How to read water levels and the forecast
What a river's level, the warning and flood levels and the trend mean -- and how to choose your fishing day.
The water level
- The level is the water height measured on a gauge (a graduated staff) at a gauging station, in centimetres -- NOT the river's depth. It's only compared with values from the same station.
- The warning level (CA), flood level (CI) and danger level (CP) are thresholds set for each station: above CA the water overflows its bed in low-lying areas.
- The trend tells you whether the level is rising, falling or steady compared with the last reading.
What it means for fishing
- Rising water: it gets murky, and fish move into newly flooded areas to feed -- fish close to the bank, with smelly baits.
- Falling water: fish retreat into the main channel, into holes and to the mouths of channels.
- Water stable for a few days: predictable conditions, the best for most sessions.
- Above the warning level: unstable banks and a strong current -- not the time for fishing.
Forecast
- Pressure: a slow drop before a front is often good; right after the front passes, with pressure rising fast, the fish are sluggish (“Barometric pressure”).
- Wind: it pushes food towards the bank it's blowing onto (“Wind on the water” on the spot's page).
- Water temperature decides how active the fish are (“Water temperature”).
- The moon and the solunar windows show the hours with better chances (“Sunrise, sunset and good hours”, “Solunar”).
The water levels in RoFish come from INHGA (the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management), and in “Water level alerts” you can get a notification when a station passes your threshold.