Get to know the hydrographs...

[Andrew]

Every steelheader in Washington state who owns and operates a computer should have this site or one like it bookmarked:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/current/?type=flow

The hydrograph is something many guys (undoubtedly many on this board) have been using for several years now, but a lot of steelhead anglers have still not caught on. Even among those who do use it, it is often viewed as more of a tool in the winter for "blown" or "not blown" judgments. Hydrographs can be much more useful than that, though.

In fact, I've found hydrographs to be perhaps even more useful in the summer than in the winter. Early in the season, they will telegraph changes in snowmelt which you may not be able to equate with changing temperatures at the surface, and later in the season they will pick up showers (freshets) that you may not have otherwise ever been aware of (maybe you stayed completely dry at your house).

After you have regularly refered to the hydrograph for a couple of seasons, you will begin to know exactly what to expect when you head to the river. On some of the streams I fish in the summertime, a mere 50 cfs fluctuation can reshape my plans for the entire day. When covering water is your business, you will hook many more fish if in planning your approach to the stream you are familiar with which runs will fish too slow or fast, hold adequate depth or not, give adequate surface cover or not, etc.

Get to know your favorite water in hydrograph terms and you will hook more fish year-round, guaranteed (provided you know how to hook fish in the first place). And with the "official" summer season only 2 weeks away, there is no time like the present to start learning.   

Andrew

(Sorry for the boring post if you already knew this stuff, and I didn't think there was enough content for the "Tips and Tutorials" forum (no pics, even)). 

[Brian]

And with the "official" summer season only 2 weeks away,

I can hardly wait! It's been over three weeks since I've been able to wet a line , What a change from last year when I was out almost every weekend. I AM going to get out the first week of June....somewhere!

Good reminder on this Andrew, I know I have come to check these graphs when planning fr the weekend. Even if your favorite streams are not listed, you can find a nearby river to give you a general idea what may be happening on your stream.

[First Bite]

Good post Andrew.  I rely on my oregon graphs in the same way.  It's amazing how much a few inch raise in water level will do to holding fish.   

[cuttstosteelies]

The hydro is God's gift to steelheaders in my opinion.  Good post.  This reminds me of a lesson I did with my students on "peak fishing time."  No, it wasn't curricular, but it sure was fun..... I taught my kiddos how to read the hydrograph and determine the best fishing "windows" on various graphs.  Seeing that we were currently studying graphing, I copied and pasted five different graphs from different rivers onto their test and had my students circle the point(s) in which the river would have been "prime." Of course this was extra credit....

On a different note, it is absolutely imperative that a steelheader checks the hydro after a banner day.  I can name off a dozen rivers (speaking of winter fishing) and their prime CFS upon the drop.  Most of my summer rivers are not really impacted by snowmelt as they are precipitation.  Whenever I have one of those "hot" fishing days I get on the net as soon as I get home and record the flows as they were when I was on the river...  Not so much anymore but a few years ago relying on those flows was my bread and butter.....
Good post, Andrew

[rvrfshr]

Amen to the hydro-graphs, but that's way too hard and time consuming "stuff". How about instead of going through the "curve" I just sidestep it and tag along with you since you have it dialed in ?! All joking aside if it was not for USGS graphs I would hook very few steelhead in a season. In  this day and age it is without a doubt one of the top three "must have" items in your arsenal. Something was learned last month in regards to a gauges relevancy which is followed regularly by our "network" of anglers and I think I might just keep it's secret all to myself !