Can Anyone Conjure Up An Ice Age?

Spent a couple hours on the phone with Tim Pokorny of the DEC, (Chris Van Maaren, gave him the unenviable job), and Jeff Skelding of FUDR. Tim heads the shocking program that has expanded to include the UEB/EB this year. When I talked with him the release had been increased to 900 cfs, it was later cut back into 700's so that they could increase it to 1,100 cfs tonight in an attempt to keep the temp at Lordville under the 75 degree cap tomorrow. The night time release is done so that the water, unheated by the sun, arrives downriver tomorrow during the hottest part of the day. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems to the average guy on the river.

While I'm sure my calls contributed little to any of the decisions made, stirring the pot and letting the ones making the decisions know that people care, does serve a purpose. In any event NYC DEP, (aka Department of Environmental Protection), (if ever there was a misnomer), has been poked. To be sure preserving NYC's water supply is more important than preserving and protecting the Delaware River cold water fishery, BUT they are both important, and when the reservoirs are overflowing it would seem that there is more than enough water to accomplish both. 

The proud citizens in the villages along the Delaware are sometimes resentful of the fishermen as outsiders, but we do create jobs, fill hotels, motels, and restaurants, buy groceries and usually conduct ourselves in a socially acceptable manner. If you live in the area it would be most helpful to call your state legislator and make sure he knows that the Delaware River System is the premier cold water fishery east of the Mississippi  and how important the fishery is to the welfare of the people who live here.

The fishing - Please watch the water temps tomorrow, the streams that are able to be waded, (BK and Willow), will be over 70 degrees a good part of the day. Best bet will be the slow water pools in the UEB, think powerline, Long Flat , Pleasant Valley, and the Bump farm.