"Gene Cyprych" wrote in message
oups.com...
I don't want to put a damper on preparations..... but then again maybe
I do. The last 6 weeks have had little rain. Are we going to go from
blow-outs to drought-outs?


Those monster drakes could care less if there is a drought, and as long as
the drakes are flopping on the surface, the big girls will be willing to
come out for a dance. The big difference may be the timing, which is why
I'm guessing earlier this year. Some think the opposite, so it's a wait and
see thing. Don't think we'll be too late, so we have a very above average
chance to catch it peak somewhere along our normal range.

Once you get into mid/late June and if we still haven't had much water than
you have to start worrying about mortality rates. In a big creek like
Penn's many fish survive year to year droughts. We just got through the 5-7
year droughts in 2003 and as you know there is a ton of fish around.

During a drought we have found that the further downstream you go, the more
of a chance that the fish have migrated either into the feeders, or
upstream. That's probably why we saw such an increase in fish population in
Weikert Run a few years back, we had so many years of drought, they made the
cooler feeder home.

If you go up to Big Pine, and other freestone streams, then you have to
start worrying about the affects of a drought as they get hot in mid-summer
if the depth is below average.

See ya in a few weeks,

Mike