Spruce Run

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by bigfishy

Its not uncommon for them to lower it in anticipation of heavy spring rains.....
Many years they lower it waaay down in mid to late fall...Its the best time to walk and or boat around with your camera and take pics of any and all structure that is exposed.....



Any idea what the water temps were???Thats the best way to know if there even close to gettin on the beds....

Didn't have a thermometer with me but the water was very cold and very clear.

[bigfishy]

Originally Posted by Mike M

Didn't have a thermometer with me but the water was very cold and very clear.

My guess would be another month on the bedding fish in any kinda numbers, give er take two weeks.....
I've seen a few fish just startin to think about beds but this is only in the very smallest ponds that are less than 3 acres....The bigger waters always take longer to warm up.....

No matter what species i'm after and ANY time of yr. my thermonmeter is my 2nd most important important piece of equipment.....Water temp tells the tale of activity....ANY speicie ALL yr..

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by bigfishy

No matter what species i'm after and ANY time of yr. my thermonmeter is my 2nd most important important piece of equipment.....Water temp tells the tale of activity....ANY speicie ALL yr..

What's your first most important?





.

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

What's your first most important?

my guess is his fishing rod

[flatcreek]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

What's your first most important?





.

My guess would be his pole.

[bigfishy]

Ding ding ding !!! Two winners , no chicken dinner...
My semi stiff pole in my hand is ALL i need to git er done...lol

[acabtp]

haha aww, come on can't we even split one chicken dinner?

[Dave B.]

As I mentioned in another post, yes they are still releasing from the res. This is a big contributor to the higher water level and cooler temp on the SBR below Clinton. Not sure why they're releasing but my guess would be to maintain a 'void' in the res capacity to capture heavy storm runoff in the event of a major and potentially flooding rain event. At present the res is only about 2 feet below full, not a major deal. You can track it here... http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/uv...65,00060,62614
You can track the release rates here... http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/uv...65,00060,62614

As for the drawdown last fall and in most years late summer, this is first and foremost a water supply reservoir. When the precip rates drop and the mainstem Raritan threatens to fall below a certain level they begin releasing to maintain the level in the mainstem as many cities and towns use the river for their municipal water supply.

The reason that SRR is drawn down before RVR is simple economics, RVR is pumped storage which costs money in the form of electric to keep full whereas SRR is filled by runoff. In very bad drought years you'll often see SRR drawn down over 20 feet before they begin releasing from RVR.

Also, they have 2 outlets to release from RVR to supply the Raritan mainstem. Most know about the pumping station on the SBR below Clinton, but they can also release into the S. Br. Rockaway Crk. They (the NJ Water Supply Auth) maintain a steady release flow into Rockaway as it is since during the construction of the res they cut off the headwaters of the creek and as a result were mandated to maintain the steady release. If you see a spike in the flow rate here... http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/uv...65,00060,62614 without any rain event to cause it you can be assured it's due to a release from RVR.

The same maintenance flow release holds true for Prescott Brk on the SW side of the res. however this one only gets a steady maintenance release, it's never used as a supplemental flow source for the SBR.

[buzzbaiter]

As someone said, the bigger the lake, the later the spawn although even big lakes can have very shallow coves where water is 4-5F warmer than the rest of the lake. Spruce won't have spawning for quite some time.

I find fishing there - or anywhere - gets better the lower it gets. Fish get concentrated and your odds can only go up. At least that's what I've encountered.

[15FOOTER]

Thats funny...we have found the same exact thing at spruce..they really do ball up in a few spots.