Youghiogheny river, Ohiopyle 8/6/21

[blitzinstripes]

Crossed one off the bucket list last Friday. What an amazing place! Rafted the river on Thursday- an amazing experience in itself. Finally got the chance to fish on Friday. It's a very dangerous river to wade. Very reminiscent of western rivers in that regard. That said, the scenery was incredible and I was pleasantly surprised with the numbers of small wild rainbows in the 4-6 inch range. The river was literally full of them. They fed with abandon on every random nymph pattern I presented. Hit a few nicer fish (stockies) in the 12-14 inch range, and lost one hefty bow that was probably crowding 18". No significant hatches that I could tell, but great fishing. 58 degrees and crystal clear conditions but there is a lot of depth, current, and rock structure in this river which made the fishing fairly easy. I will definitely be back. Hands down, one of the prettiest eastern rivers I have ever fished. The little town of Ohiopyle was bustling and the river was busy. The town is a gem of its own. Highly recommend a trip.

 

[Tseg17]

Yep I agree. Caught nice BIG brook at the 1st stairs nearest Ramcat and the other week caught a big bow at the last set of stairs if starting point was at town of Ohiopyle and a Brown near the islands. I think those smaller ones you mentioned in the 4-6 are not wild but are stocked fingerlings. I've caught quite a bit of thém with parr marks. Definitely scenic and have been going the last 3 weeks as everything around the western and central part of state are severely low or too warm. Been biking the trail to get to all spots. Nice report.

 

[dryflyguy]

Glad to hear that you had a nice time on the "Yock".

Its really a great place to spend time on hot summer days.
Before biking down the trail from Ramcat to fish, I usually take a refreshing swim in the lake at the dam

 

[greenghost]

Cool. Glad you enjoyed it up there. Yes, those were fingerlings stocked in the river. But the adults grow up to be wily, hard-fighting fish who think they're wild.

It's been fishing well this year, mainly because flows have been friendly. I was there on Sunday for a couple of hours. Caught three. Including a fat 18" pig that was doing a steelhead imitation, stripping line, and jumping like crazy. Missed a couple. They were interested in isos, dry.

 

[blitzinstripes]

Thanks for the info on the fingerlings. I didn't realize they stocked fingerling rainbows in PA, other than the steelhead smolts, which easily explains why I thought it seemed like the Erie tribs in the spring, in the way they were piled up in there. These days I fish as much for the scenery as I do the fish, and the Yough did not disappoint. So beautiful.

 

[StreamBottom]

Thanks for TR.

Is there a link to the whitewater dam release schedule? I couldn't find one for the Middle/Lower Yough.

I would imaging fishing is pretty limited during a release??

Thanks
Matt

 

[Tseg17]

It's been without any difficulty late Fri through Sun when they apparently release from the dam, this is just by looking at USGS site for Confluence. Wading far from banks is not doable just be safe, pick your spots.

 

[D-nymph]

There are no "whitewater releases" on the Yough. It is not the North Branch Potomac, Savage or Gauley. It is a flood control reservoir & that is their first, second & third priorities. They do tend to reserve water during the week a little bit, then bump it up slightly for the weekends, but the flow difference there is minimal & un-noticeable unless you're running drift boats.

Bigger impediment to fishing is dirty thunderstorm water runoff from the Casselman river.

 

[StreamBottom]

Thanks Guys.

 

[Dave_W]

All,
Good report and some timely and useful information. Thanks.

 

[greenghost]

D-nymph wrote:
There are no "whitewater releases" on the Yough. It is not the North Branch Potomac, Savage or Gauley. It is a flood control reservoir & that is their first, second & third priorities. They do tend to reserve water during the week a little bit, then bump it up slightly for the weekends, but the flow difference there is minimal & un-noticeable unless you're running drift boats.

Bigger impediment to fishing is dirty thunderstorm water runoff from the Casselman river.

Actually, it is MUCH more than a bump as you can see. It has been so EVERY weekend for decades. Like clockwork, sans severe drought periods. And while flood control is their first priority, rafting IS second,

 

[dryflyguy]

For sure, raising the water level 6 inches on a river of that size is significant.
And I always play on fishing there weekdays during summer because of it.

But I think they quit the releases after Labor Day, if I remember correctly

 

[ryansheehan]

Greenghost is right, they bump it up most weekends and it makes a very big difference for Wade fisherman. Here is the predicted release for the next few days. There are also gauges at confluence, Ohio Pyle and the dam tailrace.

 

[D-nymph]

It being August, that bump shown in the graphs above, is slightly more dramatic than it is the rest of the year. In other months that are not during drought season there isn't a flow increase = to 1/3 of the total flow for a weekend. Without that bump, at 600 CFS, you would really struggle to get any boats down the river. For what I do & how I fish there that's a minimal flow increase & has been my experience since we bought our place there in 1976. Your mileage may vary.

Also, Streambottom's question is about searching for "published whitewater release dates", which I know Ryan is familiar with from all of his Maryland posts I've seen. The kind of published releases they do on the Savage & North branch are in no way similar to the Yough's releases, & y'all know this. I don't think I need to explain the differences.

 

[ryansheehan]

D-nymph wrote:
It being August, that bump shown in the graphs above, is slightly more dramatic than it is the rest of the year. In other months that are not during drought season there isn't a flow increase = to 1/3 of the total flow for a weekend. Without that bump, at 600 CFS, you would really struggle to get any boats down the river. For what I do & how I fish there that's a minimal flow increase & has been my experience since we bought our place there in 1976. Your mileage may vary.

Also, Streambottom's question is about searching for "published whitewater release dates", which I know Ryan is familiar with from all of his Maryland posts I've seen. The kind of published releases they do on the Savage & North branch are in no way similar to the Yough's releases, & y'all know this. I don't think I need to explain the differences.

No doubt there is a bigger affect on the Savage and north branch(to a certain extent)release than the yough. I do fish the north branch when it's at 1000, just have to pick your spots. I know the river pretty well and can jump to the productive areas. There is one section I only fish when the water is way up,, its very skinny at regular flows but has great structure. The Savage is a little different, that's almost impossible to find fishable water at that flow. One of the better days I had on the Savage was one time when it was above the bank in sections, created some slower water and the bigger browns were as reckless as you will ever see them on that river. Can't remember the flow but want to say it was above 2000 but falling.

My only point is that if you're looking to Wade fish the yough it's much more accessible when they are not releasing the extra water. It certainly does not shut the fishery down like it can on other systems.

D-nymph, Not trying to start an argument just giving out the information as I know it. Sounds like you know the river system really well and when that happens you can go fish the best spots at almost any flows. Those of us who don't know it as well are way more affected by the release.

Just my 2 cents.