A quick dash to the lower river to see if anyone was home. Water was low, 175cfs, about half of what it normally is this time of year, and felt like it was in the 60s. (Brief editorial: I must confess the logic behind water releases from the dam often escapes me. If periods of drought are the new norm, and September and October are traditionally low water periods, why run 300+cfs from the dam from April through July? Would we have more water now if they only ran 250 or even 200cfs all those months? What am I missing here?)
To the fishing: I swung wets in two runs for about 15 minutes each and came up with two customers, a nice 11″ wild brown and a much bigger, recently stocked rainbow. Both fish took the top dropper, a Squirrel and Ginger caddis. Lots of bug activity (caddis, midges) but nothing rising to it.
You are not missing anything IMO, would make sense to save when you have water for when you need it most.
Mike
I don’t get it. Once that water’s gone, it’s gone.
Great idea Steve. Maybe someone should tell MDC.
Unfortunately water mismanagement is not only a thing of the west, its reality on many tailwaters across the country.