Tuesday, September 7, 2021

"Ida" the weekend after..........

Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday we were hit with the remnants of hurricane Ida. The rain was heavy and amounts of 8-10 inches were widespread. On my deck my rain gauge measured 9 inches. So with that amount of water being pumped into the streams you can imagine the effect it had. I did not even attempt to fish until Saturday. I felt that two plus days would be enough time for the streams to come back to a fishable level. I fished both days of the weekend and I'll give you Sunday's report first.

The sky was overcast and a chance of showers were in the forecast. Walking to the stream was a damp one with a combination of dew and rain clinging to the vegetation. Upon reaching the stream I could see how the heavy rains changed things. In a way those changes actually make for a new "old" stream. Logs were moved, larges stones were not where they were before, areas of the bottom were scoured out and new channels formed. Totally remodeled.

 

 

A pretty yellow wild flower with rain drops on it's petals. Nature does some beautiful art work.
 

Because of the higher flows along with some still off colored water I chose to fish a streamer. Color and flash would give me an advantage over a dry or soft hackle. It proved to be a good choice.
 

This photo says so much about the experience of the day.
 

This wild jewel took the streamer about six inches from the bank. The current was swift and the fly sort of turned on it's side. The brookie hit it on the surface.
 


 In the next post I'll tell you of the Saturday after Ida.

 

17 comments:

  1. I wish we had gotten some of that water; we didn't get a drop. It's been another terrifyingly dry summer up here. Beautiful pictures, Alan. Love the flower in the rain...

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    1. mike
      Thanks
      Mike the rain did cause some nasty issues I'm grateful for the benefit it created for our streams. That flower would have been stunning in the sunshine.

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  2. Alan,
    Good to see the streams back in shape so soon. Wonderful images. Thanks for sharing.
    JJ

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    1. Beaverdam
      Thanks
      Joe they recovered quite nicely. A few were off color but that did not effect the fishing.

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  3. It amazes me how quickly your streams recover. If we had 8 to 10 inches of rain, we'd have floods for days.

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    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark that was after about 5" the week before. A little drying out is in order.

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  4. Wait, do we know about this 5’1” bamboo special for small streams and nice fish in hand.

    Kevin

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    1. Ned Zeppelin
      Thanks
      Kevin we should know...I'll pull up the post and list it for you.

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    2. Hey Kevin....https://smallstreamreflections.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-gift-from-pennsylvania-cane-and-silk.html

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  5. Nice red spots on that first fish! I fished a stream on Sunday that runs through a steep ravine and therefore cannot spread out when the waters rise. It was remarkable seeing how much wood got moved around. Also places where new pools were scoured out. I wish that I had thought to stop by on Thursday just to see what it looked like at its peak levels.

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    1. Shawn
      Thanks
      Shawn man there were some huge logs that got tossed about. Some of the stones that were moved also impressed me. Good fishing for some time to come.

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  6. Alan,
    We were wondering how things went after Ida blew thru your area last week! It would be interesting to see in the future some of the stream "storm damage" that has happened in your area! Nine inches....wow!
    I was thrilled to see how good the water flows were (not too muddy) even after that massive amount of rain! The trout seem well too!
    I trust that you and Jeanette are ok too! That had to be scary!
    Dougsden

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    1. Dougsden
      Thanks
      Doug we have a small pond right out front and it's fed by some storm water sources, we watched it rise and rise and rise...all's OK though with Jeanette and I and the trout.

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  7. Wow! 9 inches of rain! That would be completely unprecedented here in Idaho! I'm sure our soil type would not be able to handle it. Beautiful brook trout, too!

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    1. Tom Davis
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      Tom as a whole the state did not suffer widespread damage. It could have been worse if we had a high wind event. With the ground already saturated the trees would have come down like pick up sticks.

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  8. Alan
    I'm really glad you guys didn't get any wide spread damage like some of the other areas near you. Thanks for sharing

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    1. Bill Trussell
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      Bill NY and NJ really got flooded. If only we could figure how to make concrete and asphalt soak up water.

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