Flows on the Lower American are dropping:
Last week was 1000 CFS and now that it is raining, they dropped it down to 900 CFM.
Does anyone know why?
Member
Flows on the Lower American are dropping?
Flows on the Lower American are dropping:
Last week was 1000 CFS and now that it is raining, they dropped it down to 900 CFM.
Does anyone know why?
Forum Godfather
Lower Flows....
Speculation: they're capturing all of the run-off in anticipation of low rainfall the rest of the year. Actual: call BuRec at Folsom Dam and ask why or maybe the DWR website has the answer....
"America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."
Author unknown
Senior Member
The answer is simple...
We are in a 4th year of severe drought.
MELTED SNOW, and not rain, determines how fast our reservoirs fill up.
Folsom is still only 26% full and even if we get 5 inches of rain by Friday, all upstream reservoirs as well as aquifers and springs will suck that water up and when all is said and done Folsom MAY rise to about 28/29%% full.
We need about 7 weeks of substantial rain (between now and February) to even make a dent and hopefully, that will be accompanied by 20 ft of snow in the mountains.
Then and only then, will DWR release near-average levels of water to the CA Aqueduct next year.
Senior Member
Rain over the past few days has brought most North Coast rivers up but other than the Smith most have seen only small rises. The local watersheds are all very dry and all this rain is soaking in and so far there has been little runoff.
Most of the rain on Tuesday 12-2 fell south of Garberville with rainfall totals averaging around 1" in Sonoma and Mendocino counties and less than a 1/2 " to the North.
The Smith river is still dropping with a current level of 8.5 feet as of 3:PM today. There are still a few fresh salmon pushing into the Smith but anglers should look ahead to the next big rise as the first and biggest steelhead of the season usually arrive around Christmas.
The upper Klamath river is flowing at a respectable 1800cfs and the steelie action has been great. There are lots of half pounders or 14" to 20" fish in the system with guides reporting "all you want" action.
The middle Trinity at Burnt Ranch is at 1100 cfs where it has been holding the past few days. Guides are seeing 2 to 4 steelies on the Trinity and the salmon season is over
The Eel river at Miranda jumped at high as 10 feet yesterday and is currently at 8.8. The south fork is still closed but it's nice to see the jump in flows which after a long drought will allow salmon to push up and spawn and steelhead to follow shortly.
Member
Very nice here now
Doesn't seem unusually low
Lost a big one and landed one a foot long
Quite a few salmon moving through paradise beach area
Cheers. Paul
Member
Left at 11:00
I thought it felt a little warm
A local spin fisher had a thermometer and said he took a 58 degree water temp reading
Maybe it is too low
Senior Member
= real time temperature data for Paradise Beach
12/04/2014 24 59.5 57.9 58.7
= real time temperature data for Arden/Goethe
12/04/2014 24 59.8 57.8 58.8
= real time temperature data for Hazel Ave/Dam/Basin
12/04/2014 24 58.4 58.0 58.1
Interestingly, only tenths of a degree difference between water temps at dam and at Paradise Beach
Only a month ago there would have been a 5-6-degree difference.
That's because the bottom draw reservoir (Natoma) usually draws water substantially colder than ambient temperature.
However, in a drought, and with such low lake levels, that difference decreases. Not as much sun to warm the water as it flows down to Paradise either.
58 is good enough. 56 is ideal for spawning salmon but we won't get there for a couple more weeks most likely.
All moot anyway, the low flow more than the temperature dictates whether the steelhead hang around long enough to eat your offering. On most rivers, low water = fish low on the river and high water = fish high on the river but on OUR ARTIFICIAL American River, that all goes out the window as the current strain of hatchery fish has been selected towards shooting immediately up to the hatchery/dam.
I do best from 11:00-2:00 pm for steelies because that is when they are most actively feeding. Cold, wet days are good to fish because of migration and fish being less spooky but as fish are ectothermic critters, they eat better when the water warms up.
From a fly-fishing perspective, it's also a good time for insect activity and particularly emergence so don't let the sun keep you off the water~
Member
Originally Posted by STEELIES/26c3
Two thums up for this info! I have been seeing the same last AR steelhead season......
Aron-
"I own a time machine, but it only moves forward at regular speed..."
"So many rivers to fish so little time!"
Member
Great info
Thank you
Member
+1, thanks STEELIES/26c3!
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