Frankstown Branch Juniata River, Blair County, 06-06-20

[Swattie87]

I didn't actually fish, but wanted to post this in the private section of the board, as a Stream Report, hoping it would encourage a more open discussion.

Conditions:
Time: 5:00 PM
Air Temp: 84F, partly cloudy skies
WATER TEMP: 70-72F
Flow: 190ish CFS, perfectly off color, maybe 24" of visibility.
Bugs: Wasn't there long, but saw a few Sulphurs coming off, and one LARGE (like size 10) light colored mayfly...Cahill? Good numbers of a small Caddis buzzing around too.

I think it's pretty well documented that although the FB supports Trout, it gets warm, and gets warm quicker than the Little J. Admittedly though, I was surprised to find the temps I did this early, with the relatively cool Spring we've had. It's really only been Summer like warm the second half of last week for the first time.

My plan was to fish just down from Williamsburg to try to deliberately take advantage of the cold tribs and springs that enter in that stretch, just in case it was getting warm. I parked at Cove Dale first, and took a temp of 72F there. Walked right back to my vehicle and drove up to Williamsburg. Parked at the rail trail lot right in town, and walked down and took the temp below the good sized spring that comes in there. On the west side of the river (side the spring comes in) I got a temp of 64F. On the east side, the water was 72F. I walked down a few runs to take the temp, hopefully after the waters had blended, and got a relatively uniform 70F across the stream. I considered fishing the side of the river that had the spring coming in, but didn't find that to be very sporting, so I packed up and drove to another large stream (not the Little J) that I knew would be cooler, and was...62F.

Does the FB just warm that quick? If so, I'm sure it sends the Trout packing for the tribs or they'll be holding on spring seeps much earlier than I thought they would be. I'm sure it stays cooler up further in the headwaters above Hollidaysburg where it's smaller, but I'm talking in the lower river where it's larger. Was I just overestimating the cooling influence of the tribs and springs? If so, that stretch is only a viable option (for Trout) through May, and again in the Fall probably.

 

[evw659]

I've been curious about this as well, and coincidentally was planning to bike a good length of it this week and take temps along the way.
I checked it out briefly on Thursday, 6/4 near Water St and the temp was similar there as well... around 71 (evening).
Fwiw it has not fished well for me the past couple years, and I think you're right in that it does warm pretty quickly. It kind of seems to me that it warms on a similar regime as Penns down around Weikert (perhaps moreso), and unlike the little j isnt really fishable over the summer.

 

[sarce]

I haven't tried that particular area of the stream, but a few years ago I tried farther downstream. I took my then-gf for some smallmouth fishing one August afternoon. A localized thunderstorm hit a tributary watershed and cold, muddy water was raging out of the trib into the river. Third cast into that cold water, she caught a 16" brown. In the rest of the stream we only found warm water fish. I would certainly glean from that experience that the trib mouths are responsible for wild fish surviving the summer in that river. Don't know if this is helpful info or not, just an interesting anecdote.

 

[LigonierA1]

Frankie seems to warm pretty quickly. I too thought the springs and 5 or so limestone tribs would mitigate this. It does not seem to be the case...at least this year. I fish it in the Fox Run/Etna Furnace area to try to take advantage of that cooling.....but last time(beginning of June) it was 66 deg. The light cahill hatch was excellent and sulphurs were still prevalent as well. Definitely fertile water.

I looked at Keystone Fly Fishing to recall what they had to say about it and the thinking there is that the fish head upstream to cooler tribs or hunker down at the springs and seeps. It was surveyed in mid summer and found fairly barren of trout though anyone fishing there in the spring knows that is not the case. It's a bit of mystery.

Have fished it twice in recent weeks. End of May and a week later, beginning of June.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I have heard its a great WW stream for multiple species. That rarely bodes well for trout.

 

[mav1958]

Fished near the Alfarata Station around the middle of May.

The flow at Williamsburg was 500 +.

Mixed bag of Fallfish, Smallmouths and Browns.

 

[HopBack]

one only needs to check out PA Woods N Water on youtube to figure out where the wild trout are and the sheer amount there are in the franskstown br. He does a pretty good job of blowing it up. :-o

 

[Swattie87]

Yeah, I've seen that, and some other videos. I have no doubt they're there. I fished it before in April a few years ago and turned up some wild Browns. Not a ton, but enough that I was intrigued and prompted me to want to try to fish it during prime hatch season. Was just surprised at the temps I registered this early after a relatively cool May. Especially when I was in the section of river that theoretically should be the coolest. (Other than the extreme headwaters of course.)

It merits further investigation, and a return trip, but probably not until late September or October given the temps I found.

 

[klingy]

I have fished it in the fall for the past several years. I really enjoy it for the solitude (compared to the nearby Little J), scenery, and occasional big brown. There are definitely spots that are more productive than others when it comes to trout. You can't approach expecting trout populations like the Little J, but it definitely holds some surprises. Some lovely water.

 

[evw659]

Biked most of the FB yesterday (Lower Trail). Didn't fish at all, just scouted for spots and took some temps along the way. Most locations above Williamsburg were in the low to mid 70's. Only took 1 temp below Williamsburg (~4 miles above Alfarata) and it was 71.5.

There was a lot of posted water (maybe 3 miles of stream) around Mt. Etna...3 different landowners: farm, private owner, and the Etna Sportsmans Club.