VERY Low flows - middle WB Croton River in Carmel ???

**IDRYFLY** · 04-08-2012, 10:20 PM

Just wondering if any NY Croton Watershed flyguys know the REASON the WB Reservoir outlet section was dramatically reduced from 34 CFS to 12 CFS a few days ago and it now remains there ? I've always been most intrigued by this beautifual section of the river which for the most part is purely wild fish (no stocking).....its the only stream where i routinely see 5'' Browns in abundance yet you can get a 15" "trophy" or better as well. In the past years I've always tracked this stream and barring high flows due to excessive rain.....its always stood out as having the most constant minimum flows i've ever seen in any tailwater stream re: 33 to 36 CFS which by the way is PERFECT for this stream - was always the CFS ..... even when they fiddled with other tailwater outflows this mid section had a constant minimum .......maybe i'm a day dreamer but i even thought this was guided in part to be protective and proactive of the wonderful natural reproduction that takes place here. I'm gonna try to stop by tomorrow to see what 12cfs looks like but it has me concerned ........FYI I've posted here for a while as Walter1023 but I couldn't log in anymore for the longest time so I had to re-register......

Walter

**frankm** · 04-09-2012, 07:48 AM

Walter keep us posted. This is one of my favorite streams also but I haven't been there yet.

**IDRYFLY** · 04-09-2012, 08:07 PM

Hey Frank......it was 12 CFS this morning but I stopped there today around noon after fishing the upper most WB Croton (out of Boyds Corner) and low and behold it looked normal - and sure enough the USGS chart today shows they sent the flows back up to 36 cfs....???? (i'd still like to know the reason) Bottomline the water seemed to have alot of debris like small leaves in it. I only took a few casts and it didn't seem ON.... I fished this twice last week -it was gin clear as normal and it was on fire with the Hendrickson Hatch in the afternoons I honestly have never caught this hatch on this stream before but it was spectacular. At one point every pocket I looked at had risers coming up. Anyway....the good news is the CFS is back to normal......I'll hope it stays this way.

**Frank IV** · 04-10-2012, 11:07 AM

I live 10 mins from there, its been very dry and sometimes they play with the levels of the res. Ie. Fill one up, drop one a little, or just to move water from one place to another. I haven't hit it yet, but hopefully I will soon.

**frankm** · 04-10-2012, 12:52 PM

I think I may head over there this weekend. LMk if you guys are going to be around. Also want to hit the Amawalk.

**IDRYFLY** · 04-10-2012, 07:21 PM

I just checked and while middle WB Croton is now back to normal the lower WB Croton River ie: the "famous section" is now at 12 CFS so they must be doing testing with 12 being the magic number I can only imagine that this stream must be an actual trickle ????