Recent Rain

I wonder what is the impact on fish with the high water? Harder for fish to feast
On the smorgasbord of hatches, or less getting stung and injured by hooks? Last year saw low water making for some great access to fish during the early season hatches. Unfortunately I missed out on that.
 
Im heading to Penns Monday to Thursday next week.. any hope that Penns is back down to fishing levels for Monday?
 
dryflyguy said:
But we don't need more rain now. while the weather is still cool
And it blows out hatches that only come one week of the year.

Lets have it in July, when its needed
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Groundwater fed rivers and streams (aka the ones that are worth fishing bc they aren't full of rubber trout) have a several month residence time until rainwater that falls actually ends up actually contributing to flows.

The levels will drop to fishable in central, southcentral by later this weekend, Catskills by early next week. It's really not that big of a deal. The best 2 weeks of fishing this year already happened before everyone and their brother got out there.

Southeast and Eastern PA are in what was termed a moderate to severe drought. I'd rather miss out on a week or two on the river than needing to spend 20,000$ to have a new well drilled. Best thing about creeks and rivers on the drop after a couple weeks of less pressure is that the fish become easier to target again- especially on top. Quit pissing and moaning, do some yard work or some of those other tasks you've been putting off because of fishing plans, and get back out when conditions are better. You're just lettin' em go anyway.
 
dudemanspecial said:
This reminds me of all the snowpack guys thinking that it makes any sort of actual difference here.

Too much rain now means nothing after a couple weeks of dry weather.
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In many areas that’s because the water table is down. When the water table is within the range of normal levels or higher the rain feeds the now dry springs and spring seeps that cause streams’ flows to subside at a more gradual pace when conditions become seasonally dry, ie they increase the lag time from the higher end of normal flows to normal flows to low flows. The sponge effect of adjacent wetlands also contributes by holding water back and releasing it at a slowed pace. This is one reason why wetlands adjacent to wild trout stream sections, aside from their substantial benefits to assorted fauna within the wetlands, are automatically classified as Exceptional Value in Pa since they also benefit wild trout and other components of wild trout ecosystems.
 
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The best time to fish is whenever you can. Conditions, weather, flows, etc just make it interesting. I agree that some times are better than others with hatches, and flows, etc. Of course with flooding, or drought and high temps - you have to adjust and sometimes fishing is not in the cards. As someone with lots of obligations other than fishing - I take the time I can get. I'm out of commission for a few weeks and that stings. Just gonna keep tying flies...
 
Mike said:
In many areas that’s because the water table is down. When the water table is within the range of normal levels or higher the rain feeds the now dry springs and spring seeps that cause streams flows to subside at a more gradual pace when conditions become seasonally dry, ie they increase the lag time from the higher end of normal flows to normal flows to low flows. The sponge effect of adjacent wetlands also contributes by holding water back and releasing it at a slowed pace. This is one reason why wetlands adjacent to wild trout stream sections, aside from their substantial benefits to assorted fauna within the wetlands, are automatically classified as Exceptional Value since they also benefit wild trout and other components of wild trout ecosystems.
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I am sure you have a much better understanding of this stuff than I, so I ask this sincerely.....

Is a bout of rain like this a couple times a spring followed by the inevitable dry spell we will get once mid June rolls around enough to play catch up to the low water tables?

How long have the water tables been low?

In my mind I feel like this has been a cycle of 2 or 3 heavy rain events per spring then once mid June comes we are begging for rain to bump the water up to fishable levels. Maybe I am having revisionist history, but it seems to me it has been like this for years now.
 
dudemanspecial said:
I am sure you have a much better understanding of this stuff than I, so I ask this sincerely.....

Is a bout of rain like this a couple times a spring followed by the inevitable dry spell we will get once mid June rolls around enough to play catch up to the low water tables?

How long have the water tables been low?

In my mind I feel like this has been a cycle of 2 or 3 heavy rain events per spring then once mid June comes we are begging for rain to bump the water up to fishable levels. Maybe I am having revisionist history, but it seems to me it has been like this for years now.
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It's worse because of development sucking down the water table in many areas. There was a time when we weren't as dry as we are now.
 
sixfootfenwick said:
It's worse because of development sucking down the water table in many areas. There was a time when we weren't as dry as we are now.
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Yeah I was gonna say something about how alot of the limestoners are so low, but for most of them a week or two of rain isn’t going to put much of a dent in that long term
 
Man, we need some rain. Hopefully we get it soon.
 
dudemanspecial said:
I am sure you have a much better understanding of this stuff than I, so I ask this sincerely.....

Is a bout of rain like this a couple times a spring followed by the inevitable dry spell we will get once mid June rolls around enough to play catch up to the low water tables?

How long have the water tables been low?

In my mind I feel like this has been a cycle of 2 or 3 heavy rain events per spring then once mid June comes we are begging for rain to bump the water up to fishable levels. Maybe I am having revisionist history, but it seems to me it has been like this for years now.
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Catch up rates vary with the extent of the rainfall over an extended period of time… not a single season, the geology of the aquifer, the extent of impervious surfaces in a given area that feeds an aquifer, and the amount groundwater usage. Some aquifers seem to recover with a year of normal to above average precip and I believe others may never recover to normal levels because of high usage and impervious surfaces. Recovery time varies.

To learn how long water tables have been low would require a search in that regard for a specific geographical area. Good starting points might be the Delaware River and Susquehanna River Basin Commissions or DEP’s state water planning division.

I know that you didn’t ask this, but there’s a phrase that a hydrologist once quipped in a conversation with me. It stuck with me throughout my career and goes like this…”There is no magical water.” Groundwater and surface water (flows) are intimately connected.

Another thing to remember is that base flows are groundwater flows, so if you have been around a particular stream for a lifetime and base summer flows seem to be a lot lower than you recall from the past, your observations may not be all that far off and what you recall vs what you have seen across a few recent years during base flow periods may be telling you something about groundwater levels. If you live in an area where a local water authority uses wells for its provision of potable water, a call to the authority with a question about the water table based on their well monitoring may give you what you wish to know.
 
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sixfootfenwick said:
It's worse because of development sucking down the water table in many areas. There was a time when we weren't as dry as we are now.
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A prime example is out in NJ on I80. The unchecked development has finally caught up with the highway engineers by lowering the water table. Formerly, water filled mine shafts became air pockets that "settled" and became sink holes on the highway. The root cause is all the new wells sucking additional water from the ground. Anecdotally the fisherman in me could see this coming because 1) a very large spring hole on a local river became dormant and 2) the local mall was built over swamp land and required a sump system to keep it's basements dry, those sumps have been turned off. (they used to sump the cold water into a local creek that in turn had a robust wild brown population that's now gone as well due to warm water). Coupled with the drought it has manifested itself.
 
dudemanspecial said:
I am sure you have a much better understanding of this stuff than I, so I ask this sincerely.....

Is a bout of rain like this a couple times a spring followed by the inevitable dry spell we will get once mid June rolls around enough to play catch up to the low water tables?

How long have the water tables been low?

In my mind I feel like this has been a cycle of 2 or 3 heavy rain events per spring then once mid June comes we are begging for rain to bump the water up to fishable levels. Maybe I am having revisionist history, but it seems to me it has been like this for years now.
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I was wondering the same thing.
 
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