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Smith-Continued

Started by 5xTippett, June 17, 2012, 16:15:23 PM

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creakycane and 11 Guests are viewing this topic.

troutrus

Down here on the lower end the color changed from hot chocolate to tea with cream. If ya look hard you can almost see bottom at 2 feet.
Even the local otters seem bewildered by the continuous high flows.

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Al

For those that have been wondering about things at the Philpott powerhouse ........

 "the damage is fairly significant.  Half of the new switch gear building was demolished, and the equipment inside will have to be assessed to see what if anything is salvageable. Without that equipment we cannot generate.  So I cannot give you an exact time frame yet but it could be quite some time before we can generate again. Good news is we made a lot of headway the last 2 weeks getting mud out of the entrance and inside on the Erection Bay. This was not easy as in some places it was over 3 feet deep."

My guess is we have to learn to live with it through the summer and likely into the fall and beyond.

Dougfish

"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

Woolly Bugger

#1833

And then it rained, and rained and rained some more. The lake began to fill up and reach historic levels. It didn't look good for wading the river for a month or longer

Huge releases from the dam made fishing impossible as the river crested and flooded low lying areas.

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14.5 inches of rain in just 6 days filled the lake up to the brim and for the first time in its history the water flowed over the spillway.

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On May 24 a severe thunderstorm dumped 4.5 inches of rain in an hour! The caused more flooding and a landslide at the powerhouse which knocked out the new switchgear building, backup generator and damaged the surrounding equipment and buildings.

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Repairs to the river road as sections were washed out.

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Park at the foot of the dam remains closed.


Landslide damage.

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*Photos courtesy of
Brian W. Stewart
Assistant Manager
Philpott Lake

The length of the repairs is unknown at this time, perhaps stretching into the fall or early winter.

" ...photos of the damage from the landslide at the Philpott Powerhouse. These were all taken a day or two after the event, and the area looks significantly better since the cleanup. As of now, there is no estimated time of restoration for generator services. For the time being, we will continue to release water through the sluice gates. As inflows to the lake drop, we may need switch to low flow valves to conserve water. This means that that river flows below Philpott Dam will remain more consistent than while generation is taking place. Typically our releases will mirror inflows to the lake to try to keep the lake level near the established guide curve."  – Brian W. Stewart


For those with access to rafts, fishing has been good. For those without a boat to float it hasn't been possible but that may change if the lake level drops and they cut back the flow, so keep an eye on the river gauge.




 

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!

creakycane

#1834
Thanks for all the updates, gents!

Looking at my records from the last 27 years, we are usually starting to complain of lack of rain (fear of summer drought/water T's) about now.

Judging from the increasing lake level today, and the forecast for next 10 days, it will be after July 4 before wading becomes generally possible.  b';

UPDATE Well, they just now upped the release to 1400.  Maybe we'll be wading through the Trestle Pool before the 4th? If the rain gods cooperate.

streamereater_101691

Hopefully, I doubt you will be wade fishing the trestle pool before the 4th. Lots of us are hoping the lower river makes it though this crazy whirlwind of circumstances with some water going over their heads. The coe doesnt give a shit about the lower river fish and the temps, so the only thing that will save the majority of them is consistent rain through the summer. Not to mention, we(SRTU, DRBA), and vdgif just stocked 13,600 fingerling browns down there who CAN reproduce. We want to give them the best shot a living. Unfortunately we don't know the exact slucing cfs coming out of philpott dam that keeps the lower river fish alive in the dead of summer.

Plenty of places to fish besides the smith.

driver

The lower is done! The water coming out of the dam is 57 degrees, to much water has passed through the lake pushing all the cold water out. We are one good heat wave from all the fish below Martinsville turning belly up. And being there are probably only a quarter of the fish left from 3-4 years ago... it's done. Grab you smallie gear, cause thats all there is going to be down there.

driver

Summer 2011 This follows the yellow average marks
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Summer 2016
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Summer 2017
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Summer 2018
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Summer 2019
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2020 So far
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Fin

As Driver's graph clearly shows, 2018 was the beginning of the end for the lower river... as a trout fishing destination. Bring on the musky?!? PS...Roanoke Log Perch might be a problem. 

Woolly Bugger

#1839
dunno know why the graphs aren't showing up ...

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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!

gonephishin'

Quote from: Fin on June 18, 2020, 07:25:38 AMAs Driver's graph clearly shows, 2018 was the beginning of the end for the lower river... as a trout fishing destination. Bring on the musky?!? PS...Roanoke Log Perch might be a problem. 

I have been gone from the area for several years now.... What happened in 2018? Whatever it was... Sad to hear about the lower....I loved that stretch just below the mville dam
"Eat, drink, and be merry....for tomorrow we die"

driver

The graphs showed when i posted them

creakycane

Quote from: streamereater_101691 on June 17, 2020, 17:14:31 PMHopefully, I doubt you will be wade fishing the trestle pool before the 4th. Lots of us are hoping the lower river makes it though this crazy whirlwind of circumstances with some water going over their heads. The coe doesnt give a shit about the lower river fish and the temps, so the only thing that will save the majority of them is consistent rain through the summer. Not to mention, we(SRTU, DRBA), and vdgif just stocked 13,600 fingerling browns down there who CAN reproduce. We want to give them the best shot a living. Unfortunately we don't know the exact slucing cfs coming out of philpott dam that keeps the lower river fish alive in the dead of summer.

Plenty of places to fish besides the smith.

Was it ever discussed that early June after all these issues at Philpott might not be a good time to put the fingerlings in the lower river?  Some of the Fish guys in NC asked me about this, and I have no idea.  I was told by vdgif that the 10% 1 year survival is fairly optimistic, even during a normal year.  Some always survive, 'tis true, but they might be better off saving some water for release during the real hot days, rather than "keeping water going over their heads" when the weather is relatively mild.  Fingers crossed that some make it to winter.  Sure was nice 4/5-ish years ago down below.

streamereater_101691

Quote from: creakycane on June 18, 2020, 17:40:29 PM
Quote from: streamereater_101691 on June 17, 2020, 17:14:31 PMHopefully, I doubt you will be wade fishing the trestle pool before the 4th. Lots of us are hoping the lower river makes it though this crazy whirlwind of circumstances with some water going over their heads. The coe doesnt give a shit about the lower river fish and the temps, so the only thing that will save the majority of them is consistent rain through the summer. Not to mention, we(SRTU, DRBA), and vdgif just stocked 13,600 fingerling browns down there who CAN reproduce. We want to give them the best shot a living. Unfortunately we don't know the exact slucing cfs coming out of philpott dam that keeps the lower river fish alive in the dead of summer.

Plenty of places to fish besides the smith.

Was it ever discussed that early June after all these issues at Philpott might not be a good time to put the fingerlings in the lower river?  Some of the Fish guys in NC asked me about this, and I have no idea.  I was told by vdgif that the 10% 1 year survival is fairly optimistic, even during a normal year.  Some always survive, 'tis true, but they might be better off saving some water for release during the real hot days, rather than "keeping water going over their heads" when the weather is relatively mild.  Fingers crossed that some make it to winter.  Sure was nice 4/5-ish years ago down below.

Well..yes and no. George palmer was basically given the fingerlings and had to put them somewhere to make room in the hatchery for grow out tanks. Basically these fingerlings are byproduct of a successful year of rearing and have to leave the facility. Good news is they are believed to be more hardier than triploids, but who really knows. They surely cant be heartier than moving established fish in the system in my opinion.

To answer your other question regarding flow, while the powerhouse is currently down and sluicing, it is NOT easy to move the sluice gate up and down. It is moved by manual operation, therefore the coe only moves the gate up and down as lake levels increase/decrease(dramatically)...Basically all that to say, we cant have more flow(lower gate) between 4am-10am and then be able to wade the rest of the day..they(coe) just wont do it. At the going rate, I think they want to do as least as possible until they get at least one turbine up and operational. Unfortunately, it's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$

Dougfish

Short story:
If you want to wade, it has to stop raining buckets.
Meanwhile, the temps creep up as the cold water gets dumped and gets replaced by the not so cold water.
Not good, my friends.
"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