August 21, 2008 - Cannonsville Releases

If you follow the West Branch of the Delaware releases' like we do - - you've probably noticed that Cannonsville Reservoir is pumping some nice cold water on a consistant basis - - finally! The release has been in the 800cfs range, and will either stay there or even go up a bit in the next few weeks - - barring any significant rain. The reason, the Montague 1,750cfs target needs to be met and all we have right now to make this happen is Cannonsville. PPL is now out of the equation, since Wallenpaupack is already at its 1,181' September 1 target. This means PPL can not generate for the remainder of August. Confused yet!?!

With this sort of release we hope to see the fish spread back on down to the main stem. The cool nights (40s F)and increased volume have really dropped the water temps into a more trout friendly zone.

August 19, 2008 - Small Water Report

With the recent rains, and cooler air temps we made a run to a smaller piece of water up on the Pokie Plateau. The water was crystal clear, and cold - - 59F in the middle of the day. At first we did not do too well - - we just did not see any fish - - so we moved upstream a ways, and immediately began to see a lot more fish. Just about every little trouty looking spot held a fish. Some nice size ones too.

Turns out the source for the lack of fish in the one section is due to a trib that dumps in what must be just enough acid from time to time, to keep even the smallest minnows from living. The water was just flat-out dead. We even found quite a few dead fingerling trout. This is something FFPA has never seen before.

Anyway as we moved upstream we got into fish. Not a lot, but a decent number. The fly that moved the most fish for us is one we call the Brown and Grizzley. Grizz, and brown hackle, a hares ear body and brown tail. That is it. Size 10, grease it up, and it floats like a cork.

Even though there are supposedly brookies in this water, we did not turn up any. Just browns ranging from fingerling up to about the size of the brownie pasted below. Also saw one grouse and a flock of turkeys on the way out. Great day on the water!

Beautiful wild brownie.

August 13, 2008 - Water Temps

All over the eastern part of the state, water temps have dropped significantly - - even on bigger waters. Check out the Easton gage on the Lehigh River - - pasted to the right. Before the cool snap the water temp was pushing 75F - - but now, has dropped enough to touch 68F. That is pretty unusual for this time of year.

Leaving the dam at FEW the water temp is about 69-71F. Most likely, with the lower base flow (only 200-250cfs out of the dam) and current cold, heavy trib influence - the temp in the Gorge is probably down into the mid-60s. Unfortunately this weekend is a whitewater release - - or we'd be checking out the Gorge.

August 11, 2008 - SE PA Trout Report

The cooler air temps, have given the trout a nice late-summer break from the dog days. The other day while scouting a SE PA limestoner in the early am hours the water temp only registered 62F on the thermometer. With that being the case, a little fishing just had to follow. It was not too much longer after scanning some of the larger flat-pools, that a bunch of midging trout were noticed. With the water so skinny, 7x flouro was needed on the fly end of a very long - 15'+ leader. A #20 black midge managed to fool a few in the flat water, and a micro-caddis fooled just as many in the broken water.

To be able to get out and trout fish here in SE PA in mid-August is not an every year type of thing, so it sure was a nice suprised and a good time!

August 5, 2008 - Update

August could very well be the bottom of the barrel month when it comes to trout fishing here in SE PA. The water is low, it is hot, and it is just plain not that pleasant to be on the water during the majority of the day. Sure there are some solid coldwater streams within a little bit of a drive, but with high fuel prices, and such a short window of time to be on the water during the prime-time hours - a good alternative is to look at possibly wetting a line on one of the the marginal trout waters in the area. Fortunately we are blessed with quite a few of them -- Ridley, French, and the Whissy are a few of the smaller waters. There are also some larger waters that hold decent smallmouth numbers - - such as the Perkiomen, Schuylkill and even the Brandywine. In the coming weeks we hope to be hitting some of these waters. Reports will follow as well. If you would to learn more about cool/warmwater fishing, shoot us an email. These waters are a great way to hone your skills during the dog days of summer.