Why Fishermen Can Be Excited About Snow Days Too

I remember when snow days were looked forward to.  As a kid they meant neighborhood-wide capture the flag, barricading plow truck access to Chivalry Road's epic sledding hill, and hot cocoa (not that instant stuff but the mom-made stuff).  But as an adult apparently our perception of snow days is supposed to change into one full of bitterness, complaining about salt on your car, and hot packs to relieve sore backs from shoveling snow.  

The view from my apartment during the last snow storm

For fishermen, however, I think there's always reason to enjoy the wintry weather.  Why you ask?  Because the slow melt of huge snowfalls does wonders for our water table.  And high water tables equals greater reserves late in the fishing season.  If you don't believe me, let's go ahead look at some graphs (if you haven't realized... I love graphs.  Go ahead Rich you can say it, I'm a nerd.)


So here are the USGS water level stats for central Virginia since 2004.  

This basically just shows how our water table usually rises throughout spring and then falls as things warm up.  So while storms throughout the year provide us with changes in stream levels, these are just transient.  Starting off the fishing season with a high water table will provide us with much better conditions than having to depend on sporadic storms.

So where are we now compared to last year?  Take a gander at this:

At this time last year, our water table was sitting around 25.5 feet below land surface.  Currently, we're (provisionally) around 19-20 feet.  This was where we were at the peak of last year's season!  And we've still got a ton of snow still sitting around Virginia.  So unless we have a drought worse than the one we had in 2007, fishing should be golden.  I fully expect to see the north fork of the Moorman's running at more than a trickle this year.

So yes, while salt on your car is annoying and shoveling snow is so miserable that it makes you want to purchase a blow torch to do the job instead, there are things about huge snowfalls that can make fishermen just as excited as a kid on a snow day.  (Although it's impossible to beat mom-made hot cocoa.)

*still aching for more graphs? I've gotten you addicted haven't I.  Feel free to search around the USGS Virgina site for more.