It seems as time goes on, the rivers get muddied up and go out faster than ever. We have had a good day and night of rain, but nothing that out of the ordinary. A pic of the Skagit, from 5:30 tonight, is below, showing the results:



A lot of fish are sucking mud right now. Can't be pleasant for them. Fortunately, the Baker is running so there is a few feet of clean water they can breath in. (Note the thin line of green running on the far bank).

We often think of preserving fish habitat by limiting development in and around the river area. I believe that, in and of itself, is a great thing. I also suspect that the development that goes on within miles of the river has an equal or worse impact. The worst of these is clear-cut logging.

I don't disagree that clear-cutting is healthy for the forests, but it sure doesn't help the watershed habitat! The more they cut, the less soil and foilage there is to hold the water..ergo it runs to the nearest stream, into the next tributary and eventually into the large river supporting the area.

Maybe it's just me, but are the rivers going out faster then they historically have, and, more important, is there anything we can do about it??

Mike

This type of change in hydrology has been playing itself out up and down the west coast for decades. An old river guide in a famous valley I fish every year said it best we he said, "it's the same amount of water, but the highs are higher and the lows are lower."

As far as us doing something about it, good luck. Big money and politcs have seen to it that the laws are "harvest freindly."

I've been fishing these rivers for close to 40 years now, and I agree with this. You can add that they muddy faster and clear slower. This is hardly surprising - trees both slow the rate of the rain into the rivers, and stabilze the hills so the soil doesn't come in.

But, people gotta live somewhere, and we build houses out of trees. Guess we're going to have to live with it.

Saw some big silvers rolling out in that mud today...

Don't forget about all the mud still making its way downstream from last years major Sauk/Skagit floods. It will take years to flush that out.

Plus with near drought summer conditions the last few years the ground doesn't hold the water.

The river has dropped a couple feet overnight, but still quite muddy. Rains predicted this week will likely keep it that way...unless it gets real cold..:-)

It's down to 18,600 C.F.S and just above 19'. In my limited experience, I've found it fishes best (below Rockport) at about 16' and 11,000 C.F.S. Hopefully we'll see some more normal flows by the end of Sept. and NOT another flood this year.

Mike

Mike,

Logging, and, particularly, logging roads are a major culprit in this regard. The hydrology has been changed for a long term, permanently if present management continues.

The river went out because you got a lot of rain (check how many inches for stations around Mt. Baker, etc.) since Thursday. It was the first heavy rain of the autumn season, saturating the water table, and mobilizing a lot of dry and loose particulates that cause turbidity. The same amount of rain a month from now probably won't result in quite so much color.

The fish are used to this stuff. It won't hurt 'em. The fine sediments are much harder on incubating eggs. It collects around the eggs, deprives them of oxygen, and smothers them.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Salmo,

We had some heavy rain 2-3 weeks ago..so while this isn't the first of the year, but the end results were the same. Muddy water and high CFS.

I agree on the logging roads, hence my comment in the OP. If the muddy waters aren't harming the fish, then I really won't worry much about it.

It does, however, make it tough for the fishies to see our offerings! (Ain't gonna keep me from trying, all the same.. )

Mike

every year the first big rains, bring down all of the crap, thats been growing all summer, and they seem to stay dirtier longer at first but by nov-dec they will hold more water and keep better vis- just my observation in years past!!