Water Levels and Flow Questions

[DocPow]

Is there a web site, like "American Whitewater" (They list recommended Levels and CFS for running whitewater in canoes and kayaks), that lists advisable stream levels for Fly Fishing?

 

[Dave_W]

I'm not sure. Certainly some fly shops and area specific blogs post water levels and their wade-ability for specific streams.

I've always used the map link here on our website in the lower right corner and have a sense of what levels are good for fishing. Perhaps we could upgrade our Where to Fly Fish links to include our reader's suggestions for flow levels(?).

I'm going to move this thread over to General Forum shortly.
DW

 

[duckfoot]

inb4 long pcray post about CFS calculations

 

[salmonoid]

What the appropriate CFS value is for fishing on a stream is going to vary by fisherperson. I remember fishing Spring a few years ago and thought conditions were ideal (maybe 110cfs or something like that). Another person commented they preferred 70cfs or below. I was streamer fishing, the other angler preferred to use dries.

Given the thousands of miles of streams in PA, and the much smaller number of gauges, the best you can do is figure out which gauge can be a sort of measuring stick for other streams in an area. For instance, I know that if one gauge is about 300cfs, another stream nearby is going to be perfect (more or less - it depends if the 300cfs is a momentary spike from a thunderstorm, which means a much tighter window on when conditions are ideal). But again, it depends on how you are angling, so the spread on "advisable for angling" could be quite large. Larger streams will lag their tributaries, so six hours before a stream falls to 300cfs might be ideal on a tributary.

Bottom line - make it a habit to check out gauges on streams you fish that have them. File the cfs away and also try to correlate a given cfs (and the conditions that led up to that cfs) to other streams. And then you'll know, better than any website that tells you ideal conditions when to fish..

 

[DocPow]

Awesome answer salmonoid... So for my trip to NC PA this year (I expect it to be dry :-( ) I will be sure to check some gauges and begin to get some experience. Good point as to what a person likes to fish!

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Everything is going to be real dry if we don't get some real rain soon. We've been lucky in Southeast, but hopefully the whole state will start getting some regular rainfall. I've been using the USGS gauges for years now and they can be a real asset in planning a trip. As stated above, with a little experience you can get a mental picture of how a stream or river looks at different flows.

 

[duckfoot]

Salmonoids right, it's all relative. I've learned to make mental notes of my local streams cfs data with the depth I was wading out. Makes it safe for fishing!