West Branch cfs/wading

[Eagle Claw]

I have held back on visiting the West Branch on weekends with the flows of 1100-1200 cfs due to what I perceive to be difficult and possibly dangerous wading conditions. Is my assumption correct or am I missing out on some great fishing.

 

[Fly Tier]

EC,
at 1200 CFS, there are some wadeable spots on the WB and some that are not. All depends where you go. When water is a bit high, a good number of fish will move into the banks. If the west is too high, you can always look at the East Branch. If the East isnt too high when the west is, the mainstem is wadeable in spots as well.

As with all wading, eveyone must be careful.

 

[dcabarle]

EC... It kills me when a place like Catskill flies tells people to stay home because the WB Cannot be waded at 1200. There are certain areas that can easily be waded at 2500. At 2500, you'll be around or below your waste. You should be careful, but wading will be comfortable.

Don't bother trying to wade Hale Eddy when it's that high though, you'll kill yourself! Anyhow, the gamelands is only 1 of the few places that you can safely wade at 2500.

 

[Fly Tier]

You sure about that DC? 2500? I wouldn't suggest anyone wading at that level. I think Catskill flies is doing the right thing by saying to stay home. I think the WBA even says stay home at that level if you want to wade. I would think at 2500 the water would be pretty off color as well and you may be dry wading along the bank dragging streamers.

 

[dcabarle]

I've done it before at that level while watching guides get out of their drift boats with clients to wade at that level in certain areas. I know of one area when at that level, you can carefully walk across and the water will only be at most, waist high.

I'm not telling anyone here to go wading in dangerous conditions, but in some areas, I personally don't consider 2500 dangerous.

(This does not apply to midgets or children)

 

[Eagle Claw]

I apreciate the info, however lets not knock Catskill Flies for their HONEST opinions, a place that depends on business for a livelihood from fisherman that tells you the water is too warm, too high,too dirty and fishing is only fair has nothing to gain from honest (tell it like it is opinions).Many fly shops in certain areas say the fishing is always good, come on up (with a full wallet). I applaud Catskill Flies for honest info and buy there to show my apreciation. Also, I dont recall Catskill Flies every saying to stay away from the WB at 1200 cfs , thats my choice based on my perception of what is fishable, in fact that opinion was derived from another area outfitter who describes wading conditions at various cfs.

 

[emerger]

Personally I prefer a flow of 1000 cfs and have waded and caught fish at 1600 cfs. With higher flows there are always fish near the bank and getting a cast to the middle of the river just isn't necessary. Like the guys at Border Waters say "big water=big fish" and I agree.

 

[Eagle Claw]

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense and seems to be a safe way to handle high water and still get out to fish. Too bad I passed up so many weekends with high flows on the WB.

 

[Big_Spinner]

Hi,

I think you will be much more comfortable wading in the 400 - 800 range. Below 400 it is easier to move around, but you also increase the risk of a fall doing more damage. The fish start to look for deeper pools and you can usually find fish more easily.

While wading is certainly possible above 800. I think generally the areas that are safe to wade, as the river goes above 800 and then above 1200, become less accessible and smaller. I would never let clients wade unattended above 1200 or so except in a couple of limited areas. Usually above 1000 I have a waders optional policy in the boat. Above 1000 I can maneuver the boat into perfect position to cast to a rising fish and also as we float the river it is easy to cast streamers to the banks. This is especially nice when the the air temperatures are over 85-90 degrees!

Most people like a combination of wading and flishing from the boat during a day of guided fishing. It is nice to get out and work a group of fish without a guide hovering or a buddy telling you how to make the cast!

Come up at about any level, if the WB is too high, the mainstem or the East Branch is almost certainly wadeable. In general, most of the shops do a pretty nice job of pointing you in the right direction as far as wading and hatches are concerned.

Jim

 

[jmoser]

Jim is correct here - err on the side of caution, its only a fish after all!

Unless you are EXPERT in the SPECIFIC area you are wading, the WB above 1000 can be tough to wade. I bought one of the CO2 inflatable belt pack PFDs for when I am wading alone anywhere; I slipped on a flat rock in knee deep water when the WB was 700 this May, dropped like a rock before I knew what was happening, almost broke a finger and could have easily sprained/broken an ankle, kneecap, etc.

On any river in waist deep water you can easily get swept away with even mild current - people forget about the bouyancy force that greatly reduces the traction your feet have on the river bottom. Water weighs >64 lbs per cubic ft, a grown man is easily displacing ~100 lbs of upward bouyancy when he is in over his waist [some more than others . . .]

The WB is almost all rocks; I would want carbide cleats on my feet above 900 fps in addition to the inflatable.

Also remember that the flow rate is NOT the water level, going from 500 - 1000 cfs does NOT mean the water is twice as high. A small increase in water level makes a large increase in current flow speed [water runs downhill, remember?]

Study the online Hale Eddy gage height [ft] vs. flow rate [cfs] and you will see that the current is what you are facing when wading at 1000, not the depth necessarily. Just because it is still thigh high does not mean it is safe, the current can wipe you right out if it is fast enough. Every spot on the river is different, you need to be sure of your specific area before going in.

Also please remember that cold rivers are especially dangerous - easy to get hypothermic in 56 deg. water.

Not trying to scare anyone off, just use caution and common sense. There is still 1 body missing in the WB and that is enough.

 

[dcabarle]

Very useful post. Just a question about the missing body. Is this body one of two that got swept away during the flooding? Aparaently 2 guys tried crossing the river in their car / van and they both got swept away.

As long as you're careful, you shouldn't have any problems. The Gamelands area at 900cfs is about knee deep in many areas.

 

[NJFred]

I agree that there a fiar number of good spots in the WBD at 1500 CRS. The key is not to wade in a spot at any flow rate if too deep in the wrong place! What's key is that you spend the time on the river to find safe wadable spots and you watch that you don't get yourself in a difficult spot.

Heck... one of the dumbest things I've ever done wading could of drowned me in 1 ft of water. Tripped over a rock in the dark and fell absolutly flat on my face in the water. If my forhead hit a rock and knocked me out it would have been all over.

The key therefore is to wade safely or not at all. My two cents.

 

[C&R]

I waded the WB yesterday (9/1, 11am-730pm) with Sstasiak (report to be posted later today) and it was running a steady 400 cfs at the PA Gamelands (judging by the Hale Eddy gage report). This being my first time there, and first time ever fishing a tailwater, I was quite surprised at even how strong that current can be. I thought it would be a cakewalk and even considered postponing the trip. Granted there was more ankle and knee deep water than waist high water, I still felt I had to be very careful when working deep pools like Oil Derrick pool and some of the riffs just downstream of Junction Pool. The really hard part about wading the WB I found was walking great lengths upstream from public access points to find a spot to fish that isn't taken, or when fishing downstream from an access point the tough walk back against the current after an hour and a half of fishing. My legs were jello by the end of the day.

 

[Big_Spinner]

The two fellows that drowned in April attempted to take the bypass for the low underpass in Deposit. This takes them around firemans park on Oquaga Creek. Today Oquaga Creek is flowing at 5 cfs, in April it was over 7000 cfs.

Their van stalled in 3 feet of water. No one is sure what happened next. Rescue workers were on the scene in 20 minutes and the van had been swept under a bridge. There was a dog in the car, but no people. It is unclear whether they tried to get out and walk to dry land or were swept under the bridge and tried to escape at that time.

One body was recovered above the Hale Eddy bridge. The second body has still not been recovered.

Never drive through standing water.

Jim

 

[Lone Ranger]

Dennis,

I agree with you 100%!

The WB can be waded at levels up to 2500 cfs.I know since I have done it many times.

However it should be known that this should be done by experienced wade fisherman who fish big rivers as well as guys who know the pools they are fishing!

 

[Eagle Claw]

I would not even want to be standing on the edge of the bank at that flow, never mind in the water, one slip and you are history, where you are standing and where you wind up are two different things,its nuts, they are only fish. It's like saying you have handled hurricanes in the past and not evacuating. In this case saying, I have handled high water in the past and aint getting out.

 

[Lone Ranger]

I forgot to mention its just not fishing the banks but the tail outs as well.

 

[rford]

Dont Wade ever its dangerous!

its better for me from a Drift Boat.

 

[dcabarle]

One of the spots I was fishing this past Saturday while the water was running at 880cfs+, I was able to wade from one side to the other while only getting my knees wet towards the middle of the river. A bit further downstream and the water was midway between my ankles and knees. Further upstream, I'd probably be up to my chest. It just depends on where you're fishing.

When this area is 2500, sure you have to be a bit more careful, but you can certainly wade it fairly easily.

Someone else mentioned above that CFS and water levels are different. When you know a river, you can associate various CFS with a water level. Because I'm more familiar with the D now than I was just 4 or 5 seasons ago, I pretty know where I'm going to be able to fish at a various CFS. It really does help to float the river a few times so you know where you can and can't go.

Here is a photo of one of my favorite spots on the WB. This was taken Saturday when the river was running around 880cfs. As you can see, the water is a little over ankle deep in this photo and I'm probably 30 feet into the river.

****CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE****

 

[Fly Tier]

Dennis,
Sat, waters, from what I remember, did not get much above 750CFS on the west, according to Hale Eddy. Sunday they were bumped to the 880ish mark. Waters would have been about 4 inches higher than your knee caps on Sunday if you waded. At 2500 CFS, it would have been somewhere mid chest and moving much faster. That particular spot that was at your knees on Saturday would not be so "easily" waded at 2500 CFS.

 

[dcabarle]

Friday I checked and they said they would be releasing 551 at 12:00am on Saturday (I think). I stopped in Border Water and COZ mentioned that they bumped it up to 980 or so, that' what I was going by, so I could be off by 100 cfs. I doubt that would have made much of an impact in the area I was fishing. As I've said, this area is wadeable at 2500. Now if you have two left feet or you're over 60 and your legs are frail and wobbly, you might want to reconsider. When you get in the river and you feel like you just drank a bottle of wine, you also may want to reconsider. It hasn't been a problem for me in the past, and I'm positive that quite a few people here can handle it.

 

[millrun]

EC: The WB is very wadeable at the current cfs. However, the water is off color and full of agae which I understand to be a function of the water level of the Cannonville dam. It would be more advisable to fish the lower WB or the main branch.