Dam flow rates - '07/'08

[EricM]

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the perceived lack of water flow this fall, so I went back to my logs and discovered that there is a MAJOR difference fron last fall to this fall. This fall they are running a norm of about 8000 cfs at Chickamauga. Last year almost all of October had flows of 32,000 cfs, and in November they commonly ran 48000-52000, and were spilling water through the sluice gates to boot! December showed flows in the mid-teens with occasional bumps to 33000, and January had a lot of 45000 cfs days.

This explains the extremey slow catfishing. I wonder, does it have a positive or a negative impact on the bass and crappie fishing this winter? I know that this time last year I had caught a lot of very big blue cats with 40000 cfs flows while this year it has been extremely spotty at 8000.

Another major plus for the fishing journal! I would never have had this info without it!

 

[WLG]

I remember last year when they were spilling I couldnt get a sinker on big enough to get to the bottom in the main channel. Have you noticed that the water temp is higher this year than last year Eric? If so how much difference?

 

[EricM]

Sorry about the wrong yearsemoRedface it is '06 vs '07. I didn't chart the water temps, there's nothing that can be done about them (like fishing the flow), but I'm reasonably sure the water is warmer this year because of the reduced flow and less cold water is arriving from upstream. Time to develop your logbooks for the start of the new year!

 

[foodsaver]

I was wondering how you knew what the flow was gonna do next year. Maybe we will catch up on our rain a little bit this year and get a little better flow

 

[polo-dog]

I didn't have the numbers to back me up but I knew that the flow was way down on the average. I am glad though that you have that info Eric. I think that there is a very good chance that the fish are doing well but that the fish have repositioned themselves to different spots that are more advantageous with the flow being less. I think that with the lessened flow that the fish are less consistent in their eating habits and are having to search more for bait rather than having the bait come to them. The rain totals will be up again soon I would expect, the upper lakes will fill up and things will be back more towards normal next year. I would expect that there is a good chance that some of the bigger fish have repositioned themselves to spots where there is more consistent flow up river or to intakes to power plants and might be on a tiny bit different spots than they would be with the normal flow because the eddies would be in a little bit different spot. Where is drc when you need him. He usually has the answer to the big catfish question.