Water Temps

[ttabaleulb]

I was surprised to find surface temps in the low to mid-70's at 6am Saturday morning on some local waters. With another round of hot and humid hittin this week, it seems like temps near 80 will be here in no time. Anyone else seeing these warmer temps??

Also, the weed growth is either very slow or non-existent so far this Spring. Looks like I'll have to find some other areas that will attract Musky. found a few near Blow-downs and stumps over the weekend. Looks like this might be a year that pushes me away from my "regular" haunts to find fish in other locations. I wonder if I can troll flies!! LOL

[Ymesss]

I was surprised to find surface temps in the low to mid-70's at 6am Saturday morning on some local waters. With another round of hot and humid hittin this week, it seems like temps near 80 will be here in no time. Anyone else seeing these warmer temps??

Also, the weed growth is either very slow or non-existent so far this Spring. Looks like I'll have to find some other areas that will attract Musky. found a few near Blow-downs and stumps over the weekend. Looks like this might be a year that pushes me away from my "regular" haunts to find fish in other locations. I wonder if I can troll flies!! LOL

Pymy's weeds are finally starting to come on hard. Woodcock is also in motion.

[suskymusky50]

The west branch of the susquahana was between 62 and 68. The lower end was below and on the same side as the in flowing trout streams. Everything else was 67-68.

[ttabaleulb]

Those river temps were kind of what I was expecting when I hit up Curwensville I guess. I was a little surprised to see mid-70's and no weeds yet. Oh well, I just hope for water temps to stay a little on cool side to have active fish, but not stress them.

Maybe I'm being a little on the cautious side, but over the last couple of years, I don't even fish much in July and August due to water temps. I'm just wondering if I'm missing some good fishing time. I ALWYAYS do my best to get a fish to the boat and released ASAP no matter what the time of year it is.

I just have to do a little more exploring this year during the warm weather times I guess. Might be a good time to hit up some rivers near me.

[Red Childress]

River temps are around 67-68 both North and South of Warren.......That is a little high for this time of year. I think the warmer temps on the area Reservoirs are from the huge volume of "changed-over" water (along with the mini-heat wave) that happened this Spring.....old water out and new water in on a regular basis for several weeks.

I heard that Tionesta is already at 78-82 surface temps. That is 6 weeks earlier than last year.

[suskymusky50]

I have a close friend and fishing partner that has a degree in fisheries biology. The way he explained things to me is that its not really a water temp thing, but more of a disolved oxygen thing. In lakes it happens to be at about the 80 degree mark the oxygen levels near the surface are dangerously low. This does not happen in rivers, atleast not smaller and mid sized rivers. These still have a riffle, run, and pool configuration. This mixes the water very well, so oxygen levels are good even above the 80 degree mark. I hope this helps, and yes Jay, you have been missing some outstanding fishing.

[ttabaleulb]

Yeah, I kind of figured that was the case. LOL It will be interesting this year on the lakes I've been on since there has been a serious lack of green weeds so far too. Looks like I might have break down and start spending some real time on the moving water closer to me. Might be time to break out the kayak a few times on the Juniata.

[suskymusky50]

Jay, don't rule out the west branch of the susquahana. If I remember right you are in state college area, so you are only a little over an hour away. I know new water can be intimadating, at least for me it is. I will gladly help you get started, if you want.

[Red Childress]

With school coming to a close this week, I had not been down on Tionesta for several weeks and decided to call the ACE down there for a water temp report. As of yesterday (1pm or so) the surface temp was 76.4 according to the ACE. Hopefully, it will stay under 80 for at least another week so I can do a couple trips down there.

[ttabaleulb]

Water temps in NY were in the mid-70's too this weekend. I'm hopin to get out around here this weekend coming up but have a feeling that I'm gonna find temps around 80 on the lakes. The air temps after dark are just not going down very far recently.

[ttabaleulb]

Water temps around here seem to be holding in the mid-upper 70's so far. Not sure for how much longer as I don't see any rain or cool downs in the long term forecast. I'm hopin we don't get an extended July heat wave. I haven't been able to get out as much as I'd like recently, but I've had topwater action on all of my recent trips. I'm lovin it!! Both Tigers and Pures seem to want in on the action. Still having some hooksetting issues with surface flies. A Tiger yesterday followed the fly for 3 strips and then drilled it. I still think I'm settin a little too fast. Hopefully I get a few more chances and can get this figured out. My hooksetting using streamers has been good so far this year, but the topwater is torturing me a little. LOL Oh well, I'm still havin an absolute blast with it!!

[ppalko]

Seems as if the river is heading for temps higher than recent summers at least according to readings posted online. Is the ACE doing something different? If temps head to the mid to upper seventies, (reaching 73 now), the recently stocked fingerlng trout will start dying off. Normally a max of 72 (from the usgs onlne) is it for the summer if my memory serves me.

[Red Childress]

I was just thinking the same thing last nite when we pulled out and this morning's surface temps were 68.7 prior to sunrise which is about 5 degrees warmer than last year's morning temps. The Res is on the drop and the outflow was increased a few days ago (I assume to give Pittsburgh more barge water). The only thing that I can think of that might increase the tailwater's temps would be if there has been an increase in outflow from the upper reservoir flowing through the turbines........puzzling for sure. We have not had super hot days or anything but the main Reservoir has a 76 degree reading as of yesterday according to the ACE.

[Pescatore]

Water temps were 79 to 80 on the Middle Allegheny. Are temps that high up by you Red?

[Red Childress]

Sorry for the late reply.....been out of town.

Last Sunday the temps topped out at 73.2 just below the dam. I will be on the lower stretch tomorrow nite so I will report back with that temp on Sunday. 75-76 would be my guess for the stretch south of Warren. The main feeder creek coming from Chautauqua Lake basin is very low and not affecting the main river temp much at all. Kinzua is on the drop and 5-6 feet below summer pool already which means the top gate outflow is getting warmer on a daily basis.

As far as muskies are concerned, this heat has seemed to help get them moving. I am having my best action (follows/blow-ups/missed fish) summer since I have been guiding. The bag is not getting as wet as often as I would like but it is what it is.

[ppalko]

I believe trout are rather unhappy at temps above 25 C. If this weather persists and the ACE guys don't change whatever they are doing to keep the water abnormally warm this year, there will be some trout mortality in the river. Have this years "fingerlings" been blipping all over the place like last year? I saw very few in my trips earlier this month. We fished areas that are a bit away from stocking points but usually get loaded with the little trout at some point and saw none, which is really unusual. By comparison, flows from the yough dam are nearly 8 C cooler than those from Kinzua.

[Red Childress]

Water temp near Tidioute last nite was 80 and 79 just south of Warren.......daytime surface temps were 82.5 and 80.5 (respectively) in those same areas. I was very surprised to see things this hot after taking a break from fishing last week. Wow!

Did a walleye/musky trip last nite and one of my clients bagged a 30.5/10lb walleye on a Thunderstick around 9:30pm.

[Red Childress]

Surface temps this morning just after sunrise had dropped to 73 (overcast skies) near the dam and 76 (overcast skies) just south of Warren. What a treat it was to finally go fishing without the fear of sunstroke.

[Ivan]

I fished an Ohio lake over the weekend. I started at 6am on Saturday and surface temps, with it raining, were surprisingly 84-85 degrees. Saw as hot as 88 over the weekend. I am always very fast with my releases and limit time fish are out of water, but I was especially careful this weekend. Ran tight drags to limit the fight time and just a couple seconds to put the fish on the bump board. No pictures. The 4 muskies we boated all swam away well.

[cband]

Fished the the lower Allegheny Saturday morning. Launched the boat at 1:30 am. Fished till about 9:30 am. Water temps started at 82 then were 83.5-84 range by 9:30 in the morning.

[muskyjerk]

Was in Tionesta last week And highest temps I saw was 85 degrees on Thursday evening on the river. Last reading I took was midday Saturday And the water was 81.5. Fished that area for three years w/ a depthfinder and I thought the temps wouldn't rise above the mid 70's. Experience has taught me different. For the week I heard of 2strikes (one was mine), 4 follows (count me for two), and one small fish caught ( me-0). All my muskie action happened on Monday evening July 19.

[Joe M]

Fished Chautauqua lake this weekend and temps were 86. Felt like bath water... all fish I caught swam off very strong. Be quick..

[Red Childress]

It has felt like Fall out there the past few mornings/evening. The water temps have dropped several degrees over the past week or so. Last nite, the outflow temps were around 70 very near the dam and 73.7 south of Warren on Friday. Fishing for all species has been pretty slow for my boat over the past week.......not sure if it is a weather problem or an increase in the overall size of the forage base around here.......the hatched fry from the Spring are now 2-5 inches long and are everywhere.

[SportJet120]

Temps in the river at Tidioute were 75 on Sat and 72 on Sunday. Fishing also slow.

[Red Childress]

Water temps continue to drop..........66.7 last ntie at the tailwaters launch. Fall was definitely in the air.

[SportJet120]

Temps down river around Tidioute were 72-74 over the weekend. Water a bit stained and up a bit compared to a few weeks ago. Yackers and tubers still hogging up the skinny making it tough to get through at times under full power with the jet. Looking for things to calm down after this holiday weekend.

[Red Childress]

Water temps were 70.1 last nite just below the tailrace.

[lowbidder]

Last weekend the Yough was 76 where I was fishing. Yesterday it went down to 58 with the rising waters. That's 18 degrees in 4 days.... I'm betting the fishing there ain't so good right now.

[Red Childress]

We had to launch at Nebraska last Sunday since the main launch was closed due to the 9/11 terrorist threat. Water temps at the bridge were 64 and main lake (Tionesta) by the dam was 74.

[ttabaleulb]

I'll find out what the water temps around here are over the next couple of days. I'm expecting low-mid 70's. Although, Mother Nature was nice enough to send a wicked cold front my way for tomorrow. Gotta lover her impeccable timing. LOL

[SportJet120]

Yep gona get cold. Frost warning for Northern Pa. Here we go.