looks like we're in the midst of another drought season.

[Fishermantim]

Some of the rivers I fish are literally 3-5 feet down from the spring levels.
I know that water levels drop from spring to summer, but when you can see a tree that you could paddle under standing feet above the water line, it makes me wonder. During the spring I get the chance to fish around some of the beaver dens along the rivers I fish. Now I can't get close because the entrances are now dammed up. Oh well. I just wish we had a little more water so that there would be some overflow from the beaver ponds flowing into the river. That's where the bass tend to hang out when conditions are right.

In lieu of that, I'm content to fish the main river waters and edges and do battle with the 3-5 lb. pickerel, pike and bass I can find there.

As for the "wildlife" option, when fishing the early evenings into the night I get to see/hear pretty much all that nature has to offer.
Beavers, muskrats, herons, owls, coyotes and all those frogs!

As I tell my friends and family, if I only catch one fish, the scenery tends to make up for any loss of fish.
Plus, as an avid kayaker, I get plenty of exercise in the process.

[bogtrotter]

Agreed about the drought conditions.

Although the greenery all around us masks the fact (since what we have certainly is not a Southwesterner's idea of a drought), it's certainly true that the stream levels are disturbingly low.

I was out for wading on my home stream for awhile early on Friday evening and the water was temporarily higher than I'd seen it for the past month - - the current ripped one of the "crocs" that I was wearing off my foot and swept it downstream before I could retrieve it - - but when I went back to look for it today, the stream levels were barely above a trickle.   

Alas, my retrieval efforts were unavailing - - I searched a mile plus long stretch (up to where the flood control chutes begin) without a trace of my lost croc, which I suspect may be floating down the Hudson River by now.

[Fishermantim]

Lower water levels don't affect the shoreline greenery as much as areas that are away from the water's edge.
What I don't like is that when we have a warm spring BEFORE the summer drought, the weeds grow quickly to the point where they form a floating mat on the surface because the levels dropped after they grew. This tends to choke off some areas of the ponds and rivers I fish.

One plus is that the lower levels concentrate fish in the deeper pools, pockets and channels which makes it easier to find fish.

Another plus is a good flooding rain (volume cumulative over the entire river system) can wash much of the matted weeds away!

[deerhunter]

small brooks are literately dry. not good for our native brook trout. my gardens done. everything is just shriveling up

[Ryan51993]

small brooks are literately dry. not good for our native brook trout. my gardens done. everything is just shriveling up

Yeah I tried a couple of brookie spots this past weekend and some of them are lower than I've ever seen before. Saw a couple of dead brookies too. Can't remember the last time we had a solid soaking rain that lasted more than an hour or two, the small streams need it desperately.

[zwiggles]

I feel like if it’s not spring fed, it’s just toast. Even some of the spring fed ones I’ve seen are remarkably low.

[taxid]

I worry some day you guys will have horrible forest fires out there if a drought lasts long enough. Lots of tinder and old growth forest to burn.

[westernmas]

I worry some day you guys will have horrible forest fires out there if a drought lasts long enough. Lots of tinder and old growth forest to burn.

There's one burning on Tully Mountain right this moment.  Yet the last couple of days some science fair winner in my neighborhood was burning brush.

[icefisher47]

There's one burning on Tully Mountain right this moment.  Yet the last couple of days some science fair winner in my neighborhood was burning brush.

Looks like they finally got the one at Tully out. They said the cause was fireworks. Seems every time they say we are going to get rain nothing comes down.

[taxid]

Looks like they finally got the one at Tully out. They said the cause was fireworks. Seems every time they say we are going to get rain nothing comes down.

The same thing is going on out here where I'm at. I'm getting tired of watering the garden and all the flowers just about every single freaking day!

[stripernut]

The Tomatoes love this weather (as long as I water them) and I have been using along with rainwater the condensation from my Heat Pump Water Heater, so I don't have to pay the town. We are lucky (as long as your not a trout in a brook) that after the last drought most reservoirs, water tables, and lakes have been recharged. I am not saying this is good, but here in the NorthEast, we are better off than many across the country.

[taxid]

I thought this was interesting. Map gets updated every Tuesday.






https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

[lowaccord66]

Cecil do you fish or just worry about stuff?  Fisherman's same question.  I need anti depressants to read your posts....

[taxid]

Cecil do you fish or just worry about stuff?  Fisherman's same question.  I need anti depressants to read your posts....

Sorry I guess I thought I was just commenting on the thread.

Haven't had time to fish for some time now. Trying to get my work done in the shop so I can retire.

[Fishermantim]

I get a kick out of the number of people and the number of times I've had to correct the general thought that if we get a pouring rain that drops 2-3 inches of rain that the drought level is decreased accordingly.
I tell people (to this day) that I'd rather have 5 days (preferably week days) of light showering rain than down pours. Then I explain why.

Most of you already know this, but the few anglers, hunters and gardeners who don't, here it is:

Down pours drop a lot of water in a short timeframe, and the water doesn't have time to fully sink into the soil. This creates run-off which can also wash away topsoil, erode shorelines and flood streets.
A number of days (Not necessarily consecutive) of light constant/consistent rain will allow more water to soak into the soil, and hopefully recharge/refill your local aquifer. People with wells know about that.

I would tell friends and relatives (during the summer) that I wouldn't care if it rained during the week, hopefully at night, because it would do the most good.
Thankfully here in the northeast we've gotten enough rain periodically to keep from having severe drought conditions over the entire area.
We need rain, but it's not critical yet.