Lowest water that I've ever seen in the local streams.

965 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Jim Wallace, Oct 6, 2017

Jim Wallace

Discussion Starter · Oct 5, 2017

I crossed some bridges yesterday on my way to a Mason County lake. It was high tide, so the conditions of the tidal creeks and lower Chehalis River were indiscernible. It was sunny and hot, and there were a bunch of trollers on the Chehalis. I could see their bored facial expresions at 40mph from the bridge. However, when I crossed the forks of the Satsop, all three were the lowest that I have ever seen them. Anemic flows. I abandoned any idea of river fishing for Coho, though I probably could have waded in search of cutthroat. I wondered about the temps, but it has cooled down enough so that is probably no longer a concern.
I stuck with my plan to continue to a lake and attempt to run my fishing kayak motor's lithium ion battery down all the way. When I realized that I wouldn't run the battery out of juice before dark, I started casting to some freshly planted trout that I suddenly noticed, just in time to finish off the sunset. There were some fat and feisty 16" - 17" in the mix.

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Jim B

· #2 · Oct 5, 2017

Jim Wallace said:
I crossed some bridges yesterday on my way to a Mason County lake. It was high tide, so the conditions of the tidal creeks and lower Chehalis River were indiscernible. It was sunny and hot, and there were a bunch of trollers on the Chehalis. I could see their bored facial expresions at 40mph from the bridge. However, when I crossed the forks of the Satsop, all three were the lowest that I have ever seen them. Anemic flows. I abandoned any idea of river fishing for Coho, though I probably could have waded in search of cutthroat. I wondered about the temps, but it has cooled down enough so that is probably no longer a concern.
I stuck with my plan to continue to a lake and attempt to run my fishing kayak motor's lithium ion battery down all the way. When I realized that I wouldn't run the battery out of juice before dark, I started casting to some freshly planted trout that I suddenly noticed, just in time to finish off the sunset. There were some fat and feisty 16" - 17" in the mix.

According to the Northwest River Forecast Center, most western WA streams and rivers have been at historic low flow levels for a long time....

https://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/rfc/

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Jim Wallace

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 5, 2017

Jim B said:
According to the Northwest River Forecast Center, most western WA streams and rivers have been at historic low flow levels for a long time....

https://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/rfc/

Yes. Its bad enough to hear about low flows and be concerned. It can be downright shocking to actually see only a mere trickle connecting nearly stagnant pools, where once there was a flow.

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Old Man

· #4 · Oct 5, 2017

While you are all having an Indian Summer we are still in the throes of winter. But it is supposed to warm up here for about two days and get in the high 50's. But alas, it will cool down for the weekend.

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FAQ!

· #5 · Oct 5, 2017

Well, Jim, at least you weren't the dumbass trying to FISH the Satsop on the opener (that was me and maybe a dozen other hopeless dreamers). I went up by Schafer Park. The only thing more notably lacking than water was FISH. I walked the park to the S Curves, checking each reliable hole, and I didn't see any signs of life. Even the S Curves hole was completely empty.

The river's changed quite a bit through there. It will be interesting to see where the fish go when they show.

I checked the Wynoochee, too, and it looked much the same as the Satsop. Little water and less fish.

When the rain finally comes for real, someone's gonna have some epic fishing for all those fish that are kegged up in the Chehalis right now. One thing's for sure: I'll be the guy who "shoulda been here yesterday."

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Jim Wallace

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 6, 2017

Shad, I'll probably get to the river the day after you do.

This little bit of rain due over the weekend might not be enough to saturate the terrestrial sponge and allow enough water to make it through to the river and raise the flows enough to be noticeable on the river gages. Will the Coho run upstream at merely the whiff of precip?

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