Temps, Flow, & People

Day one = 54°
Day two = 64°
Day three = 74°
Day four = 84°

The river is flowing at about 84 cfs.

And there are about 84 people in this one mile stretch of river that runs past the campground.

Well OK, maybe I'm exagerating about 84 people, maybe there are only 54 people. On opening day they are all on the river that is flowing so skinny, all the people fishing within arms reach of each other, able to cast and hit the other bank. There are groups of fishermen here for the opening weekend and they were on the river early.

The day before opening day campers in trailers kept arriving, more right now in the campground than we usually see the entire time we're here. I can't remember ever being at a river for opening day, and now I know why. With so many fishermen and children here the day before the river opened, we knew we were going to sit it out. We knew it would be a zoo with so many people. We were OK with sitting on the bank and watching. We know we will have many, many more days to enjoy.

We walked down to the river and watched, taking a few photos, throwing the stick for Clover to fetch. We talked with a few of the guys, watching them tangle their fishing lines together because they were so close. They were catching fish, doing OK, having fun, and drinking beer, but we were content to watch. A group of 10 took turns fishing a short section, 5 of them rotating every so often. Another group of 3 guys were fishing in tight quarters unable to move up- or down-river, surrounded on both sides by another couple groups of fishermen. Like I said, we were content to not fish today, but look out tomorrow. We're going to try to find an open stretch of river and we'll get our lines wet.