After additional googling...I see the rivermouth closes in the dry season and forms a lagoon that doesn't open to the sea until after heavy rainfall. Doubt this little dusting will be enough to break the dam....so we'll watch the otters instead.
Check the regs Bob, there's a minimum flow the the Gualala but I don't remember what it is. Little early for steelhead in that nieghborhood still. Im very familiar with that campsite it's a beauty.
I've camped there before, always in late October and it is consistently amazing...crystal clear fall days, sunshine, and we are the only ones there. They close the last weekend of the month. Going earlier this year because of work commitments.
In my digging around the internet I've seen that the river can break through as early as mid October or as late as January depending on rainfall and flows....it must be insane that stretch by the Highway 1 bridge the day the lagoon breaks and the fish start running. I'd like to be there just to watch that and see the fish run up the beach.
You know about the raccoons then. They straight mob your campsite after dark if you have any food out. They especially like bratwurst and jameson whiskey.
The plural comes after a few are in your belly. A natural phenomenon for those who consume the stuff. I have seen it many times and yes they make magnum bottles of it as well. A 6 wt. out there? Hmmm would make for an interesting story at least. We pretty much all throw 8's. But to each his own. Have fun.
-- Edited by Cole Davis on Monday 10th of October 2011 07:59:20 PM
The Gualala looks ready to bust out to the ocean with the next rain. The lagoon is as big as I've ever seen it and the campsite hosts told me they though it was going to go last weekend when they had 6 inches in 48 hours!
I took the kayak upstream about a mile and saw juvenile steelhead everywhere and no sign of otters. Hopefully thats a good sign of things to come.
Bones BBQ is as good as ever, but I prefer the old location.
Down the coast at Jenner the sea was running hard into the Russian River lagoon and there had to be 100 seals hauled out on the sand bar and as many in the water patrolling for salmon. With the river opening just a few yards wide and that many hungry seals, its amazing any fish get through at all.
(I managed to protect my whisky from the raccoons, but they did make off with our smores supplies...grabbed the bag right off our table and shot up a tree next to our fire. They rained graham cracker crumbs down on us for the next hour)
They don't call them bandits for nothing. Sounds fun, sure it was nice out there. We had so many tarps and rain protection out last year it took almost 2 hours to break camp with three people working on it.
-- Edited by Cole Davis on Monday 17th of October 2011 09:50:11 AM
We were cleaned up and out of there before noon....but I did have to air the tent out in the driveway when we got home to dry it off. It didn't rain on us, but its always damp under those trees.
This was their last weekend of the season and the hosts were breaking everything down and hauling the pinic tables away for winter storage. They said they had 4 feet of water in the campsite last winter, so this year everything is going to higher ground.
