Minimum Flow
A fellow guide friend called the C.O.E. (Corps of Engineers) and got this response back.
“The “Seasonal” Power pool is 661.4. It will remain there until October 10th, at which time it will be changed to 662. From January to May 1st, the Seasonal Power Pool will be 659, May 15 to June 15-662, after June 15, 661.4 until the fall. All of these numbers may change after they study the effects of the Power Pool.
Second, the goal right now is to have 590 Cubic Feet of water released with minimum flow. Right now the cubic feet is higher because the lake is high. He stated that more cubic feet will come out with minimum flow simply because of the additional weight of the extra water. With no power demands, they believe 590 will be the best number to attain.
All of this, when finalized will be release after studying it for a few months. The numbers might change slightly.”
So as I read this from January till May nothing changes and from May 15th till some time in the fall we will be seeing some type of minimum flow or at least a flow above the no generation water we all got used to. I really don’t know in inches how much the level will be. The flows that we have been getting have been greater than 590 cfs or cubic feet per second at 983 to 1100 cfs. I’ve yet to see anything that has been consistent except the 980 something which we saw last fall. When I’m fishing down stream I often refer to the Newlands real time web cam http://newlands.com/index.php?id=213 which in all honesty is about as accurate as you can get and up to date. The other chart I use is http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/bulsdam.htm but this one runs a couple of hours late which is useful if you are further down stream than the White Hole as the water takes two and a half hours to get there. The other form of info that we use as guides is our cell phones usually via text. So if I have a fellow guide fishing up at the dam we can keep each other informed. Mostly what we want to know is if the water is being shut off so we don’t get caught down stream and can’t get back up.
With minimum flow and not being used to it as yet a wade fisherman can get into a bit of trouble if he crosses the river and the water comes up just a few inches. If this does happen to you stay on that side of the river and wait for a boat to come by and flag it down. You will get a drier ride back to the other side this way. Don’t take any chances by trying to cross because you may not know exactly how much water is actually coming your way. Wearing the new type life vest that activate either manually or when water hits them might be a bit better than wearing a heavy vest loaded down with a lot of gear that we never use anyway. Think and keep an eye on the water.
As time goes by we will get used to the new flows. It does add cooler water to the river which the fish must have in order to live.
This morning I saw both sulphers and caddis and had much luck with the pearl midge as well as purple midges on 5X Maxima FC tippet. two to three feet below our indicator. Foam flies such as ants and hoppers are also starting to work.
Good Fishing.
Book a White River Fishing Adventure today by calling Jim at 870-404-8906 Fish the best part of the day between 7 and 12 and beat the heat and catch a ton of fish.
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