We chased toothies again yesterday and managed to move 2 good fish but no eaters.

Once again, it was amazing to see the massive changes to the river since the high flows we have had. I am not talking about the few big trees that roll into different areas but the hundreds and hundreds of tons of sediment that are pushed around or the big creek-mouth deltas that are washed away. Entire shoals are pushed around which changes the shape and depth of travel channels.

During back to back trips in late-November, we had fished a 9-foot area the first day and after the river rose several feet that night, the same area was 17-18 feet deep on the second day. We are talking about removing a chunk of sediment 9 feet thick, 150 yards long and 30 yards wide in less than 12 hours! (I could describe 2-3 more examples but I think the point was made.)

All of us river rats understand things change from year to year but I really hadn’t realized just how quickly it actually happens. Another related notion I think about quite often is how different this stretch of river is compared to the lower end of the river regarding the movement of sediment and spawning opportunities. If the middle/upper end of the Allegheny is moving this much sediment, just think how much is being relocated further South. We have very few substantial tributaries in this 30 mile stretch of water and the amount of moving sediment is very noticeable (if you are paying attention).

The difficulties in successful spawning (for any fish, not just muskies) is very complicated in river systems. So many variables must line up in a positive way for these guys to propogate their species.