Some folks have expressed concern over the dry conditions and the effect of the low flows on this falls salmon seasons. The low flows can and will have a dramatic effect on the juvenile rearing areas for trout, Steelhead and Coho. This normal as the conditions be it a wet year or dry year do have a substantial effect on juvenile survival to smolt.

As to returning salmon adults not much. The Chehalis tidal reach is nearly 20 miles long and the adults will simply stage up in those areas and slowly work their way upstream but most will hold simply waiting for rain. If we do not have substantial rainfall by the 3rd week of November then things get a little dicey for Chinook as they tend to spawn lower down the river making the redds subject to scouring.

So it works like this. If you fish South Monte down you do not want it to rain before October 15th and ideally first week of November. South Elma down you want a good rain bump ( no brown out ) which moves the fishes staging areas upstream to this reach. If your a trib fisher the sooner it the rains produce a brown out the better you are.

The fish react to the flows always but they do not spawn until November so water conditions simply move them upstream to stage up. You can have the Satsop full of fish to a couple of miles above Schafer Park and nothing at Bingham Hatchery until serous rains. Last year the rains were early and as luck would have it in the two week conservation shut down for fishing a huge portion of the run went right through the tidal water to over twenty miles upstream. Great for East County fishers, really sucked for tidal fishers.

It is all about when and how much it rains as who gets the bonanza and who gets the shaft. Mother nature is fickle!


Edited by Rivrguy (09/05/19 09:56 AM)
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Dazed and confused.............the fog is closing in