Observations in the Glen Canyon reach of Lees Ferry post Experimental Flow 2008

I recently spent two days on the river beginning two days after the experiment concluded. I was surprised at the lack of change in the topography of the river compared to the past two high flow experiments…this time there appeared to be much less erosion of silt banks and the few sand bars that were created were small in comparison to the past two events. There was some sand moved around; most of the existing bars appeared to be smaller while a couple were larger. There was a lot of sand that settled in sections of the river that were previously void of fine sand and several sections that had previously had a great deal of sand covering the bottom of the river were scoured down to gravel. As far as visual changes along the river, there were few and of no significant impact. The water entering the river is not as clear as pre-experiment and has a deeper green tint; I expect that the increased withdrawal might have had a mixing effect in the lake and this should be good as the water appears to be more nutrient rich than pre-experiment.

Prior to the experiment the river contained much less algae than normal which I attribute to the extended drought and two consecutive low runoff years into Lake Powell. This translates into fewer nutrients out flowing into the river and depressed aquatic vegetation. As a result, the scouring effect was less noticeable than prior high flow events. There are long stretches of clean gravel but hopefully the higher flows stirred up and redistributed nutrients and the aquatic vegetation should return quickly.  

Some of the trout have moved from their normal locations but for the most part they appear to have weathered the high flow and are returning to normal behavior. There was quite a lot spawning going on before the high flow and most all the spawning areas that were in use prior to the high flows appear to have been disturbed so it is likely that the eggs were washed away. The good news is that the high flows apparently stimulated the majority of the trout in the river into a spawn. There are fish spawning throughout the river, mostly in deep water up to 30-ft deep. This bodes well for the future as there should be good survival of fry as the redds are at depths that will not be subject to dewatering due to fluctuating flows.

The two days that I spent on the river were with a long time customer who had not been on the river in 15 years. We were spin fishing and this gave me an opportunity to really cover the river, look around, and sample fish from a variety of depths and locations. The 100+ fish that we caught during the two days were all in good physical shape and the vast majority were in spawning mode and colors. I was amazed that the average size of the fish that we caught were much larger than I have seen in many years. The largest that we caught was 21-inches, several were 19-inches, and lots of 18-inch fish. I would guess that we caught more fish 17-in and larger than fish under 17-inches. My customer mentioned to me that he thought that the fish were larger than any time he could remember from his fishing here in the late 80’s or 90’s.

One very important thing that I cannot visually assess is what affects the high flow experiment had on the aquatic food base. Other experimental flows stranded incredible amounts of scuds, worms, and snails on the banks and gravel bars. I looked around and could not find any evidence of mass standings but I did see ducks feeding on something that was left on the sand beaches and I assume they were eating worms and scuds. There are aquatic food base studies being conducted and I’m anxious to see the results. I did see a few midges and blackflys flying about. We will be able to determine soon enough if there was any loss of midges as the seasonal peak midge hatches are due to start in the next week.

So what does all this have to do with fishing? If I were spin fishing I would be up here right now to take advantage of the incredible trout fishing. Most all of our business is based upon fly fishing and I fully expect everything to return to normal soon. It is going to be totally dependent on the midge hatches to prompt the trout to move into the shallow water and riffles to feed on the emerging midges. If we get the expected hatches the trout will move within casting range of wading anglers. If the midge hatches do not occur or are not as prolific as normal the trout will have no reason to move into the shallows and we will be drifting flies out of the boat.  A nice Lees Ferry trout caught immediately following the experimental flow 2008.

Fishing Synopsis and Forecast by Terry Gunn 2/17/08

The Department of the Interior has proposed conducting a high-flow experiment from Glen Canyon Dam.  The proposed experiment is tentatively scheduled to begin on the evening of March 4, when the water will begin ramping up. The water will continue ramping up to 42,000-CFS on March 6. It will stay at this level for 60 hours and begin the down-ramp on the afternoon of March 8. Normal dam operations will begin on March 9. The stated purpose of this experiment is to rebuild beaches in the Grand Canyon, establish back waters that native fish might or might not use, and protect archeological sites in the Grand Canyon.

Despite the fact that I and many others consider this experiment to be a staged political event and a total and complete waste of time, money, and resources, we do not feel that this experiment will have any long lasting negative impacts on the Lees Ferry trout fishery. We have lived through two previous high-flow experiments and we expect everything to return to normal shortly after the high water event. To put this water flow in historical perspective, I first started guiding here at Lees Ferry in 1983 and the water releases from Glen canyon dam were 35,000 to 45,000-cfs every day for more than a year.

Lee Ferry Anglers is not scheduling any fishing trips during the high flows but we will return to normal operations on March 10. Immediately following the last 2 experimental flows, the fish were eager to eat and our customers experienced fishing success that was “off the charts” due to the vast amount of food (scuds and worms) that is stirred up in the higher flow.  We expect the fish to move out of normal spots and congregate in areas where this food is deposited, such as near sand beaches, around corners, and back-eddies. After a few days, the trout will begin moving back into the main channels and riffles to resume normal feeding behavior.

For more details and to see my complete comments go here: http://coloradoriverconservancy.org/

Spring weather has arrived at Lees Ferry and the sun is once again entering the canyon and hitting the river. This is the time of year that the fishing really begins to pick-up. The sun and warmer temperatures stimulate massive midge hatches and the fish in turn, move into the riffles and shallow water to take advantage of the midge smorgasbord. Combine that with the near perfect water flows and this means extraordinary sight-fishing. Our fish are in great shape and everyone is commenting on how much larger the fish are these days compared to years past. Book your spring trip now as our days are booking up fast.

The fish began spawning in early December which is the “normal” time for trout to spawn at Lees Ferry and something that we have not seen in several years. Fishing has been great the last couple of months as a result of these fish moving into the shallow water in the lower stretches of the river. It appears that the spawn has been in deeper water in the upper reaches of the river which is good because the deep water spawn experiences a much higher success rate than the shallow spawners. This all bodes well for the future!

 More good news: the current snow pack in the Colorado River Basin is currently 129% of normal and the outlook is for a continued wet spring. This means that the high flows entering Lake Powell will stir up a tremendous amount of nutrients and redistribute them throughout the lake and at the same time, Lake Powell is projected to rise 50-ft! It will take several months for the nutrient load to make it down-lake and into the river but if it is like 2005 (the last year of above normal snow pack) the river will explode with algae, which is very good for the river, fish, and fishing going forward. This is great timing for the river has a huge population of juvenile trout resulting from last year’s prolific spawn. As these fish begin to reach “fishable” size there will be plenty of food to fuel their growth. One strange phenomenon regarding juvenile fish at Lees Ferry is that once the fry reach 3-in long, they “disappear” until they reach 12-in and then suddenly they reappear and populate normal fishing lies. We’ll be seeing these fish this next fall.

For details on Lake Powell conditions and snow-pack, go here: http://www.water-data.com/

For a real time graphic view of water releases and ramp rates go here: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/uv?09380000

Overall the trout are in great shape and the average size is larger than we have seen in several years. I predict that the size and condition of the fish will continue to improve this spring and summer and we should continue to see great fishing for the remainder of 2008 and into the future. I expect the spring season at Lees Ferry to be even better than last year, which was the best that we have seen in years.

New guides at Lees Ferry Anglers. The last couple of years we have had several long time guide staff move on to bigger and hopefully better things. This year I’m proud to introduce 4 new guides, though new to our organization they are not new to guiding. Luke Blaser, Nick Gibb, Tom Jones, and JD Miller have joined our team. They bring with them a couple of decades of combined guiding experience on various waters around the world, college degrees, and an enthusiasm for guiding that is contagious. I’m proud to introduce these fellows and I’m sure that you will agree that they are a great addition to our team.  

The AZ Game and Fish Department recently detected whirling disease in a small percentage of Lees Ferry trout that were collected for a random sampling. A recent sampling turned up no sign of the disease, which may mean that it was a “one time” exposure, where the disease was not established or that the disease is present but at a very low prevalence.  Anglers should still use caution in cleaning their equipment both before and after they have fished here or in other waters. For more information visit: http://www.whirling-disease.org 

I have had some people that are fishing on their own (unguided) tell me that they are having a difficult time catching fish. The fishing has changed from the peak of 2000 and many people are not adapting to the new conditions. The current fish population is lower than it was in 2000 and there are not fish “everywhere” in the river like there were several years back (this is probably the reason that we are seeing better conditioned and larger fish today). Just because you might have been successful in one spot on the river in the past does not mean that particular spot is always good. There are many times of the year that the water flows, or conditions are not right to hold fish at “famous” spots such as 4 mile or Dam Island. It is often challenging, even for a good guide, to stay on top of where the fish are and what they are eating; but we do have the advantage of spending a lot of time on the water.  

Lake Powell - Glen Canyon Dam - Current Status ­ Feb. 5th, 2008
Glen Canyon Dam Operations
Releases from Glen Canyon Dam in February 2008
will average 10,400 cubic feet per second (cfs)
with a total of 600,000 acre-feet scheduled to be
released for the month. On Mondays through
Fridays in February, daily release fluctuations
due to load following will likely vary between a
low of 8,500 cfs (during late evening and early
morning off-peak hours) to a high of 14,500 cfs
(during daylight and early evening on-peak
hours). On Saturdays and Sundays, release
fluctuations will likely vary between a low of
8,500 cfs to a high of 14,000 cfs.

Upper Colorado River Basin Hydrology
Precipitation in the Upper Colorado River Basin
was 160 percent of average in January 2008. This
was the second month in a row where basin
precipitation was well above normal making up for
a very dry November 2007. Basin wide snowpack was
only 35 percent of average on November 29, 2007,
but has increased steadily during December 2007
and January 2008 to 132% of average on February
4, 2008. The climate outlook over the next 3
months is for near normal precipitation and above normal temperatures.
Inflow to Lake Powell is currently 7,400 cfs
(February 4, 2008). Total unregulated inflow to
Lake Powell so far in water year 2008 (October
through January) is 82 percent of average with
January measured at 83 percent of average.
Forecasted April through July unregulated inflow
to Lake Powell in 2008 is 9.5 million acre-feet,
120 percent of average (February final forecast).
This inflow projection could shift depending upon
climate patterns the remainder of the winter and
into the spring. Typically by February 1st, the
snow accumulation season is about 60% complete.
The current elevation of Lake Powell (February 4,
2008) is 3,590.5 feet, 109.5 feet from full pool
elevation of 3,700 feet. Reservoir storage is
currently 10.87 million acre-feet, or 45 percent
of capacity. The water surface elevation of Lake
Powell is now near its seasonal low. In April,
anticipated snowmelt runoff will cause the water
surface elevation to begin to increase. Under the
current inflow forecast, Lake Powell would reach
a peak elevation of about 3639 feet in July 2008.
The peak elevation for Lake Powell in 2007 was 3,611.7 feet.

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