What's the best way to use data at USGS website? Of what use is the second graph "STAGE"?

I've been using the Castle Rock Station (STREAMFLOW) data even though Mayfield Dam is closer to Blue Creek where I'm banking it. 7500 CFS seems to be the lowest you'd ever want at that point.
[URL=http://wa.water.usgs.gov/rt_cgi/gen_tbl_pg]

[This message has been edited by Ono4fish (edited 01-05-2001).]

It all depends where you fish. If you fish at blue creek you definately want to use the cowlitz at mayfield. The water right now is way low for the winter time, it's at the summer time level. Fishing has been unseasonable slow . I'd wait for the water to come up before I'd fish it. There's been a
noticible absence of the two salt fish that make up the bulk of the run at this time of year. I've talked to clancy a guide on the cowlitz and he said it's been real tough. Put your time in and you'll catch fish. The first graph on the flow chart is the cubic feet per second the river is flowing at the second is the stage height in feet. I find the best fishing is for two to three days after the river starts to drop. That's your best time to catch a fish, but you can catch fish at any time it's just a little tougher. Well good luck and FISH ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Use the Cowlitz below Mayfield Dam gage, it will give you the most acurate reading for Blue Creek. Ideal flows for the Cowlitz this time of year is between 6000 CFS and 9000 CFS, it is at and has been at 5000 - 5200 CFS for about two weeks now. That gage is only six miles upstream from Blue Creek. The Castle Rock gage is about 15 - 20 miles downstream from where you are fishing. Hope this helps ya out.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

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I use the Mayfield gaging station to get an idea of the river level, and the Castle rock station to look for fluctuations. This will give an idea of water conditions. There are a lot of small streams emptying into the Cowlitz, and they can dump a lot of mud into the main stem real fast, even though it may not be raining all that bad. If you only look at the mayfield station, you wont get the whole picture. Especially if you fish below Blue Creek.