Hydrometric data for River Levels and Flow

[splashhopper]

For any of the new fishermen on this board that are not aware of this service, you can check the water levels of the river you want to fish. You may save yourself some time and decide to go to another river depending on water levels.

 

http://www.wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/text_search/search_e.html

[Roy]

Thanks for the link, Ron, but I'm thinking that most newbies will have no idea what any of this means nor how it relates to their particular situation. In fact, I'm not so sure that even seasoned fisherfolks fully understand (nor do they care) the effects of water levels...including myself of course.

But it is another piece of the puzzle so thanks.

[splashhopper]

Thanks for the link, Ron, but I'm thinking that most newbies will have no idea what any of this means nor how it relates to their particular situation. In fact, I'm not so sure that even seasoned fisherfolks fully understand (nor do they care) the effects of water levels...including myself of course.

But it is another piece of the puzzle so thanks.

 

As a guy that can't afford to drive two hours, each way every weekend right now, to go to my favorite rivers for rainbows I can use this tool to look at the water levels in the river.

 

If the levels are low or are trending low I know from the past few years of fishing these rivers not to bother.

 

This gives me the opportunity to "scout/fish" rivers and lakes closer to home and possibly learn a new place to fish or a different species to target in late seasons that i don't usually fish for them ( see bass and pike).

[Roy]

I guess you're right Ron...I don't know what I was thinking.

[Rod Caster]

Cool stuff huh? The government gets some things right!

As an enviro tech I find this type of graphing and data collection very interesting. You gotta love being able to graph a whole year of flows in 3 seconds. Good job to the people doing this work.

 

Thanks for the link, I'll be playing on this site for the next hour.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

when i check my local river it tells me how other rivers on superior is fishing... pretty valuable info if you ask me...

[splashhopper]

Glad you guys liked the link

[BillM]

Using this + The Weather Network = a successful day on the river.

[solopaddler]

Thanks for the link, Ron, but I'm thinking that most newbies will have no idea what any of this means nor how it relates to their particular situation. In fact, I'm not so sure that even seasoned fisherfolks fully understand (nor do they care) the effects of water levels...including myself of course.

But it is another piece of the puzzle so thanks.

 

The USGS has a similar site that shows the water flow of their rivers in real time.

 

Most steelheaders have been using these websites for years.

 

It's without a doubt the singlehanded most valuable resource that's available to a steelheadeder.

 

Of course you need some kind of yardstick to measure what you're seeing on the graph against.

 

Once you've got that you're golden.

 

The "yardstick" comes with trips to a particular river and note taking (what the rivers height is, flow in CFS, and clarity was that day)

[splashhopper]

The USGS has a similar site that shows the water flow of their rivers in real time.

 

Most steelheaders have been using these websites for years.

 

It's without a doubt the singlehanded most valuable resource that's available to a steelheadeder.

 

Of course you need some kind of yardstick to measure what you're seeing on the graph against.

 

Once you've got that you're golden.

 

The "yardstick" comes with trips to a particular river and note taking (what the rivers height is, flow in CFS, and clarity was that day)

 

 

You got it solo

 

do u have a link for the USGS site too ?

[torco]

Have been fishing rivers for a long time now. This will save me time on whether its worth the drive to a certain river.

 

Thanks for the link.

[Dutchy]

Of course you need some kind of yardstick to measure what you're seeing on the graph against.

 

I concur. Like you said once you have that yardstick, the hydrometric graph saves alot of wasted trips, particularly to smaller rivers like the Bayfield.

[OhioFisherman]

There is actually a program shown on the history channel about the formation of the Great Lakes and also mentions Lake Nip. According to the program after thousands of years with a mile of ice sitting on top of the area the land is still rebounding to it original height? I guess around 1 inch per year or something in that area.

 

 

As water levels drop and more weight is removed the land may rise faster.

[dave524]

 

Of course you need some kind of yardstick to measure what you're seeing on the graph against.

 

Once you've got that you're golden.

 

 

Always found the first day it drops to fishable levels after a heavy rain is the best day to hit it, best friend a steelheader has is a boss or job that allows you to be flexible.

[solopaddler]

Always found the first day it drops to fishable levels after a heavy rain is the best day to hit it

 

Yes but every river clears at a different rate and you can now tell exactly when each river will be prime from the comfort of your home.

 

Takes all the guesswork out.

[MJL]

That web-site is so overrated

 

I have river cams on EVERY river in Ontario with temperature and depth gauges . For a low price of $600,000 per year (because everyone knows I can't offer it at this price forever), I'll open up subscriptions to OFC members so that subscribers truly get real time video, pictures and data of the rivers before they leave home

 

That web-site doesn't take into account ice build up, water clarity, the number of other anglers on the water or stocks of steelhead currently in the system (I also have underwater cams and digital laser fish counters at all the prime pools too)

 

$600,000 is a 'steel' for what you get...This product and/or service is MJL approved

[splashhopper]

pretty funny MJL

[singingdog]

I have been using that site since it went public a few years ago. One thing most folks may not know is that you can look up incredibly detailed historic data for rivers. If you have trip notes from past trips, and want to correlate them with the flow and the trend, you can look that up quite easily.

 

If, for example, you had a great day 2 years ago on Oct 19 but didn't look up the flow or trend, you can go to the graph for the river you were fishing. Just below the graph is a set of fields "modify graph settings". If you change the dates, it will show you a graph for that time period: very handy for noting what was happening on that "magic day".

 

If you want info for further back than 1-2 years, then you have to change the the uppermost field - "data category" - from "real time" to "historical". Using that feature, you can look up levels and trends as far back as the gauge has been functioning, which can be 40 years or more.

[splashhopper]

I have been using that site since it went public a few years ago. One thing most folks may not know is that you can look up incredibly detailed historic data for rivers. If you have trip notes from past trips, and want to correlate them with the flow and the trend, you can look that up quite easily.

 

If, for example, you had a great day 2 years ago on Oct 19 but didn't look up the flow or trend, you can go to the graph for the river you were fishing. Just below the graph is a set of fields "modify graph settings". If you change the dates, it will show you a graph for that time period: very handy for noting what was happening on that "magic day".

 

If you want info for further back than 1-2 years, then you have to change the the uppermost field - "data category" - from "real time" to "historical". Using that feature, you can look up levels and trends as far back as the gauge has been functioning, which can be 40 years or more.

 

Never thought of doing that... thanks for the tip