It's about 2:00 p.m. today, and Frank and I meet up with Wade and Glenn at Dickson Dam. Wade and Glenn are going to fish down to Range Road 20, so we move their vehicle down for them. We put in at RR 20 by about 3:00 p.m. (after getting checked by a friendly CO), and Wade and Glenn are in turn going to leapfrog our vehicle down to the Innisfail Bridge. There is a lot of algae in the river today... might it be "didymo" (or "rock snot" as it is non-affectionately called in New Zealand, or "toilet-paper algea" elsewhere)?. Here is some stuff on didymo:

"The diatom Didymosphenia geminata (Lyngbe) Schmidt is emerging as a thriving alga in streams of North America, Europe, and New Zealand. In recent years, masses of cells and extracellular stalks have been reported to dominate stream benthos, covering up to 100% of benthic substrates. Didymosphenia geminata is capable of flourishing on scales of 10-20 km of stream reach, and at least one site, the macroscopic mats dominate for over 100 km. This species is expanding its geographic range at a rate such that nuisance blooms are increasingly reported by the public and local media, yet little scientific investigation of the phenomenon in North America has been instigated in response."


It is also noteworthy that yesterday at about 4:00 p.m., the "dam man" doubled the amount of water being released from about 17 m3/s to about 36 m3/s. Could this have resulted in the large quantities of toilet paper-like material drifting down the river?

Anyhow, all is quiet otherwise on this stretch of river. There are few bugs about (we see a few skwalas early), but NUTHIN' is rising this afternoon. The snot makes fishing nymphs or streamers not a lot of fun, so I flog a big skwala pattern for a few hours with no results; same for Frank. Glenn and Wade try streamers; at least they move a fish! Eventually, Frank and I just book it downstream; we're off the water at about 8:00 p.m.; i.e. this 8 or so mile trip can be done in about 5 hours at normal flow rates if you don't stop much to walk and wade. Ah-Soo-Wuh-Um boat launch is closed for the time being; they are still fixing 2005 flood damage there.

Back in town, I take a look at the Kerry Wood pool, and it's a different story. The river is pretty brown, but no rock snot here yet. There are Brown Drakes boinging up and down streamside, and on the water. There are a bunch of goldeye rising, along with a few larger-type swirls. I run into Wade and Glenn at the DQ --- Wade broke off a big brown at the usual spot :-)