Water temps at Thermalito?

[McFish]

I can't locate a source for water temps at Thermalito Afterbay? Any help?

[Brian Clemens]

Pretty warm at the palm gauge station. 68-69degs

Only 700cfs down low flow, 1200 out of high flow. Not good with spring salmon in the river. Gonna be a tough year for our anadromous fish.

https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryF?s=Fow

[McFish]

Thanks, Brian. If I understand correctly, these are stream flow temps. I'm bass and left-over steelhead fishing in the Afterbay. We went the 24th hoping for a Hex hatch. It didn't quite come off, although the birds were clearly expecting it.

[Brian Clemens]

Water is way way to warm for he's on the Afterbay unfortunately. Lake Oroville surface temp is nearing 70deg.

[McFish]

Let me try this one more time. I am not trying to be contentious. I'm fishing the Afterbay, not the river. I'm targeting bass. The water is not too warm, as I'm not at all concerned with salmon, trout or steelhead in the river or Afterbay. There is supposedly a hex hatch that the bass go nuts for. So I am trying to find water temps IN THE AFTERBAY.

[Brian Clemens]

Mcfish, I understand this and yes I was showing you water temps of the river at palm as this is a good indication of water temps in the afterbay, also current surface temp at Oroville is 74deg. In my last reply I was referring to the water being to warm for the hex Hatch in the afterbay. They aren't a warm water bug and unfortunately this year's water supplies flowing out of our lakes are 5 to 10deg warmer than normal. This includes the afterbay which gets its water from the diversion pool. Part of it goes to the afterbay and some to the low flow. The afterbay is a very shallow lake 8-12ft and warms up quickly. If you can find some cooler water like near the intake canal you might be able to find some hexs, but it's gonna be tough as again the water in the afterbay is warmer than normal and the hex likes cooler water. Only way to get afterbay water temps is to get on it and check it yourself.

[McFish]

My faith is restored. Many thanks for a great explanation. I had asked others if temps effected Hex hatch and did not give a definitive answer; I don't think they knew for sure. Your in-depth explanation makes a lot of sense and I thank you. My partner's finder showed the nymphs near the bottom and they rose in the column between 4:00 and 8:30, but a hatch never happened. As the layer of nymphs got higher, more fish showed up, but not like we expected. We only saw 4 adults from 8:00 to 9:15. The huge flocks of birds on the island were going nuts, but they were also ultimately disappointed.

[Brian Clemens]

I'm glad I could help out, sorry for the confusion. Good luck out there.