Snow/Freshwater/Spring/Effects
 

So I am not the brightest bulb in the shed, especially when it comes to hydrology...So here is my question....Will all this snow lead to a great influx of freshwater in the bay this year ? What effect will that have on Striper spawning ? Will it help increase the available O2 levels ? I know that tons of rain could have the saime effect but was wondering about the snow since it should slowly sink into the ground versus the rain and a faster runoff....Would like to here some thoughts.....

A lot depends on how fast the snow melts and if we get heavy rains around the time it all thaws out.

If a fast melt happens - look for the Susky to flood. This will wash a lot of silt down the bay. It can and has gone as far as the C/R marker - off Chesapeake Beach.

Here's the weird thing with our bay. Up to about Love Point - the salty water moves up the bay. The run off being fresh will often be on top of this. It is like a thermocline - in fact a good finder will show it.

Each year the bay water make up is differant. In wet years - we'll see Catfish at the bay bridge - in drought years - Spanish Mackerel off Baltimore light.

Right now - I'd say we are looking at a muddy bay - at least in the upper reaches.

Conowingo dam has a huge amount of silt behind it. Some areas near the dam used to be 90 feet deep. Now they are only 50 feet. That's 40 feet of silt - just waiting to be washed downstream.

Let's hope we get very lucky and the snow melts slowly over the course of a month and then we only get light rain in spring - after all the snow is gone.

spawning flats
 

What we need to think about is are they going to open all the gates on the dam & when. Rock wont spawn until the water temp is in the mid 50's. The big rock are here now they come up with the mud shad every year.

Wish I could be out there now....

Course I would have to dig out 4 to 5 feet of snow....

Crossing my fingers that it does not rain much this spring.....

Too many variables to predict
 

Right now, I don't think any one of us can make an accurate prediction of what is going to happen. It depends on air temperature, rainfall amounts, timing, and temporal distriution across much of the Susquehanna watershed. If I could predict that accurately a couple of months out, I would have skills that would make me a rich man. What we can be sure of is that the upper Bay will have temperatures, sediment loads, and water quality that are either average or above or below average over the next couple of months, years, or decades.:D

Conowingo Dam has been benefiting the water quality of the upper Bay ever since it was built . Unfortunately, at some point in the very near future, it will reach its maximum sediment storage capacity and then we will see water quality in the upper Bay become more variable and degraded as it responds to storm-generated sediment loads from the agricultural areas of Pennsylvania.

With all the melting snow will also come loads of road salt..........Gary

The runoff, which includes nitrogen and phosphorus, will be tremendous.

The watershed starts up around Cooperstown New York, Which is about 300 miles north of the head of the Chesapeake.

Look for a late start to crabbing, as well as rockfishing, due to low water temperatures. The slower the melt, the later the start.

magothy river is nearly ice all the way across

I think the fishing is going to be so good, that we will only have to troll six lines, barbless, and with no stingers:D. 5th (Marty)

With the amount of snow we are getting...I would not be surprised to see the Stripers return on late June and the first crabs in August !

Good point about salt...Saw in the MAryland Gazette that AA county has already dropped at least 5,000 tons of salt from last weekends storm alone....

Cold temps, tons of runoff, maybe last year was our lucky year....

:(