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THE ATLAS · OR · SPRING CREEK

Metolius River

The best month to fish the Metolius River is July. The month to avoid is May. Right now, in August, it is worth going.

  1. January: 76 out of 100
  2. February: 77 out of 100
  3. March: 84 out of 100
  4. April: 68 out of 100
  5. May: 55 out of 100
  6. June: 77 out of 100
  7. July: 89 out of 100
  8. August: 88 out of 100
  9. September: 78 out of 100
  10. October: 76 out of 100
  11. November: 78 out of 100
  12. December: 76 out of 100
AUGUST: GO88/100
WHERE IT IS
LOADING THE MAP…

GAUGE 14091500 · COLOURED BY AUGUST

THE NUMBERS

Month by month

MONTHTYPICAL FLOWRANGE (P20–P80)WATERAIR HIGHRAINSCORE
January1,502 cfs1,418–1,76241.1°F76
February1,527 cfs1,452–1,71141.6°F77
March1,549 cfs1,465–1,70742.9°F84
April1,612 cfs1,552–1,86044.8°F68
May1,753 cfs1,599–1,86247.0°F55
June1,589 cfs1,487–1,81048.3°F77
July1,474 cfs1,399–1,63049.4°F89
AugustNOW1,408 cfs1,351–1,53248.5°F88
September1,359 cfs1,320–1,46846.8°F78
October1,353 cfs1,304–1,45744.6°F76
November1,415 cfs1,302–1,51442.5°F78
December1,421 cfs1,365–1,61941.1°F76
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM

Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 14091500 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.

The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.

Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 1,4151,549 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.

Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.

IF THIS MONTH IS WRONG

The Metolius River is at its best in July — water around 49°F, flows near 1,474 cfs.

← RIVERS GOING WELL IN AUGUST

Regulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.