Learning to read the graphs

[smithers]

So, looking at the graph for the Carbon and knowing that catching a river on the drop is the time to be on it, would the Carbon be fishable right now? I am stuck here at work and won't be fishing, just trying to see if I am starting to understand or not. Thanks for any help guys!

Skip

[Bantam200]

Visibility is the issue, maybe Fish can let us know how it's lookin.

[Fish]

Not pretty guy's, I was just up there this morning and its still dirty and coming up again.

There is a small chance on the side channels etc, there might be a foot of vis, I'd watch the graph as its climbing now, hopefully it will cool of today and start dropping again.

The Fish prediction is if we don't get dumped on its possible by the weekend she'll be ready?

[smithers]

So, assuming the visibility was in our favor, was I correct in reading the graph?

[Fish]

Skip I would have to say the river is to high and fast for my likings even if the vis was good, but as long as its dropping and vis is good its always worth a shot.

The short answer to the graph is I like it at the normal or lower levels, normal being when the water level is at the diamonds on the graph which would be 319 now, but as you see its on the rise again.

Hope this helps Skip?

[nick]

The graph that I look at is the one called "Carbon River Near Fairfax". If the graph is above 600, I don't even bother to go look at the river. I know at that level, it's just too high and muddy. Below 450, I plan to go fish. Between 450 - 600, I'll go take a look. Sometimes it's fishable, sometimes not. None of this is exact science. YMMV.  

[EagleTalon]

Anybody have a link to the Carbon river charts? I am trying to follow your discussion, but I don't know what charts you are looking at.

[Fish]

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/uv/?site_no=12094000&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065

From the USGS Real-Time Water Data
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/current?type=flow

[EagleTalon]

Thanks for the reply; much appreciated. You actually just beat me to it--I just found the USGS site with the charts as a matter of fact. That's pretty handy to view the water height and discharge data. Looking at the past 31 days, you can really see the rise in the water levels given the recent rain.

[Brian]

I agree with fish about the fishing when its at or below the average level. Although I may fish a river on the drop I prefer to hit it when the downward spike has flattened out considerably. I guess I'm more of a low, clear water kind of guy!

[Andrew]

Like Brian said, this time of year, with these volumes of water, it's typically best to wait until you see the drop start to flatten out a bit. Be aware that this can happen quickly if a cold front moves in overnight, though. I and most guys I know check the hydrograph both the night before and morning of an outing to check for significant changes of flow (this is paramount on dam controlled rivers like the Green).

You'll catch fish on a sharp drop, especially if you know where the fish are, but typically the water is still fairly elevated and many fish are continuing to move... it can be hard to entice strikes, where waiting another couple days for things to settle a bit more will have most fish locked down but still fresh and aggressive. That said, if you've got the time and desire, you probably won't regret a trip to the river whatever the conditions. 

Good luck,

Andrew

[smithers]

Thanks for all the great info guys. I am "sucking" up as much knowledge as I can as I pursue that elusive first steelie.

Skip