He commented on my camera and we chatted about photographs of birds. He showed me his camera, a nice little Fuji point & shoot, and he showed me his bird photos.
After chatting, we exchanged emails. He sighed, "You're a fisherman too?"
My email is "rborstfishon@gmail.com" and as we talked about steelhead, he noted that "Five feet at Siletz is the fish level."
Yes, in some places along the picturesque Siletz River, five feet on the rivergauge is fishing water. But where is that water, because the Siletz at Cedar Creek, when the river is five feet, is a bit high.
Reading the water levels, whether it be a "level" or a "flow," is a matter of knowing what level works for a particular stretch of river. On the Alsea River, fifty miles south of the Siletz, I know that if the gauge is at nine feet, I am headed to the North Fork. But five feet on the Alsea, I am fishing the mainstem, probably at Hayden Bridge.
I use the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and their website for river water information. It is up to the minute, expansive, and detailed. It also has the entire history of riverflow information for many rivers. The Alsea information dates back to the early 20th century.
What is important is that you log information, either in your brain or some sort of ledger, a fishing diary. We know when to fish Mill Creek, or Buck Creek, but what do we know about Five Rivers? Since my memory of Five Rivers is etched in a gasping memory of a lost fifty pound salmon, it also has the waterflow data there too. I fish at Five Rivers when the gauge reads 3.5ft and steady.
So here we go, another Steelhead Tips, based on riverflow data. A special thanks to the USGS, for a century of always available river information.
Tip One:
Watch the river levels frequently, especially during peak fishing periods and stretches of heavy rain. The details from the numbers will help teach about the up and down of our Oregon coastal streams.
Tip Two:
On a 3 x 5 index card, note river levels that either you like, or have caught fish in. Keep the card in your tackle. Laminate...Of course!
Moose and Elka on the Siletz.
Tip Three:
Learn how the river acts. Know its tendencies during rainy periods. Prepare yourself to adapt to rain. I cannot count the times that rain has changed the place I ended up fishing. I prepared the night before and rain had other ideas. In those spots, knowing where to go is essential to catching fish.
Tip Four:
Have good raingear. Enough said.
The author, on the Alsea River.
Tip Five:
Be ready to not only adapt where you fish based on river level changes, but be ready to change techniques. One level might fish well for a bobber and jig, but the same water may driftfish better at another level.
Drift Rigs
Tip Six:
Bookmark websites and riverlevel information phone numbers. Keep these in the tackle. Maybe with the favorite river levels, laminated and all.
Tip Seven:
I know you are waiting for a photo of my laminated tips card. It's not happening.
Tip Eight:
Explore. Find water, it is that simple. If the world says the river is too high, go and fish more weight. If they say the river is too low, go fish a copper spinner. Just get off Facebook. Damn, I wish I could.
Tip Nine:
A great way to learn is to pay attention to the weather. Knowing how barometric changes and weather patterns affect rainfall, will help to know what to expect from the river. Some days, it rains one-quarter of an inch, and other days it'll rain an inch. Know what the river will do, before these rains hit.
Alsea at daybreak, the moon setting in the west.
Tip Ten:
Thank-you for not littering. I appreciate it and my kids do too. Thank-you!
Jon Heaton Iphone shot at Siletz, with a released chrome buck steelhead.
Photos COPYRIGHT Ronald Borst, except for Heaton's crappy phone shot of a great fish.
No comments:
Post a Comment