Tony Buzolich
10-17-2005, 06:52 AM
I watch the flows almost daily on the main stem of the Feather around Gridley and they have really dropped for the past couple of weeks. This morning it is running around 2800cfs which is what it was back in July/Aug when everybody was complaining about the warm water.
What I find curious though is that the "Low Flow" has actually come up almost a foot within the last couple of days.
What a surprise to see some of my favorite spots with a whole new look to them. Wading some of these now requires a bit of caution that I've gotten used to when the water was lower.
The nice thing I saw yesterday was the incredible number of fresh fish moving through. Groups of salmon would shoot through over the backs of tired fish resting out of the increased flow.
The real surprise too was the steelhead running with these moving salmon. Almost every bunch of salmon had three or four or more large steelhead swimming right along with the group. The steelies are immediately identifiable by their lighter color and fully speckled backs. Sort of a gray/green color that really blends in with the rocky bottom. Fresh fish color :P
Several times when one of my clients would drift an egg past some of the resting salmon, a steelie would dart out almost from under the belly of the salmon to grab offering.
I don't know what prompted the increased flow up there when the main river is dropping, but I'm not complaining. :nod:
TONY
What I find curious though is that the "Low Flow" has actually come up almost a foot within the last couple of days.
What a surprise to see some of my favorite spots with a whole new look to them. Wading some of these now requires a bit of caution that I've gotten used to when the water was lower.
The nice thing I saw yesterday was the incredible number of fresh fish moving through. Groups of salmon would shoot through over the backs of tired fish resting out of the increased flow.
The real surprise too was the steelhead running with these moving salmon. Almost every bunch of salmon had three or four or more large steelhead swimming right along with the group. The steelies are immediately identifiable by their lighter color and fully speckled backs. Sort of a gray/green color that really blends in with the rocky bottom. Fresh fish color :P
Several times when one of my clients would drift an egg past some of the resting salmon, a steelie would dart out almost from under the belly of the salmon to grab offering.
I don't know what prompted the increased flow up there when the main river is dropping, but I'm not complaining. :nod:
TONY