This year seams different from the past few that we have had. Most of the ground is bare from snow and we should start to see some green grass here soon, as along as the temps continue to go up. We’ve actually had more rain than snow this winter with a little help from El Nino. The last year we had an El Nino winter was in 2012, with Hendricksons popping in late March. We aren’t necessarily looking for that early of a start but after the last two winters, which seemed to last into April, we aren’t complaining about the unusually warm weather. But, we have already been seeing some Little Black Stoneflies around with these warmer air temps that we have been getting lately. Things are slowly starting to pick up on the river system but we are still looking for warmer night and water temps to really get the bugs going more consistent. Overall it seems to be a more normal spring and we should start to see good bug activity once we get into April.
As I write this, the reservoir (Cannonsville) is at 94% and the overall capacity of all of the reservoirs is 95%, 6% above normal and about 45% above where we were at this time last year. Not to mention that last year the whole system was frozen bank to bank due to the low flows that were dictated by the low reservoir levels. The West is now flowing a healthy 800 cfs with temperature are in the mid 40’s. There’s no doubt about it, we are currently “sitting pretty” condition-wise and this spring is shaping up to a good one. It’s about time, compared to what we have experienced in the past few years.
By Jake Pfeiffer