6/9 Esox Hunt

[Red Childress]

We put together a strong effort on Sunday but the crazy cold front was too much for us. We did not see any signs of life for the first 5 hours of the trip so we decided to cut our losses and go home at noon. We downsized our lures from the get-go but it did not matter.

I do not ever remember wearing 2 sweatshirts in June like we did yesterday. It looks like summer returns later this week!


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

It also appears to be another rough year of algae growing on the river bottom with several “chunks” of it already tearing away and floating downstream. We had to make sure our lures did not touch the bottom. This used to happen during late-summer/early-Fall but with very little snow pack again this Spring, sunlight penetration is more intense in the low, clear water.

[ppalko]

The algae bloom on the bottom always was an early June thing each year starting below the mouth of the conewingo. Low water made is worse but it never happened upstream of Warren and usually was not a problem in July. The fall weed float fest was a different thing dominated by the native aquatic plants like eel grass that go dormant in fall. Add floating leaves to complete the late fall headache.

[Red Childress]

We’ll have to agree to disagree a little bit.

Most years since 1993, the Spring river levels have been 2-5 feet higher than normal summer flow…..Nearly zero algae problem with Springtime lures grinding bottom and coming back clean. The past 2 years have been the worst which coincides with little snow pack and low Spring flows. The Nitrogen/Phosphorus content of the river water South of the “Conewango” creek is MUCH higher due to all the farms in NY. We all know what N and P are good for, especially when it is not diluted with melting snow pack.

[ppalko]

The June bottom algae issue definitely is related as you describe and has been an ongoing problem for sure. The Conewango has a definite water chemistry effect and that effect is magnified during low flows. I’ve never explored the Conewango and am curious if it experiences the same late spring algae issues.

[Red Childress]

I decided to check out the mouth of the Conewango kast year to see if the “stringy stuff” was floating into the river as well……….I did see some. I plan to drive up to the bridge on Riverside Rd. (NY) and see how it looks there……..that bridge is about a mile past the NY border and lots of shallow water present there…………should be a good indicator.