Like me, I’m sure that many of you are starting to be a little concerned about our winter so far. From a fishing perspective, it’s a mixed message. As you can see above, drought is not currently a major issue in Deschutes County or most of the state. This is due to the rain we have been getting. It’s a very different story when it comes to snowpack, however.

Snowpack is well below normal for this time of year and, as you know, melting snow is what keeps our rivers flowing after winter ends. It’s entirely too early to know what the winter will eventually bring us, and things can change quickly, but there is cause for at least a little concern.

On the other hand, as you can see below, local reservoirs are in good shape due to leftover storage from melting snow last winter. With the exception of Crescent Lake, reservoirs are in good shape and filling. If anything, Prineville Reservoir almost has too much water for this time of year. If it gets too full, say from a rain on snow event in the Ochocos, there is a possibility BoR will need to start dumping water like last year, causing another bout of gas bubble disease.

My only concern right now is that 72 cfs is being released from Wickiup which is a violation of the 100 cfs minimum mandated by the Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan. I have no idea why this is happening but if I had to speculate it is due to some sort of equipment or maintenance issue. If it persists for much longer I’ll look into it.