vermillion river water level

[fishkaholic]

has anyone been out there or know how high the water is? planning to head out there within the next and would like to know before making the trip. thanks.

[247outdoors]

water is muddy, no fish, water level is ok.was there this thursday.

[youngie22]

I'll second that. didn't fish it though lately.

[youngie22]

Up a bit, a ton of debris, very hard to fish; beautiful time on the water though. Took advantage of the high water and did alot of exploring. That sun is getting very powerful.

[JBMasterAngler]

Has anyone checked out the river level within the last day or 2? Must be up pretty high now I imagine? How much of the parking lot is flooded?

[river rat316]

here is a link to the Vermillion River USGS guage

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?05345000

If you go to Minnesota you can go through all the guages, its helpful and imho very needed when planning a trip on any river!

[youngie22]

Awesome link Riverrat; I think that site may become very helpful. Was at the dushanes landing a few days ago and water was in first few parking stalls. It may have rose a little more since then, not sure. The water level down there is more dictated by mississippi water levels more so than water levels above the falls.

[JBMasterAngler]

I crossed the mississippi on 35E today and that definitely looked high. But yeah, I want to fish the overflow from the sippi for silvers and crappies. I've had excellent results there in the summer, I think it'd be even better this time of year when they're gearing up for spawning.

[bgreen82]

im not real familiar with river fishing yet, how exactly do you want to read those graphs. what is an optimal level or does it depend on the river. should you just look for the avg. level?

[youngie22]

I don't fish the river much when it is extremly high and very churned up. Very hard to give a good presentation. Will go else where or up steam.

[river rat316]

Min (1975) 20% Median Mean Value 80% Max (1998)

24 49 93 128 206 491

Most Recent Instantaneous Value: 167

that graph right there shows you that 24 cfs ( a trickle basically) was the all time low for this date (1974 in this case)

20%: is 49cfs that would also be low but not a record low, actually means (my interpertation) that is 20% of flood stage? (Im not to sure)

Median: 93cfs is average

Mean value: 128 this might be some type of average to I have no idea

80% max:206 thats the high average or its 80% of flood stage capacity (not to sure on that either)

Max:491 Max for that day in history (1998 in this case)

Heres how I interpert the guages when I am planning a trip (or daydreaming of fishing )

If the cfs is somewhere around the 20% mark the river is low, and plan you trip and tackle accordingly

if its around the mean, its flowing at its normal flow (for that time of year) which in this case probably rules out wading since spring levels are historically higher than summer levels. In most cases however it will tell you that it is not over its banks (exceptions to that would be a spring runoff only stream, or if the level (like in the lower Vermillion) is affected by another flow (the Mississippi) . If the flow is hovering around the 80% mark it might not be safe to fish depndeing on the stream or river. It may however be the only time you can scout some new water in your boat (especially if you have a jetdrive ) And if its around its max you probably should use better judgement and stay away form any river at this point. I should also point out that if you are boating in a small stram be very cautious and remember that your wake is constantly causing shoreline erosion so try and stay away from the banks and keep your wake to a minimum!

Another thing about these guages is that if your fishing a river with multiple guages (The Miss, MN or Croix) you can do a sort of prediction on how quick the water is going to come down, by checking the guages up ahead of you and also the guages of the feeder streams. In this case it seems like the Mississippi will not be down for awhile, its around Median or above all the way to Grand rapids, and that guage and the Bemidji guage will likely be rising quickly with runoff from the recent storms this week. Which in turn means more water in the feeder creeks in that area also. So we probably won't see "normal" levels in the Miss. for a while in this year.

[youngie22]

Hey Rat- THank you so much for enlightening me on to that link. I can always look out the window to check flow above the falls on the Vermillion, but I have to get in the truck to check else where, not so much any more... I think I owe you a couple gallons of gas!!!

[JBMasterAngler]

I don't know what that channel looks like in high water but I know you can only get back to the dam with a canoe in the summer time due to low water and log jams. A small boat can probably make it back there this time of year but it's gotta be pretty dangerous with all the logs and dead heads. I've broken quite a few sheer pins on that river...not to mention I've lost literally hundreds of dollars worth of tackle over the years (definitely exaggerating).

[river rat316]

Ill bet money that I can get my boat back there, if its just logs and deadheads Im dealing with, Im pretty sure I can go over the top

[youngie22]

you can get pretty much any where you want in a boat right now. River Rat- you may be able to get there any time of the yearin you boat. Just don't try to go through the woods

[river rat316]

My boat could probably get there... but the captain would chicken out long before that Im usually pretty wimpy about running bad stretches of water... but some days when there not biting I get pretty brave trying to find new water.