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?Making sense of the numbers?


SDB777

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Was wondering if anyone could point me to a place where I could make sense about the numbers from swpa website? Would really like to know what the numbers mean as far as being able to wade in...or better yet, which number indicates that it is not wade able?

Think I've clicked/checked out every link on the swpa website, and there really is nothing about it.

Scott (little help) B

No high priced fly gear here!

If you're ever looking for a custom duck call.....give me a shout!

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I pinned this topic

Should help you out.

Any other explanations- just add them to the pinned topic.

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Phil, I looked over the entire 3 pages of that linked topic. Saw a bunch of talk about minimum flow, too much flow or whatnot. But it doesn't really answer the question.

Today for instance, the swpa is showing 190 for tailwater at Bull Shoals dam and 80 for tailwater at Norfolk dam. If you scroll down that page it states that Bull Shoals total could be as high as 391(8units) and Norfolk total could be as high as 92(2units). I guess if I lived close enough to walk over and look in the river I could eventually be able to build a 'graph' to say that 190 is wade able in spots, 120 is wade able in more and 200+ means I'm looking for my gear in Mississippi....but I'm three hours away.

I can say that Greer Ferry tailwater at 30/48 is not wade able, as those numbers mean roughly 3 to 4-1/2 feet of extra water blasting down stream.

Scott (boats are money pits) B

No high priced fly gear here!

If you're ever looking for a custom duck call.....give me a shout!

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I believe its more useful to look at flow rate, instead of megawatts, when looking at wadeability.

I have always felt 0 - 2000 cfs is "wadeable" meaning can stand in water up to my waist and fish and move around in water thats flowing that much. This applies to ANY moving water. But even then, usually I'm going to be standing in water no more than knee deep and fishing into deeper water.

2000 - 4000 is wadable if I'm in just up to the shins, or more likely fishing from the bank or islands. Any more flow than that your lure/fly is moving so fast you don't get much of a presentation. Above 4000 cfs its time to fish from the boat.

The formula is 66 cfs per mwh on the White (26000 / 391.) So today's 190 mwh = 12,540 cfs. No way you can wade on that.

Learn to think in terms of flow rate, it is useful for any river, anywhere.

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The cfs is relative to the stream depth and width is it not? At 2000 cfs the arkansas river is a trickle. My creek on the other hand will be washing out cut banks.

The levels you mentioned are unwadable on both rivers. Norfork requires zero generation to really wade. Most good shoals on the white are probably too high above one or two units with the caveat that you can almost always boat to some was able water.

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There is no substitute for personal experience. One spot will be wadable at x generation but not at y. Multiply by the number of spots and possible levels of generation.

There is just no simple graph that will tell you what any river is like at any level, especially when it comes to wade fishing.

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There is no substitute for personal experience. One spot will be wadable at x generation but not at y. Multiply by the number of spots and possible levels of generation.

There is just no simple graph that will tell you what any river is like at any level, especially when it comes to wade fishing.

This x 1000. Add in layers upon layers of seasonal variation and daily weather issues and then just the fickle nature of fish and how they are relating to a possible hatch or variation in amount of a natural food source.

It's a fun puzzle. The good news is that they stock the river so heavily that the odds are stacked in your favor. You should be successful if you can find a place to fish.

If you have a smart phone, get the Little Rock District COE app. It's free and its darn handy. There is a column that tells you tailwater water height. You can looka t that rise and guiess, but the other folks have really said it all. You've got to put your time in on the water or hire a guide or phone a friend that lives local.

I've played the game a few years and still get burned from time to time when more water seems to reach areas faster than I thought. Be careful and err on the side of caution. Its no fun to get swept away.

Every Saint has a past, every Sinner has a future. On Instagram @hamneedstofish

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The cfs is relative to the stream depth and width is it not? At 2000 cfs the arkansas river is a trickle. My creek on the other hand will be washing out cut banks.

Exactly right. Discharge by itself is only a viable indicator if you are very familiar with the channel characteristics and control features for a given stream cross section. Width, depth, substrate, and gradient all factor in. There really is no substitute for familiarity and experience. And let's not forget that people in general can vary a great deal in terms of their wading abilities and limitations; height and weight (think surface area X density X resistance to flow), dexterity, and overall strength and muscle tone all play a part.

Try to stay within the 'rule of ten.' At any given spot, if the depth (ft) times the mean velocity (fps) is less than or equal to 10, it is probably safe to wade. If you are not good at estimating velocity and wish to measure it (using a stopwatch to time an object floating past a known distance, perhaps one or two rod-lengths) multiplying the surface velocity by 0.8 will get you very close to the mean velocity. Seems like a lot of bother, but good to check if you're not sure. Better safe than soggy.

Unfortunately, trying to decipher 'the numbers' for any particular place would be an exercise in frustration unless you've actually been there to witness those conditions firsthand.

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