Little Lehigh - PFBC Electro-Survey, Lehigh County 7/18/13

[troutwilleatflies]

Was walking the Heritage this morning and chanced upon the state doing a electro survey.Watched them work the deep runs below the "kiddie pool" to a point above that before the heat got me and I left.
As expected many,many trout were present,Saw some nice native browns (15"+) and lots of RT that were of good size (12"+),and many small native browns.Of interest were a few RT that the workers said were native (8-10"),I wondered in the past if they were spawning and that confirms it.In the mix were a few brookies that were obvious stockies,one was about 14".From what I saw there is a healthy population of trout in the LL,not like it used to be but still a good number.
By the way before I met up with the shocking crew I observed a good hatch with many risers on other spots of the stream,also saw a few caught.By ten AM the flys were all but gone for the day.

 

[Fishidiot]

Good to hear, esp the small RTs.

(Note, I edited the title line to fit the Stream Reports forum standard. Although this isn't a fly fishing report, it is germane enough to stay in this forum. DaveW)

 

[Heritage-Angler]

troutwilleatflies wrote:
Was walking the Heritage this morning...

Well that explains why my feet hurt. ;-)

Must have just missed you. I was there around 6:30 to take some water temperature readings for a friend. I took readings at several spots, and they were all pretty much the same.

64.6 degrees at 6:41 AM. Wish I could have got a reading at 5PM or so, just to see if it went up much....

 

[streamerguy]

Saw some nice native browns (15"+) and lots of RT that were of good size (12"+),and many small native browns.Of interest were a few RT that the workers said were native (8-10")

So who's gonna be the first one to break the news to him? Lol just messin with ya. Sounds like the stream's in great shape.

 

[troutwilleatflies]

streamerguy wrote:

Saw some nice native browns (15"+) and lots of RT that were of good size (12"+),and many small native browns.Of interest were a few RT that the workers said were native (8-10")

So who's gonna be the first one to break the news to him? Lol just messin with ya. Sounds like the stream's in great shape.[/quote


Yes it's still a fine stream with a good population of trout.But I have been fishing this stream for 60+ years,and as good as some think it is now it was much better in the 40's,50's,60's,and as recent as 10 -15 yrs ago,believe me when I tell you it was a "premier" trout stream in the past.

PS: Just noticed you're from Ohio,that would explain your thinking as chances are you have never seen the LL,now or in the past.

 

[ryguyfi]

The news he is talking about is just something that gets people to "voice their correctness" about a word in your post.

Native = They were originally there (only certain brook trout in PA)

Wild = they were born in the stream. (All browns and rainbows, some brookies)

No big deal, but ruffles some peoples feathers when the wrong one is used.

Nice report. Now go figure out what they were rising to and follow up with another report and some fish pictures!

 

[streamerguy]

Yeah I was talking about the term "native" as ryguyfi pointed out. Like he said no big deal, but some people get annoyed by it and like to bust other peoples' chops for using the term incorrectly. No biggie, I've even made the mistake on here before. And btw good report. And you're right, I've never seen the LL and probably never will lol, but I do know it doesn't have native browns or bows ;-)

 

[troutwilleatflies]

I see I fell for the "native vs wild" debate LOL. The American Indian is the "native" and the rest of us born in the USA are "wild" LMAO

 

[Tups]

twef: sixty plus years on the Little Lehigh; quite a record. Sounds like the title of a book. Did you ever meet Jim Leisenring?

 

[troutwilleatflies]

Those 60 yrs included my early childhood,later on I spent some time with Al Miller but don't know if I ever met Jim.

 

[afishinado]

troutwilleatflies wrote:

streamerguy wrote:

Saw some nice native browns (15"+) and lots of RT that were of good size (12"+),and many small native browns.Of interest were a few RT that the workers said were native (8-10")

So who's gonna be the first one to break the news to him? Lol just messin with ya. Sounds like the stream's in great shape.[/quote


Yes it's still a fine stream with a good population of trout.But I have been fishing this stream for 60+ years,and as good as some think it is now it was much better in the 40's,50's,60's,and as recent as 10 -15 yrs ago,believe me when I tell you it was a "premier" trout stream in the past.

PS: Just noticed you're from Ohio,that would explain your thinking as chances are you have never seen the LL,now or in the past.

Wow TWEF.....great stuff. I'd love to hear about what the stream looked like back then, how it fished, hatches, wild vs. stocked fish, etc.

 

[LouM]

I remember fishing it in the early 60s when they opened the heritage stretch. .There was a cable bridge at the head of the kiddie pool. A lot lf the stream improvements have washed away or are silted in so you can barely see them unless you remember them from before. There was also a lot of vegetation and the hatches were better than they are now, although it looks like they are slowly coming back. You could keep 1 trout 20" or larger. IT ended at the fireman's bridge ( the one below the fly shop).

I remember 2 guys fishing there, 1 above the bridge and 1 below , the guy above was catching trout and killing them and letting them float to the guy below. The rest of the story is , the warden was watching them from above and when they had a few he nabbed them.

 

[troutbert]

LouM wrote:

There was also a lot of vegetation and the hatches were better than they are now, although it looks like they are slowly coming back.

What were the changes in the vegetation? Are you referring to vegetation in the water, or vegetation along the stream/

 

[troutwilleatflies]

In a nut shell .......the LL was a much cleaner looking stream back then with lots of vegetation on the bottom in the slower stretches.To give you a idea of the bugs then vs now I remember Sulphur hatches that looked like a blizzard in reverse,and the stream surface covered with LARGE rising trout.This was at the Heritage before it was the Heritage and was open to all tackle.I remember being there with my father and driving along Fish Hatchery road and after getting across the covered bridge my father stopped the car to clean the bugs off the windshield,we could n't see because of the bug splatter.The major happening that destroyed the LL was the installation of sanitary sewer lines in the 60's,they ripped the entire upper stream apart as no one oversaw that then it seems.Then when the sewer was available came the development and lots of sediment and run off.To add insult to injury now those sewer lines are overflowing with raw sewerage when there is a high water event.
It's not what it used to be and probably never will be again....ever!

 

[Fishidiot]

Troutwilleatflies,
Please check your PM.

 

[Chaz]

I've been fishing the LL for years and have never seen even a minimum of vegetation, I wonder where you guys used to see it. The LL has always been a silty slow moving stream, and the problems of the stream are not solely due to expanded devlopment. Much of what we see now is a result of the parks people putting in "stream improvements" that don't work as intended.
Not to mention that for years, until recently they mowed the banks and removed all the vegetation holding the soil there.

 

[troutwilleatflies]

Chaz,I remember when the LL did n't flow like the muddy Mississippi every time it rains,it would get a milky green color.This was back a few years ago,like 50.There was lots of vegetation in many of the slower deeper sections thru out the parkway,now it's that silt you see today.The "grow zone" that the parks dept has gone to is a good thing,but the silt you see today is there because of upstream development not because of mowing the grass.Also,when the farmers pulled out all the fence rows and stopped strip farming and went to huge plowed fields there was nothing to stop that run off along the creek.By the way those stream improvements were installed by others not the parks dept.Some helped ,some did n't,and most have been degraded over the years.

 

[surveyor06]

Kind of sad to think what that stream could be. I learned how to fly fish on the LL and I consider my home water, even though I live in Downingtown now. Doesn't seem like development in the area will let up.

 

[Chaz]

The high for that day set a record, rest assured the stream temp went up, probably over 70.

 

[JeffK]

I've only been fishing the LL for about 30 years, but I'm from the other side of the Lehigh Valley and have fished the Bushkill, Monocacy, and Musconetcong in NJ for 50 years. All had extensive weed beds back in the day and the weed beds were filled with scuds which the trout fed on 12 months a year. NJ used to stock culls in the fall and they grew at a good rate all winter in the Muskie. The frog water above the Binney and Smith dam was solid weeds and had plenty of freely rising, but awfully difficult to hook, trout. My guess is that the sediment load increased to the point where the unstable bottom didn't allow the plants to take hold. The Bushkill and Muskie both also have very fine gray sediment that coats plants and can't help. In the Bushkill drainage the fines from the cement quarries adds to the development issues.

Finally, development brings more hard surface and I have seen many springs disappear with resulting higher temperatures in the summer, fewer thermal refuges, and quicker response to a rainfall. Although, the Bushkill with much of its upper stretches on farmland with shale bedrock always muddied soon after a storm.