Some of us have been comparing notes on the river conditions this year. To be honest other than the one high water event last fall the river flows have mostly stayed below average CFS. The weather was awful though in fact this winters weather was just ugly cold windy and wet. We did get a bump in flows about the time the salmon out migration happened which helped as low clear water is to the predators advantage not the fish.

So now we have summer at last which is great but the fish are likely to have a difficult time of it. Flows are already well below average at about half way between record low and average. You can take a look at it here https://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/rfc/. How much of an effect it will have on the juvenile rearing areas is yet to be seen but just normal rainfall from this point on means trouble for the fish.

I imagine if the extended weather forecast holds one should be prepared for the usual panic on flows in Sept. and fishing. One should keep in mind that the low flows have little effect on adults other than slowing upstream movement unless it does not rain in the first part of Nov then it can create difficulties for the returning adults.

So I imagine it will be the usual routine and inland fishers will want the Sept rain river bounce bring the adults upstream. Tidewater and bay will want not to have a river bounce but the fish will do what they want as the massive early movement last year showed us.

All that said one should be prepared for the usual fire drill over flows out of Olympia such as last year. The reality is for the juveniles in the rearing areas this summer looks to be just plain difficult. For the fall returning adults it will be most likely just business as usual unless it does not rain at the end of Oct. or first week of Nov. Now what all the government agencies do should be interesting to say the least!