Fuel

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Zackery Shaff on June 2, 2010 at 4:43pm

I understand gauge height is different than actual and it varies depending upon where you are, but that is a huge depth swing for such a large body of water for that time frame. I have lived in the Tri-Cities all of my life and have never seen such a drastic change in a matter of hours. Sometimes they do that overnight, but I'm not sure if I've seen 4-5 ft change ever. Now, the water did drop, and it dropped fast, but where I was (lower reach) it was about 2 feet.

Josh Potter said:

Sereiously? Don't be a dork Zackery. I wasn't talking about the gauge height. My observation of 4-5 feet was based on a gravel bar that was 2 feet deep when I drifted over it and more than 2 feet exposed when I came back out. The nerds at the dams measure things in nerd way. I suppose I could have stated the actual drop in gauge height or cfs but that wouldn't have meant crap to the guy that asked the question.Guage height and cfs are relevant if you have a frame of referrence but if you don't it is statistical bs.

Zackery Shaff said:

Are you sure? 4-5 feet? The guys at priest rapids seem to disagree.

Josh Potter said:

It is more of a question of the water level this afternoon than this time of year. We watched the water level drop 4-5 feet in a matter of hours on Friday. I am no expert on the reach but from the 2 trips I have been up there I would suggest either going with somone that has run it or go with 2 boats just in case.

I now have a low water gps track to follow (thanks to the guy with the 80 gallon gas tank). I don't want to make it sound like it is some sort of demon but it is a little scary in a few stretches. There were some places you would have been fine on the trip up and screwed if you took the same track down. The current is unbelievably strong when they are dumping it and that makes things a little weird sometimes. You really have to pay attention to how you enter places because of the current. I got a little lazy Friday and didn't get right on the trolling motor after coming off of power and drifted over a rock bar that was less than 2 feet deep and it all happened in a matter of seconds. I remember guys telling me how dangerous the South end of Banks could be....that is a cream puff IMHO comapred to the Reach.

bogey4444 said:

So how difficult is the run up to Hanford this time of year/water level? I have never run up there myself but would really like to go check it out.

Permalink Reply by Ben Hanes on June 2, 2010 at 5:30pm

Zachary....The further up you go the bigger the difference is...It's crazy. The lower river you hardly notice anything.

Permalink Reply by Ben Hanes on June 2, 2010 at 5:32pm

It is hard to navigate the main river and the sloughs in the Reach. Water levels can really affect the routes you can take, and unlike you might think, that dotted line on your Lowrance GPS unit only marks the county line, NOT THE CHANNEL. I speak from experience. The worst part about water flows is that you can literally get yourself stuck. If you get into a slough and start fishing, and they decide to drop the water, guess what? Been there done that too.

Permalink Reply by Josh Potter on June 2, 2010 at 7:55pm

If you haven't fished above Ringold this time of year you can't have an opinion. Get out of town, go upriver and fish for a day this week...be honest about your observations...go look at your USGA graphs...then come back and argue your point.

Zackery Shaff said:

I understand gauge height is different than actual and it varies depending upon where you are, but that is a huge depth swing for such a large body of water for that time frame. I have lived in the Tri-Cities all of my life and have never seen such a drastic change in a matter of hours. Sometimes they do that overnight, but I'm not sure if I've seen 4-5 ft change ever. Now, the water did drop, and it dropped fast, but where I was (lower reach) it was about 2 feet.

Josh Potter said:

Sereiously? Don't be a dork Zackery. I wasn't talking about the gauge height. My observation of 4-5 feet was based on a gravel bar that was 2 feet deep when I drifted over it and more than 2 feet exposed when I came back out. The nerds at the dams measure things in nerd way. I suppose I could have stated the actual drop in gauge height or cfs but that wouldn't have meant crap to the guy that asked the question.Guage height and cfs are relevant if you have a frame of referrence but if you don't it is statistical bs.

Zackery Shaff said:

Are you sure? 4-5 feet? The guys at priest rapids seem to disagree.

Josh Potter said:

It is more of a question of the water level this afternoon than this time of year. We watched the water level drop 4-5 feet in a matter of hours on Friday. I am no expert on the reach but from the 2 trips I have been up there I would suggest either going with somone that has run it or go with 2 boats just in case.

I now have a low water gps track to follow (thanks to the guy with the 80 gallon gas tank). I don't want to make it sound like it is some sort of demon but it is a little scary in a few stretches. There were some places you would have been fine on the trip up and screwed if you took the same track down. The current is unbelievably strong when they are dumping it and that makes things a little weird sometimes. You really have to pay attention to how you enter places because of the current. I got a little lazy Friday and didn't get right on the trolling motor after coming off of power and drifted over a rock bar that was less than 2 feet deep and it all happened in a matter of seconds. I remember guys telling me how dangerous the South end of Banks could be....that is a cream puff IMHO comapred to the Reach.

bogey4444 said:

So how difficult is the run up to Hanford this time of year/water level? I have never run up there myself but would really like to go check it out.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Grimes on June 2, 2010 at 8:16pm

Lol.....

Josh Potter said:

If you haven't fished above Ringold this time of year you can't have an opinion. Get out of town, go upriver and fish for a day this week...be honest about your observations...go look at your USGA graphs...then come back and argue your point.

Zackery Shaff said:

I understand gauge height is different than actual and it varies depending upon where you are, but that is a huge depth swing for such a large body of water for that time frame. I have lived in the Tri-Cities all of my life and have never seen such a drastic change in a matter of hours. Sometimes they do that overnight, but I'm not sure if I've seen 4-5 ft change ever. Now, the water did drop, and it dropped fast, but where I was (lower reach) it was about 2 feet.

Josh Potter said:

Sereiously? Don't be a dork Zackery. I wasn't talking about the gauge height. My observation of 4-5 feet was based on a gravel bar that was 2 feet deep when I drifted over it and more than 2 feet exposed when I came back out. The nerds at the dams measure things in nerd way. I suppose I could have stated the actual drop in gauge height or cfs but that wouldn't have meant crap to the guy that asked the question.Guage height and cfs are relevant if you have a frame of referrence but if you don't it is statistical bs.

Zackery Shaff said:

Are you sure? 4-5 feet? The guys at priest rapids seem to disagree.

Josh Potter said:

It is more of a question of the water level this afternoon than this time of year. We watched the water level drop 4-5 feet in a matter of hours on Friday. I am no expert on the reach but from the 2 trips I have been up there I would suggest either going with somone that has run it or go with 2 boats just in case.

I now have a low water gps track to follow (thanks to the guy with the 80 gallon gas tank). I don't want to make it sound like it is some sort of demon but it is a little scary in a few stretches. There were some places you would have been fine on the trip up and screwed if you took the same track down. The current is unbelievably strong when they are dumping it and that makes things a little weird sometimes. You really have to pay attention to how you enter places because of the current. I got a little lazy Friday and didn't get right on the trolling motor after coming off of power and drifted over a rock bar that was less than 2 feet deep and it all happened in a matter of seconds. I remember guys telling me how dangerous the South end of Banks could be....that is a cream puff IMHO comapred to the Reach.

bogey4444 said:

So how difficult is the run up to Hanford this time of year/water level? I have never run up there myself but would really like to go check it out.

Permalink Reply by Misanthrope on June 3, 2010 at 8:36am

I think the "no politics" is talking about stuff like bickering between Muskie clubs and things like that.
I didn't really mean it as a LOL joke but more as a commentary on how our current President is violating the will of the people and ramrodding his social agendas down our throats.
That should invoke some imagery you are familiar with gimp.

Jake "The Snake" Anderson said:

If you look at Jordan's intro on the main page, it says no politics. It also says no bashing, so unfortunately I can't rip you for how lame that joke was.

Carry on.

PigPuller said:

By the time we are done with Obamacare the whole country will have wished they went right instead of left.

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on June 4, 2010 at 7:55am

Pigpuller,

I expected this kind of mediocrity.
PigPuller said:

I think the "no politics" is talking about stuff like bickering between Muskie clubs and things like that.
I didn't really mean it as a LOL joke but more as a commentary on how our current President is violating the will of the people and ramrodding his social agendas down our throats.
That should invoke some imagery you are familiar with gimp.
/body>

Permalink Reply by bogey4444 on June 4, 2010 at 8:31am

Josh,
Thanks for your straight forward answer.

Josh Potter said:

It is both getting up there and getting in the sloughs. I have never been past Ferry landing slough and from what I have heard it gets even uglier from their. Ferry landing is the only one that is straight forward as far entry. The others I have been in have some sort of danger you have to be aware of.

I think the part that makes it different from a lake with a lot of nasty stuff is that picking your way through the scary stuff on your trolling motor is not an option. The current is just to heavy for your trolling motor. You may be able to move left and right with the trolling motor but you are not moving forward with it.

bogey4444 said:

Is it the getting there or getting in the slews thats the hardest?

Ben Hanes said:

I have been running the Reach for years now and it isn't a cake walk. It's dangerous on a bass boat. One of the worst parts is getting where the fish are. You have to respect that water or else you'll screw yourself.

bogey4444 said:

So how difficult is the run up to Hanford this time of year/water level? I have never run up there myself but would really like to go check it out.

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