Rains early has two different meanings. In August through first two weeks of Oct it is about a rain event that has enough volume to move the fish inland to stage up. For years the Coho hung out around South Monte but with the Sept rains they have been much farther inland. This is not unusual as we have always had dry or wet summers thus the old saying you do not cut hay before the 4th of July. In the 70's there were years that the woods were locked down to nearly Nov due to the low fuel moisture ( dry conditions ). Dry years the fish hang out low in the watershed and bay and sometimes don't come across the bar to way late. Wet years 100% the opposite and it almost always rains enough to blow out the river in the first week or so of November and that puts and end to bay and tidewater fisheries because of muddy water. The upper basin fisheries do not kick in until the Nov rains which is why the Coho returns differ substantially to the tide water tribs run timing below Fuller Hill. In the 90's dry years it did not rain until late and there was one year that the Normal Timed Coho did not make it past Schafer Park until the third week of Nov. Great fishing tide water and it totally sucked inland. We were broodstocking the Chehalis and the numbers of fish moving was one / two Coho some Chinook maybe a Chum. It started raining and I got the call to get up to the site and it was mayhem. The tribal fishers had pulled the tangle nets, grabbed a pole and 3 to a boat were C&R fish. I mean it was a stampede as we went from a few fish to fish everywhere in about 4 hours on the rise at Porter. The Chehalis is a rain driven watershed and fish, game, birds just everything revolves around when and how much it rains. Oh the kicker, the rain is NEVER the same and always screws some of us and benefits others.

Weather is never static but goes in cycles and can be as long as 15000 years for Sahara rains driven by the planets orbit of the sun and the planets tilt on it's axis to just a few years for Pacific Coast conditions which are driven by the ocean conditions. Just do a search " when did the last ice age end " and you will find it hasn't yet and we are still in a warming cycle.

The difference now than the 50's, 60's or 70's is where and how we fish and the number of fishers. More Recs less Non treaty commercial more tribal.