TU blog on the Smith River

Started by Al, January 27, 2019, 20:54:08 PM

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Al

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

Woolly Bugger


:o the photo wasn't that bad  :P


When will we be able to wade that river again?
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Al

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.

streamereater_101691

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

Dougfish

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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"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
 Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change? "
Kelly's Heroes,1970

"I don't wanna go to hell,
But if I do,
It'll be 'cause of you..."
Strange Desire, The Black Keys, 2006

streamereater_101691

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.

IFStultz

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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Yellow_Rose_Fly

Thanks for sharing


"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it's not the fish they are after" HDT

Woolly Bugger

[attachment id=0 msg=160949]

here is the temps below the Philpot dam  :-X
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!