Chart showing 30-day rainfall deficit.
If you look at the 60;
90;
180
maps you can see the dryer trend.
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March
22, 2009 - Trending Dryer...??
For about the last 1/3 of a year we've been
trending
dryer, especially along the southern tier of PA. If you
look at the 12-week
animation from US
Drought Monitor you can clearly see the dryness is spreading
north and east. We all have read about the waterless perils
down in the Atlanta area...we can only hope
something that severe does not overwhelm our area. With the
growing season soon upon us, and the same 'ole same, 'ole
weather pattern for the foreseeable future, we might be setting
up for low water conditions this spring/summer. Time will
tell, but one thing is for sure, we've certainly run the gamut
of rainfall schizophrenia with all the floods (2004,
2005,
2006)
not too long ago, which were all proceeded by the drought
of 2001/2002 when Cannonsville was at less than 4% of
capacity.
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March
18, 2009 - Penns Creek - Rolling Stones!
That is right! Rolling Stones!! Our most recent
time of the water took us out to Central PA, to one of its
best streams - - Penns Creek. Good weather, with a strong
March sun on our back made for some really great early-season
fishing. But if you were looking for rising fish, you were
outta luck.
By far our most productive rig included a large
stonefly as the lead fly, followed by either a little
black stone or a new fly that we've developed - - a cased
grannom imitation. However, by far, the fly more times than
not that got eaten was the big stone. Though there were certain
stretches were the cased grannom imitation out-performed.
In the near future we will post a pic of the
cased grannom. The thing with this fly is the small window
of time when it will be effective. Right now, through to whenever
the grannoms begin to hatch is when to fish a cased grannom.
After that, all the larva have left their cases, so the fish
won't be looking for them until next year. We were pleasantly
surprised to see that it worked so well. For a Penns Creek
brownie to pass up a big hunk of meat like a stonefly and
instead eat the caddis imitation is really saying something.
You know that they must key in on them pretty well.
Big stone eater brown
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Pics: The brownie above took a little
black wired stone;
The brownie below took a cased grannom.
Right now with
the water so low on Penns, be sure to carefully
wade, and be stealthy. Thoroughly work all the colored
water, and any and all the pockets that have the slightest
bit of white water. Hopefully we get some rain soon,
to bring her back up to normal flows for this time
of year, or we could be in for a long spring/summer.
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March
17, 2009 - Finally, some trout!
The warmer days lately have seen rising fish
during the heat of the day down here SE PA. Lots of midges,
as well as some olives, and small quills in the right conditions
have the fish looking up. But with the untra-clear water,
very light tippets and small <20 size hooks are a must.
If you go underneath you can get away with a bit heavier tippet
and a bit larger hook. As a dropper you can not beat the nitro
when olives are coming off.
That is all for now. Check back in a few as
we should have a real-time report from Penns.
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A thick SE PA wild brownie. Notice
the snout hook.
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Our Lehigh Floats
Are Booking Quickly. Check In NOW For Best Dates!
March
10, 2009 - And we are off!
After a little more than a month below the normal
conservation pool level - - 1,300', Walter is now on the rise.
The reason for the drawdown was due to the need for repair
work on the by-pass valves, which are located at 1,297'. It
turns out the by-pass valves malfunctioned a few years ago,
and have not been fixed till now. If our information is correct
it took two budget cycles for the repairs to be completed.
One budget cycle included the purchase of the valves, and
the next cycle included funding for the installation. Installation
took place last month.
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Anyway, now that they are fixed, you could say - - And,
we are off! From here until early-May, the goal at Walter,
on top of its usual flood-control purpose, will be to build pool to
approximately 1,370' for the Summer
Recreation season. Chances are the Corps won't have any problems
taking care of skimming inflow, and capturing water. Don't forget
that skimming reduces outflow to a very fisherman-friendly
level...so keep an eye on that, as we could potentially see some decent
early season fishing.
March
2, 2009 - Winter Hangs On!
The
groundhog was right. Amazing! ! Here we have the largest
snow fall potential in years in coming our way for SE PA -
- and then after that - - cold temps. But they won't last
too long. We do need the precip, as all waters
here in SE PA are running very low for this time of year.
The term 'low' is a relative term though and not really a
bad thing. For instance the bigger waters are at fisherman
friendly flows for the time of year - - usually they are flowing
much harder. The small water though is running gin clear.
No 'green' water there. Hopefully we can get some recharge
in the near future, and more of a 'wetter' pattern will commence.
Remember, last year - - mid-March - - Walter
had already reached its summer recreational pool level.
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February
22, 2009 - Update
Cold air temps, and low flows are keeping us
off the water. Man, it has been a very fish-free winter to
date down here in SE PA. We are definitely looking forward
to some consistently warmer air temps. What we are also looking
forward to is our annual Penns Creek Trip! Year after year
this trip is a great time, on one of the best streams in PA.
Check it out!
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