2011 Spring Run Update
Interesting stuff from last weekend...
It appears that the initial push of steelhead from last week was better than we thought; and while overall temps decreased in Lower Shore tribs, two things happened which certainly helped fishing:
First, the stream temps didn't bottom out, which meant that fish which did enter the tribs were quite active despite the snow, wind and cold air temps. Second, discharge decreased despite the storm to very good levels of flow and clarity which was a big change from just a few days prior. Those that adjusted tactics based on stream conditions did very well. Once again carrying a thermometer is critical.
It will be interesting to see the trap numbers once they start coming out. The creel numbers are a great tool for getting a sense of what kinds of numbers are already in the streams, while the trap numbers give you a good sense of the overall stage of the steelhead and kamloops returns.
One item of practical note- We should already be seeing the second push of fish on both the Lower and Mid-North Shore.
At any rate, here is the latest temperature data for the Lower North Shore. We've taken all the individual trib data and averaged it out so it's a little less confusing. The full chart looked like I got out a box of Crayola 64's after drinking an entire 12-pack of barley-pop... The chart depicts the daily average and maximum temps (the blue lines) along with the average and max temps at which steelhead and kamloops begin their initial returns (the red lines). We've also added the Lower Shore Creel numbers along with average daily flow (yellow line) for one Lower Shore index stream. The whole point of these mathematical gymnastics are that as the run progresses, you'll be able to watch how various environmental variables affect both catch rates (creel) as well as the overall timing and/or stage of the run. Keep in mind that the temps are actual, but the flow has been divided by 10 to better show against the temps depicted (Click Chart for Larger Image):
It appears that the initial push of steelhead from last week was better than we thought; and while overall temps decreased in Lower Shore tribs, two things happened which certainly helped fishing:
First, the stream temps didn't bottom out, which meant that fish which did enter the tribs were quite active despite the snow, wind and cold air temps. Second, discharge decreased despite the storm to very good levels of flow and clarity which was a big change from just a few days prior. Those that adjusted tactics based on stream conditions did very well. Once again carrying a thermometer is critical.
It will be interesting to see the trap numbers once they start coming out. The creel numbers are a great tool for getting a sense of what kinds of numbers are already in the streams, while the trap numbers give you a good sense of the overall stage of the steelhead and kamloops returns.
One item of practical note- We should already be seeing the second push of fish on both the Lower and Mid-North Shore.
At any rate, here is the latest temperature data for the Lower North Shore. We've taken all the individual trib data and averaged it out so it's a little less confusing. The full chart looked like I got out a box of Crayola 64's after drinking an entire 12-pack of barley-pop... The chart depicts the daily average and maximum temps (the blue lines) along with the average and max temps at which steelhead and kamloops begin their initial returns (the red lines). We've also added the Lower Shore Creel numbers along with average daily flow (yellow line) for one Lower Shore index stream. The whole point of these mathematical gymnastics are that as the run progresses, you'll be able to watch how various environmental variables affect both catch rates (creel) as well as the overall timing and/or stage of the run. Keep in mind that the temps are actual, but the flow has been divided by 10 to better show against the temps depicted (Click Chart for Larger Image):
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