Well the snow left and the rain came!! The Little Red received about 3 to 4 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday and with the ground saturated from previous rains and the snow, the lake level is now 1 foot over normal pool. This is a rise of about 6 feet. The river is muddy all the way to the dam as of Sunday. This will probably clear to some extent by today near the dam. The Corp of Engineers has informed me that they will begin releasing water this week from the dam via the flood gates. This is due to the generators still being under repair. This repair and maintenance should last another 3 weeks. One option that is being considered is opening each of the 6 flood gates one foot. This would be the equivalent of one generator running at full capacity. This would last until the lake returns to the normal pool level of 461.4, so for the next few days there may be water flowing in the river that is not on the predicted generation schedule, so it would be wise to check the tailwater level below the dam instead of the generation. This can be found at http://www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/pages/data/tabular/htm/greersf.htm . The non-generation tailwater level is 266.4 so anything above this would indicate that the flood gates are being used. The good news is that this water from the flood gates should help to clear the river. Water temperature remains good with the temperature being somewhat warmer after the rain but not much. This time of the year and with the cold air temp this is probably a good thing. Drift fishing should be good when the river clears and wade fishing will be available when the flood gates are not in use.
Good Fishing!!
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