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.
|