Kinzua area conditions.

has anyone been fishing the creeks (delayed harvest) or the spillway?   any info .

Bug,
 Fished the delayed harvest from Rte.219 to Westline last Sunday. Caught around 12 to 15 total, browns and bows. Water was high and clear then. Fish are scattered pretty good! Only one other fisherman there.

Fungoo what was the fly of the day if thats not to much info?last time I was there was buck season sat.did prety well on egg paterns and green and pink weenies. I will be hitting that area this weekend.   

I just wanted to see if any of you guys read the article in the Saturday edition of the Warren Times Observer about the "Muddy River".  I know that this is the muddiest I've seen it in the six years I've lived in Warren and this time, to my great surprise, the Conewango ran clear before the Allegheny.  Anyways, in the article there is some griping by conservation groups about runoff from oil and gas extraction being the culprit and I wanted to get some opinions about whether or not anyone has seen the river this muddy for this long and whether or not you feel this is fair criticism.

No, I didn't fish all the way to Westline! Just to the end of the project, which ends very close to Westline. I was using 1/8 once silver Little Cleo and 1/8 ounce white rooster tail. Left the fly rods in the truck, as the water was very high and swift that day.

All but the smallest creeks feeding the Allegheny and dam are high and muddy as of right now. The dam and river will be a waste for this weekend as they are really bad. I've fished the river since the middle sixties and don't remember it this bad except for the hurricane( ?Agnus). It has to be caused by logging or drilling as that is the only two things that open the earth up to erosion that is going on to any extent in the area.

go-n-fishn thanks for the update I have a three hour drive at $2.75 a gal.is it worth the trip? I usually fish Kinzua creek above the delayed harvest or Marvin creek
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I haven't read the article, but I'll throw in some anecdotal observations.  I've fished Kinzua creek for the past five years on the opening day (although this year I decided to forgo the five hour drive, due to the pending lousy weather forecast - sad day).  When I get tired of fishing for the stocked fish, I've fished for natives in a number of the tributaries to Kinzua.  Each stretch of stream that has any sort of impediment (log jam, rock jam, etc.) is just completely choked up with silt and sand.  Walking the roads along the tributaries, back to camp, its pretty obvious where the source of the silt and the sand is.  The roads are covered with it and the tracks up to the oil/gas wells are washed out.  The little bit of retaining walls they put up with the black plastic are a joke - half the time, they are bursting over with sand they've trapped behind them, meaning any storm runoff goes right over them.

That doesn't mean the river is running muddy because of that.  There could be other lurking variables causing the cloudiness.  But at least some of the feeder streams to the reservoir and eventually the river, have seen an increased sediment load.  It's steadily gotten worse over the past five years in my opinion.  All that sand and silt takes aways the freestone beds where natives would spawn as well.  I can't correlate catch rates directly, because dry weather probably has a bigger impact on young of year, but I caught more natives five years ago than I did last year.

A look at satellite imagery (such as through Google Earth) is telling, as well..

Here you go slammin the timber companies again .. do a little research...

I work for those timber companies. The DEP doesn't let us loggers get away with that. You all blame it on irresponsible logging.. show me.. If you see a logging job causing siltation in a stream don't report it here call the DEP. They will fine and shut them down. There was a thread with pictures from a helicopter it was caused from well drilling.. Not a log skidder in site.

You are right go-n there are irresponsible loggers out there. What timber companies do on there own land we don't have alot of control over. I too have seen the non barred roads and no reseeding taking progress. I guess I just take offense to being grouped in with them.  The company I sub out too is very environmentally involved. We even skid with horses in environmentally sensitive areas.
   There is alot you can do if its on state or Federal ground.The DEP and the forest service can and will come in to fine you and shut you down if you are making a mess. I have to have my skidder inspected for mud ,leaves, seeds, before I can even unload it on National forest service ground.