Has this happened to you.....river flows.

[Drag Free Drift]

You follow the river flows daily..The flows have been low for days, maybe even weeks. You feel its prime time to go fishing, then that day comes....Pack all your stuff and take that drive to the fishery only for you to arrive with flows that would make whitewater kayaker's mouths water. I am guessing that these websites that post river flows are not always accurate. I usually take the websites information to be within the same ballpark. Some things may occur to change flows, i.e. one time they had construction on the river and had to temporary reduce the flows. But this is actually not the first time it has happened. For example, a river that is flowing, according to a website showing river/dam releases (I won't name any certain site), 200 CFS. You arrive there and you know from experience it's flowing at over 1,500 CFS.


How much stock do you put into river flows? Do you plan your trip around the flows? What other ways do you verify flows prior to going fishing? Should these sites be more accurate with information? Thanks.

[JasonB]

Depends on which site you are referring to, but in my experience the posted flows are quite accurate for the time they are posted. Kind of moot point though, because lots of these dams can and do change flows sharply: so the website with the gauge reading you got before taking the drive could easily change by the time you get there. Some dams are generally pretty stable at least at certain times of the year, but many are anything but stable or predictable in their releases. We’ve been burned on the East Walker many times over the years by a sudden jump or drop in flows.
JB

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Some, like the SFA, use to go from 150 to 1,500 cfs every day?

I heard many years ago the Klamath river use to go up and down every day for power?