Lehigh River wading chart?

T

timmyt

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Is there any type of chart available to tell me what is and isnt a wadeable flow at different points on the Lehigh? I am new to fishing there and was considering heading up tomorrow for the day and exploring, but if its not at a good flow for wading i wont bother.

Had a nice long weekend of fishing planned but monday nights rains screwed everything all up so now i am scrambling. Got the days off thursday and friday, trying to salvage something

Thanks
 
Found this via Google - https://diyflyfishing.com/lehigh-river-pa/

If you scroll down to the bottom there's a wading chart.

Any chance anyone knows if it'll be blown this weekend? Looks like they are calling for rain... but not being familiar with the river, I wasn't sure how quickly the water levels change.
 
if you have facebook you can look up the Francis E Walter dam and they will tell you what they are going to do that day (same thing for the PO). Also there is a weekend release schedule somewhere for fishing releases.
 
I do not have facebook, i will get on my wifes account and look though, thank you
 
If you don't want to use Facebook, the forecasted releases can be found here http://www.nap-wc.usace.army.mil/nap/resreg.htm
 
This weekend will most likely be unwadeable based on the current Friday forecast. Unforetunately this will be the third weekend lost to high releases and flows that were to be capped at 400cfs. One of those weekends was opening day weekend when it was supposed to be a fishing release weekend capped at 400cfs, however flood control purposes for the reservoir kicked in and the Corps had to dump more than 400cfs.

For more info on the flow plan check this link out.
 
I was actually going to go tomorrow because i am off. But the flow is now 1050 at lehighton, i am just attempting to learn the river but that looks borderline unwadeable based on the chart, especially for a guy that doesnt know the river. Please correct me if i am wrong
 
I fish the Lehigh closer to White Haven and in the gorge. I consider anything below 500cfs to be reasonable for wading. This year has been tough, I haven't had much time, only fished the river once. and the weather has been crazy.

Besides the flow (cfs) I would also pay attention to the water temperature, both of which are displayed here for the FEW dam area near White Haven USGS Current Conditions for Lehigh River near White Haven

The facebook page can give you an idea of future releases daily,
caught this on their page today "Weekend Flow: match inflow up to 400cfs max" sounds like they plan to stick with a "Fisherman's Release" scheduled weekend BUT that could change due to precipitation or other factors.

I can only speak for my experience up north from you but the Lehigh where I fish requires patience and some knowledge of the territory.

Planned whitewater release dates are:

May: 13, 20, 27, 28
June: 10, 11, 24, 25
July: 8, 9, 22, 23, 29, 30
August: 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26*, 27*
September: 2*, 3*

So if they keep the flow down this weekend it will be the last for awhile
 
I got out for a bit yesterday and it wasn't really wadable. I was able to get to a few runs but very carefully. I probably wouldn't fish it again at those levels. I think a safer cutoff is 750 CFS looking at the Lehighton gauge.
 
As you may know, the Lehigh River is tricky to wade with slippery, rolling rocks and pushy water. Be careful!
 
I fished the Lehigh above White Haven last night. It was A little higher than normal ,just had to be careful. With all those wonderful , slippery rocks in the Lehigh and the weather forecast for Friday I will be hitting Hickory Run or Nescopeck creek on Saturday myself.
 
I once tried to cross the Lehigh on foot in the gorge, at what I think was somewhere around 200 cfs coming out of the dam. It laughed at me. The gradient is very deceiving in the gorge.
 
As a guide if you check USGS site for river flows make sure you lookup the gage nearest to where you are fishing. I fish the WH area mostly and as a rough guide >1500 stay home, or use bait, 1000 fishable in spots if you are familiar with the area, 750 fishable about anywhere still need to use care, 500 or less prime fishing.
 
I should also mention do not expect to walk across river even in low flows. For the most part you will be restricted to one bank with only a few exceptions
 
Yes flows at various points on the river can mean a lot of different things.

here is a handy link to see on a map the gauges with an option to click on them to view. Note the Rockport "Gauge" is a mathematical estimation, but tends to be fairly accurate. I use this almost exclusively when fishing anywhere below Hickory Run to Jim Thorpe.

http://www.nap-wc.usace.army.mil/nap/lehi.html

100-250 is prime for wading, you can cross in spots with caution.
250-450 is tough wading, crossing becomes extremely limited.
450- 700 is very limited wading, no crossing anywhere.
above 700 is bank fishing only except for 1 or 2 spots on the edges of some slow pools to wade in a bit.

The above does not apply to the lower river below Jim Thorpe, for that the chart posted above applies.
 
I always use a similar scale. 400 cfs at White Haven as an UPPER limit to even think about wading; 800 cfs at Bowmanstown.

Evening Hatch fly shop in White Haven used to have a release schedule at the bottom of their site.
 
Tigereye is very accurate here. At White Haven I find that 300 is about as good as you're going to get for fishing and wading levels. At 300 to can navigate the river pretty well all the way from FEW to Jim Thorpe without having to leave the river for the most part (although you'll want to because it's so slippery!). There are still pools that are bank to bank impossible to fish for long distances. Crossing the river at 300 is pretty close to impossible though except in a very few spots here and there. When you get down to the 230 range, which is still a decent fishing level to me, you can now start to get across in a few more places but it's still tricky to get from one bank to the next. Just a really challenging place to fish for sure.
 
I knew the flows differ in terms of what is high and what is low or whatever based on which guage you are looking at. I was using Lehighton simply because it seemed like thats what the flows on the LCFA chart were based off of.
 
I said Bowmanstown...meant Lehighton gauge.

yes, they will be different, and if it is a rafting release weekend there will be a drastic "bubble"/increase and decrease that will occur.

Personally, I don't even think about wading too much unless it's less than 200 or so. That river is awesome, but it beats the snot out of me.

 
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