth a 4 hour drive if you have high expectations.
Those pesky barely legal rainbows are now spread from the dam to Warren. 8 truck loads in June and another stocking this past month.

I have been getting a few chunky 12-17 inch fish each time out on stimulators.
And, the biger brown trout are still feeding on those 6-7 inch rainbows as last week I had one smack a tiny bow while reeling it in. Another huge brown almost beached itself behind me while chasing one to shore.

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

dano,

Thanks for the info. I had heard years back that the river warmed in the summer and was a marginal fishery. It doesn't sound that way from what you're describing. Tons of little one can be a pain but they can also be fun. It sounds like there's some big boys in there too. Does it have many good hatches? It would be 30-45 minutes further drive than what I currently have to get to the Delaware. Good fishing with a real opportunity to catch something in the 19-22" range is what I was looking for. If not, I'll stick to what I'm doing.

 

[troutslammer]

go to the delaware , it is not a marginal fishery and does not warm up , bottom release dam , caddis is the norm there , dano is a real expert on that water as with oil creek , caldwell creek , pine creek and kinzua creek

 

[dano]

I'm no expert, troutslammer,, LOL,,, Believe me.

s_n_1709,
This year, water temps from the dam to Warren are creeping into the low seventies. Normal temps for that area are usually in the high sixties for August. The outflow is mixed and usually follows a pattern set by the USGS where more cold water is introduced around 11AM.

The big hatch is the tan caddis and cream cahills in June.
After that it's mainly an assortment of caddis and tiny mayflies.
There are good tricos but not every morning and even then you are hard pressed to find fish keying on them.
There is a very good cinnamon caddis in Sept.
18"-23" fish are not rare. 12"-17" is the norm, (excluding dinks,if you can get around them).
The bigger fish,,,, I''ve seen both bows and browns pushing 30".

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll check it out next year just for the hell of it.