Farmington River anglers...

[DARKSTAR]

whats up with this???

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?01186000

[CM_Stewart]

Remember all that rain a week and a half ago? They have to bring the water level in the reservoir back down, and they waited until after opening day weekend to start.

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=610686
http://www.flyaddict.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1518

[J Castwell]

Ask 'Host Ray,' he's all over this.

[Ray]

Due to the rain last week the Army Corp of Engineers has instructed the dam operators at Riverton to open the dam and to begin releasing 3000cfs starting tuesday to lower the reservoirs to a safe level. This will leave the river in an unfishable condition for the duration of the week. We are hoping for fishable conditions by the weekend. With any luck just in time for the Ephemerella Subvaria hatch!

[DARKSTAR]

Thanks Ray for the reply!! THATS the info I was looking for...3000cfs seems to be higher then I remember them bringing it to in past years when they needed to

[Quill gordon]

Ray,
Since J.C. mentioned your name, I'll address this question to you.
Are there any 'guide lines' concerning changes in flow rate for streams/rivers?
It seems to me ( especially this year) that the flow rates & water releases are much too high over a short period of time.
Looking at the chart for the Farmington......... the 'flow rate' changed from 300cu.ft./sec to 3000cu.ft./sec. That's a factor of 10. Isn't that too much of a change for the fish and aquatic insects to endure. At what level do these changes 'damage' the stream ?

* My home stream suffers the same fate due to water releases. The fishing has been terrible and I see little or no insect activity as compared to the last ten years of recording data.
** I miss fishing the Farmington....... moved from Ct. to PA. in 93.
Qg.

[EdD]

Some of the smaller, warm water tailraces in the TVA system have basically no flow except when the turbines are generating or the floodgates are open. And yet, as soon as the flow begins, the catfish queue up to feed on the casualties caused by the turbines or floodgates.

The cold water tailraces that are stocked with trout have a minimum flow that the Corps of Engineers has been very good about maintaining. (Kudos to the Corps!) Still, when some of these dams are generating power, the flow can increase to 20 times the non-generating minimun level. The water comes up very fast and goes down fast. The trout still seem to thrive as long as the structure isn't scoured away. Hence one presumes that the lower order aquatic life is also thriving. Often there is a difference between insects, crustaceans, etc... that live a mile downstream of a dam and those that live 10 miles downstream.

Ed

[Ray]

The release is finished. Levels should be normal in a day. It's Hendrickson time!
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ct/nwis/uv/?s ... 0065,00060

[dudley]

There was a big Hendrickson spinner on my windshield when I left the house yesterday.
They love to torment me