Meadow Run, Fayette County 6-20-17

[724flyfishing]

Two friends and myself fished the Meadow Run DHALO, starting at the natural water slides and worked our way upstream.

Water temp was 66-68 in the couple places I checked. It was up a bit and stained.

We saw a good many caddis and white midges. Also saw some sporadic BWO's, light cahills, and some unidentified mayflies. Only saw two rises the whole time.

We got a bit of a late start after trying Dunbar first. It turned out to be a complete bust. While Dunbar was ankle deep and gin clear, we were pleased to find Meadow Run had a good flow and a little bit of color. We caught a couple cookie cutter rainbows drifting black buggers under a indicator. They all fought hard and looked good for stockies. I'm guessing they've been in the creek for a while by now. One guy with us had a nice 15"-16"ish brown trout get off at his feet.

Overall it was tough fishing, but what more can you expect for this time of the year? You just have to take what you can get and enjoy the nice weather and scenery sometimes. There's fish here willing to play if you find them. With highs in the 70's and cool nights in the forecast, it should stay fishable for the foreseeable future.

 

[fayettenamese]

I fished it from the slides up to the cascades today. I just love using black buggers when the water is turbid. I did ok. It wasn't my best day but I caught about 10 including a wild brown.

 

[skybay]

Meadow Run was great 2, 3, 4 and 6 weeks ago.
I was lucky to experience Green Drakes there, yes! short hatch but very nice. Trout went crazy after big No. 6 or 8 emergers and duns.
Awesome.
Fished with snake behind me, I did not ask if he was poison. :roll:
[color=006666]~~~[/color]

 

[ryansheehan]

Don't ask, don't tell.

 

[riser]

Northern Water Snake. Not venomous. Very common all over PA. Still it's a little exciting when they plop into the water right next to you from a log or low tree branch.

http://www.paherps.com/herps/snakes/northern-water-snake/

 

[724flyfishing]

Nice reports! Thanks for adding them. People won't think I'm crazy now lol. I know I'm guilty of not giving this creek much credit. This was the first time I fished it in years, and it was in much better shape than most other Laurel Highlands freestoners of the same size, this time of the year.

I never remember seeing that many bugs there years back, but could of just overlooked it. I know there's a Mountain Association (or some name like that), that is working hard at stream improvements for this creek. There's a big, orange feeder creek that they have all the funding in place for new limestone ponds to clean it up. This was a while ago that I messaged back and forth with someone from there on Facebook, so maybe it's done now? Either way it should definitely help the creek and ecosystem out in a big way.

 

[Jlafko3]

Meadow is my favorite creek in that area by far. It plain and simple holds fish year round. I've fished it 6 times this year so far and done real well each time on PT's. Even had a 40 fish day back in late April. The last trip I made tho was back on June 11th and it was real low, the lowest I've ever fished it at. It was weird because the water was real stained for being that low. However it worked to my advantage because I fished for only 30 minutes and ended up catching two fish, one little state stocked brown and then this rainbow.. I was so pumped up I left right after that to fish the yough haha

 

[dhathazy]

Wow what a beast!!! Nice one!

 

[greenghost]

724flyfishing wrote:
There's a big, orange feeder creek that they have all the funding in place for new limestone ponds to clean it up. This was a while ago that I messaged back and forth with someone from there on Facebook, so maybe it's done now? Either way it should definitely help the creek and ecosystem out in a big way.

That feeder is Laurel Run and it empties into Meadow Run just upstream from the cascades. The water runs cool all year but was orange with AMD until treatment began, first by the state many years ago, then more recently a passive system by Stream Restoration, Inc. Actually, I thought the treatment has been in place for at least 10 years now?

Has it made any difference? Anecdotally, I think it has. I have experienced decent Green Drake hatches, good numbers of caddis and March Browns, BWO's and sulphurs (though they are a bit more pollution resistent). 20 years ago bug life was much sparser, trust me.

That same story can be said for many streams of the Laurel Highlands -- Dunbar, Linn, Laurel Hill -- water quality has improved quite a bit and fishing has never been better.

 

[724flyfishing]

greenghost wrote:


That feeder is Laurel Run and it empties into Meadow Run just upstream from the cascades. The water runs cool all year but was orange with AMD until treatment began, first by the state many years ago, then more recently a passive system by Stream Restoration, Inc. Actually, I thought the treatment has been in place for at least 10 years now?

There has been a treatment system in place, but over time the limestone needs replaced, I guess. I'm no expert on the subject. I found my conversation on their Facebook page from last December. They said a new passive limestone treatment system should be in place in 2017.

The group is called "Mountain Watershed Association" if you use Facebook. Be warned tho. They are VERY much against fracking and their page is on the political side of things. Not my cup of tea but they seem to have good intentions and keep you updated as to what's going on.

 

[greenghost]

724flyfishing wrote:

The group is called "Mountain Watershed Association" if you use Facebook. Be warned tho. They are VERY much against fracking and their page is on the political side of things. Not my cup of tea but they seem to have good intentions and keep you updated as to what's going on.

724flyfishing,
I can't seem to find the Laurel run reference on their fb page or website. I did find this. It's an article stating the passive system was in place back in 2001. Wow. Never wouldv'e guessed it to be that long.

http://www.streamrestorationinc.org/news/ohiopyle.html

 

[fayettenamese]

Now when I fish meadow, I always take a short trip up laurel run. Last june, I caught 5 trout from the bottom 200 yards of laurel run. They were stocked fish that moved up, most likely for thermal refuge. I worked my way up there again last week. No trout this time but spotted a few minnows and found some crayfish as well. I also saw a DCNR biologist taking water samples. She was a bit suprised to see somebody else up there.

 

[greenghost]

That's cool! (No pun intended.)
The fact that they're checking water quality is reassuring and a hope for the future.