Pretentious Snobby Bastard Fly Fishing!

Fly Fishing Group Activities => Trout Unlimited => Topic started by: Al on January 27, 2019, 20:54:08 PM

Title: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: Al on January 27, 2019, 20:54:08 PM
Once you get past the top photo this is a pretty good article on where we are with the Smith River - Kusdos and credit to Mark Taylor

https://www.tu.org/blog-posts/voices-from-the-river-ebbs-and-flows-on-virginias-smith-river
Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: Woolly Bugger on January 28, 2019, 10:33:38 AM

:o the photo wasn't that bad  :P


When will we be able to wade that river again?
Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: Al on January 28, 2019, 11:46:17 AM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on January 28, 2019, 10:33:38 AM

When will we be able to wade that river again?

To coin a phase  - "When hell the Smith freezes over"  -  As you know with only one turbine it takes twice as long to run the water that accumulates from  rain. It appears there is no such thing as "normal" rain anymore.  We will see what happens later on this spring and summer.
Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: streamereater_101691 on January 28, 2019, 18:15:44 PM
Nice article. I don't like how he is basically blaming the current 650cfs as the only problem and only mentioning the martinsville pond draw down once. We had acceptable temperatures down low when the dam was out (summer 2017) and ~350-~450cfs sluice was constant. If 350-450cfs constant was enough cool water, then 650cfs is plenty. Something else happened..just my .02
Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: Dougfish on January 28, 2019, 20:45:40 PM
Mark and I talked about this, but it was just my speculation: The lake levels.
Big rain events have put a lot of water in the lake. Quickly. Warm water. This has happened for a few years. They draw the cold water off from deep. The warm water layer above sinks more quickly than normal and they start drawing off warmer water. With no mixing tower, there is no good way to avoid this.

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Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: streamereater_101691 on January 29, 2019, 07:42:50 AM
Quote from: Dougfish on January 28, 2019, 20:45:40 PM
Mark and I talked about this, but it was just my speculation: The lake levels.
Big rain events have put a lot of water in the lake. Quickly. Warm water. This has happened for a few years. They draw the cold water off from deep. The warm water layer above sinks more quickly than normal and they start drawing off warmer water. With no mixing tower, there is no good way to avoid this.


Plausible hypothesis for sure. Ken made a good point a while back that there are many other warm water small streams other than towne creek. With big rain events, that same warm water that filled the lake is also pouring into the river, sometimes at an alarming rate. Also, with as much rain as we had, the warming effect could be exponentially higher than one expects.
Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: IFStultz on January 29, 2019, 12:39:31 PM
Maybe with less rain and if they don't drain the pool above the Martinsville dam this year it could be ok. Why not stock more triploids, transfer some more fish(too many near Philpott anyway), then make it catch & release and close it to fishing 5/31-10/1? Can't hurt to try. Make some changes and cross your fingers. It has the potential to be a great fishery.


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Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: Yellow_Rose_Fly on January 29, 2019, 20:23:14 PM
Thanks for sharing


"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it's not the fish they are after" HDT
Title: Re: TU blog on the Smith River
Post by: Woolly Bugger on January 29, 2019, 22:31:26 PM
[attachment id=0 msg=160949]

here is the temps below the Philpot dam  :-X