Meadow Run; Fayette County; 4/6/2011

[stevehalupka]

i know what you're saying..

meadow is a very scenic stream, but compared to even the yough, the hatches they aren't the best.. in fact, I personally think dunbar gets more bugs, but hey, they just m.o..

i just don't think upper, or any sections of meadow are having natural repro of bows... yough, yes, in sections, but meadow??

browns swim up there to spawn every fall, and I've never caught a wild brown there, but magically, after stockings, I catch small bows... fingerlings.

don't think people aren't crazy enough about that place to catch them in the lower section and move them up top... my buddy does this with stockies in another local stream, many more miles away from the 3 sections of meadow.

 

[greenghost]

steve,
I have caught fingerling bows, brookies and browns (3 to 4") in lower Meadow and in one case a small brookie in upper Meadow near Laurel Run. The bows can be attributed to fingerling stocking in the Yough... but the brookies and browns? I am convinced that there is minimal natural reproduction going on. Some years better than others. But I bet the reproduction is attributed to cool water, not necessarily in Meadow itself. There are a few feeder tribs and springs in certain spots along Meadow that might help sustain fish during hot summers. An interesting fact is that I caught the brookies and browns in the early spring and fall only, never late spring into summer.

I know for a fact that brookies migrate in and out of larger, main stem waters during spring and fall and possibly winter (not sure because I rarely fish in winter.) For example, in Laurel Hill Creek, there are sections around cool water tributaries that have surprising numbers small brookies in the spring.

 

[dasofas]

OK, let's look at this a bit more logically. While I agree with the most of what has been said on the thread, I think there is a bit of mis-interpretation, or maybe I wasn't being very clear. Either way, here goes.

First, as I stated earlier, the fish in the photo is from Beaver Creek, not Meadow. Beaver Creek runs into Meadow approx 2.5 miles above the Cascades (not the chutes by the mouth). The private stretch of Beaver I was fishing is approx 2 miles above the mouth with Meadow. I do not know what Beaver looks like between Meadow and where I was, but it is a very small stream.

In this section there are a number of stocked bows, tigers, etc. and some improvements. If it wasn't for the improvements, this stretch of water would be considered very small brookie water, evident both below and above the limits of the stretch. In this stretch, the bows have been observed to be showing spawning behavior. Subsequently, a limited number of small, wild looking bows have been caught in this small section of stream.

So I'll leave it to you. Do you belive the fingerlings that are being caught miles below in a different stream (which I don't disagree that they exist) are making a migration and ironically settling home in this specific and somewhat isolated section of Beaver Creek amongnst stocked pig bows that are showing spawing behavior. Certainly possible. Or is it more logical to draw the conclusion that natural repro is occuring in this specific location, and the limited number of small wild looking bows are in fact the spawn of the resident stockers. I tend to believe the latter. Hence, I am drawing the conclusion that the upper most region of the Meadow watershed (mainly its tribs) supports natural reproduction. How far down the watershed this occurs would certainly take much more data.

 

[greenghost]

One more thing I forgot to mention. The PBFC did find natural reproduction occurring on Meadow way upstream of the DHALO area near Grover Road many years ago. It was on their official list. They pulled it from their current list of "some natural reproduction" though-- probably because they haven't shocked in many years rather than a lack of any fish.