Meadow Run DLH Fayette County 5-19-12

grobe33

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Apr 2, 2010
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I got out to fish this evening from 6:30pm-dark. It was very sunny with a water temperature of 60 degrees. The water is back to being clear and low. Green Drakes were hatching when I got to the stream in decent numbers. I managed to pick up a few on my Dun Imitation. A nice number of Coffinflies found there way to the stream from 8pm-dark. It was nice to see a healthy hatch and spinnerfall on this little stream!

www.grobe33.blogspot.com

 
I was there on Friday. Same conditions, except water level was very full with a green tint. Didn't keep the fish from rising though. Caught many on a GD dun and a few on a coffin fly at dusk. It was a blast.
 
How have the crowds been? In the last two months I have taken two fridays off and had to deal with a ton of guys in the delayed harvest section. I have fished meadow about 12 times since february, and it has been crowded 10 of those 12 times. Have the flocks died down a bit now that warmwater season is upon us?
 
I fished on a Friday evening and saw 5 other guys in the entire section from the cascades upstream to the Park Office.
 
I fished from 6:30-dark the other night. There were only 2 other guys in the Cascade Hole..........had the rest of the water to myself.

www.grobe33.blogspot.com

 
I have had that happen a couple times this year, and both times were great. Is the cascade pool the run right above the giant waterfall or are we talking about the pools below the natural slides?

I read your blog occasionally(sweet brown btw), so I know you fish meadow more than I do. Have you ever run into this rainbow before in the delayed harvest? I landed him once and hooked him at a different time, but was broken off(clearly wisened up and learned how to saw 5x off rocks). Seriously powerful fish. It made me believe I was on Elk in October.
 

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Ya the cascade pool is the one above the bigger waterfall not the slides, by far the hardest fished hole in that section. I have not come across that pig, great catch! Thanks for the kudos on the brown. Meadow is a very scenic place to fish and has good insect life for sure. Fish it now while you can, once June 15th hits the numbers will go down.

www.grobe33.blogspot.com

 
I swear I used to know every rock in that stream years ago, but I don't think I've been on it in the last 4 years more than half a dozen times. What I really liked, besides the unique Laurel Mountain wilderness that surrounds the DHALO section, was that the walking trail traversed the whole section except near the top and you could always walk away from any crowds. I never saw any blizzard hatches there, but have had good fishing on top and enough sparse hatches to make it a wonderful short-trip stream. I need to go visit it again soon.
 
I've been fishing it a few times every year for at least 20 years. The scenery is a big draw for me too. I can truly say without exaggeration that the hatches are getting better these days. But it's such a shame, like so many other streams in the area, that it becomes marginal later in the summer. As far as the rainbow pig, I hooked one last year in the cascades pool about that size. And I do know that planted lunkers from Beaver Creek make their way down into the special regs area every year. I have a feeling that with some riparian and stream structure work, especially further upstream where it is open to warming, that water could stay cool all year.
 
Ok, this is my last off topic post in this stream report thread, but does meadow hold fish year round? I have had locals tell me that it does, but numerous others tell me it gets too warm. I have hiked the stream in August and its been pretty cold(low 60s), so I am not sure what to think. I have caught a lot of 14-16" fish that looked like holdovers, that is why I asked. Also, do they stock breeders like that rainbow in the delayed harvest stretch? That is probably the third fish of that size I have come across in the delayed harvest section. I wasnt sure if they were stocked or connected to my previous question of the stream supporting year round trout populations.

Really interested to hear if it is thermally conducive to trout, because if so I am going to be all over pfbc to make the delayed harvest stretch CR
 
pwk,
Meadow is one of those "borderline" streams. Its temperatures often reach into the 70's, or even 80, during really hot spells. But if the summer is relatively cool, it may have many holdovers during that year, because nights in the mountains often get fairly cool even during July and August.

Also, it does have some feeder streams and springs that can support minimal numbers of trout during hot periods. So it usually does hold some, albeit sometimes very few, trout through the year (unless it is a real blisterer of a summer).

All of that said, this is no spring fed limestoner. Fish often struggle to keep from asphyxiating during the summer. For that reason alone I rarely fish it into July and August.

Ironically, I have caught native brookies in certain locations in Meadow, no doubt migrated from a tributary. And there are reports of wild rainbows being caught too. But these instances are very rare. Generally speaking, Meadow is a marginal stream when it comes to temperatures.


However, there are other streams in the area that have better temps throughout the year such as Dunbar Creek and some small brookie streams in the Laurel Highlands. These are always your better bet to fish during the summer heat.
 
pwk,

I know a few guys that help stock meadow and they put in a few 20+ inch fish. I wouldn't be surpised if a few bows from the Yough make there way up there in the fall and stay around for awhile, maybe even staying put throughout the winter and into early summer. I think thermal issues would prevent this stream from being a good year-round fishery but you never know until you try.


www.grobe33.blogspot.com
 
If the stream were more fertile, it would hold over more trout and would support a greater wild remnant. There are refuges for some of the trout and if they happen to stumble onto them before they croak, they can and will survive both the deep summer and the winter. The primary limitation, in my opinion is the forage base, which is weak, likely due to water chemistry in the Laurel Mountains.
 
Laurel Run, a decent sized trib continues to be treated for mine drainage and has helped the streams fertility quite a bit. Unfortunately there are several small tribs to it, that continue pollute the system.
 
I fish Meadow Run 3-5 times annually and year-round. I've been catching wild rainbows and browns there on a regular basis for about 5 years--mostly above the cascades. I don't know if spawning occurs in the main branch; but wild brook , brown and rainbow trout are present in Beaver Creek according to the stream manager at the trout club.

Fish do hold over. The stream has been running cooler due to the large lake upstream being drained.



 
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