Grannom update 2016

[jcr]

Still no reports of grannoms on the J. Spring creek has had them for the 5-6 days. The cold snap will delay them. Cold weather and fronts moving in could suppress fish feeding on the emergence even if they start to come off.

Even if the fish are “cold” to the emergence, don’t overlook the egg laying stage. Last year people were having better luck fishing during the egg laying stage. See last years grannom posts below

• This topic was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by jcr.

[albatross]

Thanks for getting the site up and running again. I’ve already had one good day of dry fly fishing on the Little J this year (olives on Good Friday). Looking forward to the Grannoms starting soon!

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by albatross.

[jcr]

They just started getting going in some locations. Now the snow and record cold evening temps this weekend will probably shut them down. The waiting continues.

[Bill Anderson]

Yesterday lower river trout were wacking the occasional cold still grannom even though there were dozens of olives going by unmolested. Grannoms are sparse but just wait until the first morning we get water temps over 50 degrees…all hell will break loose.

[jcr]

good hatch on the lower river. However, front moving through and the cold air kept most of the fish down. They did feed on wets. Expected more action today

[jcr]

solid hatch on middle river. fish were on skittering caddis. twitching is a good approach

[jcr]

another good grannom hatch on lower river today. With more bugs on the water its getting hard to hook trout. Fish were again keyed in on the skittering bugs. Started about 10AM today. With warmer evening temps predicted, expect the hatch to occur earlier.

[jcr]

Didn’t fish, but observed during the clean up on the middle river. Many “yesterday’s” caddis were on the water. I didn’t see evidence of a strong emergence. Makes one wonder if they are waning.
Egg layers will be out for a few more days and I’ve seen emergence stop and then appear again-usually in response to cold weather like last weekend.
The first fishable hatch was reported on the lower river April 6th. Experienced it myself on the 7th. cold weather slowed the hatch down and the fish (see above for the reports for the 9th (bill) and 11th (me)).
With the warm temps friday-Monday I don’t expect them to hold on. There is always next year or other rivers such as fishing creek that are behind the LJ.

other opinions welcomed

[rrt]

I didn’t think the grannoms amounted to anything last year. They were marginally better this year on the days I got to the LJR, but they were nothing like the blizzards up till 2 years ago. I think some pollutant has negatively impacted them, and it might take awhile for them to come back to the levels they reached 2 years ago. Just my take on them.

[jcr]

Could be a lot of factors. One, that is a good sign overall for the river, is that caddis thrive in marginal waters (for one example: http://fishandboat.com/anglerboater/1999/sepoct99/cadisfly.htm). The increase in stoneflies and hendricksons on the lower river and may flies in the upper river suggest the water quality is improving. The reduction in phosphorous from the Altoona plant, less defective septic systems etc should reduce the amount of algae, a major food source of caddis larvae.
It could also be a cyclical thing complicated by number of factors. Last year the water was high during emergence. This could have made egg laying difficult and increased the percentage of caddis that drowned during the emergence. This would cut the numbers this year. It seems to me that in the last two years the hatch was less synchronous (it was drawn out over more days). There is a certain number of caddis on the river bottom. If 80% hatch in a 3 day period, you’d get blizzards. If same 80% hatch in a 5-6 day period, you get a steady hatch.
Not saying i know for sure, but these are things to consider.

[RCalhoun]

Hi All –

Seems that the hatch was pretty strong Thursday-Friday-Saturday. I seen some very large swarms Saturday, almost all day long.

Yesterday (sunday 4-17) there was not much activity at all. I seen very few coming off the water compared to Thursday-Saturday. Is the hatch over already? I would assume so judging from yesterday.

[OHfisher]

I fished Thursday-Saturday by the shop. The Grannom emergence was strong Thursday from 10-12, on Friday from 10-11, and Saturday from 9:45 to 10:30, so it definitely seems to be waning.

[jcr]

The length of the (daily) hatch is more of a function of the evening overnight temps and the intensity of the sun hitting the water. Not only does warmer evening temps move up the hatch earlier in the AM, it tends to make the hatch shorter but more intense. The emergence is more synchronized. This is probably because the water will rise to the optimal temp faster.

[jcr]

if the sunny days and warm weather holds, the good news is the tan caddis will appear soon.

[Bill Anderson]

I agree that water quality has improved and the loss of excess nutrient, in this case phosphorous, may have a detrimental impact on algae eating caddis such as grannoms. While at the same time we are seeing more of the pollution intolerant ephemera mayflies such as varia and subvaria. This season we saw the first grannom emergence on April 6th. For the hatch to have run its course ten days later is not surprising by historic records. So gentle fishers, you may see leftover adults flying about, but it is likely over for 2016. However, as Joe says, tans are close behind and then come the sulfurs, probably a little early as well. I look for the first fishable sulfurs by early May. Maybe even May 1st if this heat continues. Bill A.

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