Yough River at Confluence - 9/4/07

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schrec

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Oct 19, 2006
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Fished at Ramcat, at the town of Confluence and at the dam. Water temp at Ramcat approached 70 degrees at 1:00pm. Above Laurel Hill and Casselman it was at 66 degrees. All in all fishing was very slow. I caught 5 all day. I used caddis, Slate Drakes and grasshoppers. All dry flies. Fished from noon til dark. Saw a few cinnamon caddis on the water, acouple of white flies(?) and tons of midges. Since all the cool water is near depletion, the river will continue to warm over the next couple of weeks. This was probably my last trip to the Yough at Confluence until October.
 
So would we expect to see a fish kill in the next few weeks??
 
ryan
I know your comment was a joke, but it frustrates me to no end that the USGS can't manage outflow just a little bit better to have cool water temps through most of September. Believe it or not, in past very hot dry years I have seen trout gathered at the mouth of Ramcat. Still, all in all the Yough is about as safe a place as trout can live as far as high temps go.

Look at the USGS site: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/uv/?site_no=03081000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00010

Even though the bottom line temp is rising rapidly these days, the worst temps only last for a few hours each day. Early morning would still be good fishing. I only said I wasn't going fishing there until later because it's such a long drive for me. It doesn't make sense to go to the river to fish only a few hours.
 
Actually I wasn't kidding. If that body of water is full of fish and over a week or two the water from the 50's to the 70's I would expect to see some dead fish.

Like in my last stream report, I walked about a mile of the Loyalhanna and say NO trout. Do they go down stream? Common sense would suggest that the water would only get warmer as you go down stream. I went up to Linn Run and didn't see fish stacked up there.

I agree, a little better management and it could be one heck of a stream!
 
schrec wrote:
... it frustrates me to no end that the USGS can't manage outflow just a little bit better to have cool water temps through most of September.
Click to expand...

Well, seeing how its only the 5th of Sept and a week from now they call for lows in the 40s I don't think you can say anything, without a crystal ball, about " water temps through most of September"


However when Jack and I were there on Sunday it was about 1100 cfs and falling and about 63 degrees. Today its about 850 cfs and been so for a couple days. They'll raise it again this weekend for rafters. Other than that I have to wonder where you took your temps..at the bank, in the middle, 4 ft down, on the surface. I'm curious. The bummer is that they manage it for the rafters and not the fishermen. Just like out west, where we struggled with this because you are at the mercy of the snow pack and not the Army Corps. It's hard to do it for both and maintain water levels behind the dam when no rain is forecast for the next two weeks.
Here are better
Yough temp and flow graphs

shows about 68 degrees at its worst...
 
20C is 68F and we haven't got there yet according to the USGS gage below confluence. The gage house is on the cool side of the river. I don't know if they take the temps right near the bank where the gage house is, but if they do these temps would be skewed towards the temp of the dam outflow. I've waded across the yough near that gage, and the temperature gradient is noticable.
 
I took the temps about mid river near Ramcat, on the Fayette County side at Confluence and the dam. (By the way, there is no temperature variation in depth in a faster flowing river like the Yough unless springs are involved.) The water from Laurel Hill and Casselman stays on the Somerset County side for a couple miles before it mixes. The temp at 1:00 was definitely 70 degrees according to my thermometer. Regardless, watch the temps on the USGS site over the next two days. I bet it breaks 70 on the cool side of the river. Like I've said, I've seen some years where the water temps went into the seventies by mid-September. I hope the cold front does blow through to help. It usually does.

Regardless, temps in the upper sixties is bound to affect the metabolism of fish used to 55 degree water. How many guys you know of who fish the river have been doing well lately?

You'd think if the USACE would just ramp down the flow a bit through the year -- still allow enough for rafters -- the Corps could buy a couple more weeks of water in the lower sixites.

But then, what the hell do I know, I'm just an old geezer who likes to complain.

rising fish always
schrec
 
Wow, sorry about all of the typos in the last post. Things have been crazy at work. On the graphs that Tom linked to there is a possitive correlation to DO and temperature. This is the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen....Whats up with that?
Unless I am reading the data wrong and if thats the case I'm in real trouble 🙂
 
schrec wrote:

Regardless, temps in the upper sixties is bound to affect the metabolism of fish used to 55 degree water. How many guys you know of who fish the river have been doing well lately?
Click to expand...

Maybe yes, maybe no..how about this
post from the yough last week

I'm no fish but when I get hot I move over into the shade...
 
Ryan,

That is interesting how they fluctuate in parallel on a daily basis. You got me, I can't explain it...
 
ryanh wrote:
On the graphs that Tom linked to there is a possitive correlation to DO and temperature. This is the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen....Whats up with that?
Click to expand...

Interesting observation. How’s this for an explanation: During the day aquatic vegetation produces oxygen thru photosynthesis so DO goes up. At night organic decay and aquatic fauna continue to consume oxygen so DO levels go down. In the case of the Yough, the max. DO level of about 9.5 at 19.5º C is probably 100% saturation. Assuming consumption of DO at night remains steady at about 1.5 mg/l, daytime water temps would have to approach 28º C before DO levels would drop into a dangerous range for the fish and other critters. The water temp alone would probably kill the trout.

Check out this link, it gives a good explanation even though its about lakes:
http://waterontheweb.org/under/waterquality/oxygen.html
 
Shrec,

I fished the yough like twice. I'm no expert on the flows, temps etc. but it sounds like your rebuttal is spot on regarding making a day of it if the temps are reaching 70...even if they are not or are close, it is still the best bet in an area with ambient influenced freestoners.

My suggestion would be to buy some split shot and go under...big trout will chase big streamers in poor(er) conditions during mid day. If you get it down to them.

I love dry flies but I can't find myself "drumming" fish up like some people try to. Granted, some are good, very good, at it. Paul G comes to mind. He is like a snake charmer with a dry fly.

I find myself in shallower water (under 3 ft) using boyantt dries and small nymhs or the "du jour" nymph, in this case caddis pupae or Iso nymphs. fishing riffs. If deep water is near, I swing streamers near the bottom.

68-72 degrees in mid day doesn't kill the fishing in September. With cool nights relieving the short stress periods expeienced but these stocked trout.

Maurice
 
I have been spending alot of time in that area the last month or two. I have seen the temps on the rise there. Have seen more feeding being done at night as with other streams in PA. I got a reading of 68 degrees yesterday evening.
 
Yikes! Looks like it briefly hit 74F today. Hopefully the duraton was short enough the fish will be OK.

There was another drop in flow like this earlier in the year after a lightning strike hit the dam.
 
The drop in water was due to electro-shocking at the tailraces. Heard they found some BIGGINS!!
JH
 
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