Kvennan Fly Fishing

Water level in river Glomma

In general, the normal summer water level, measured at Hummelvoll, a place about 15 km upstream from KFF, is ca 587,60. Fly fishing and wading river Glomma at KFF is easy at most places when the water level has fallen to the normal summer level.

Wading river Glomma at KFF gets a bit difficult when the level rises above 588,00 , but the fishing usually can still be quite good. A level higher than 588,50 makes wading and fishing much more difficult.

The chart below shows perfectly how much variation there is between the years. The average water level at KFF during the summer months can be as high as 587,95 (meters above sea level) and as low as 587,25. This affects the fishing a lot !

Keep in mind that the level is measured in a deep and slow flowing section of the river. Experience tells me that a change of level of say 60 cm at Hummelvoll translates in about 1/3 , so 20 cm, in Glomma at Kvennan Camping – but of course the speed of the current will be (much) higher.

Water level in early season 

During the first weeks of June the river is swollen with melt water, and Glomma’s water temperature usually is quite low. In these conditions nymph and streamer fishing will be the most productive.
 
Number of years with days in this week with a water level >  :

Read the data in the chart above like this :
"In the week of June 15-21 there were in 17 of the 30 years days with a water level over 588,00 – this means if you visit KFF in this week, you’ll have  a chance of 55 % there will be days with this level "

High water levels during the summer 

During the month of June one should expect an average of about 17 days with water levels over 588,00 . Typically this would be in the first half of the month.

The chart below shows that water levels over 588,50 are not to be expected when the snow melting has ended. This should normally be in late June.

Low water levels during the summer 

When the water level falls below 587,30 the fishing can be more difficult. Even though these low water levels make wading extra easy, grayling usually get very spooky, and perfect presentation of your fly and the use of long and thin tippets will be the key.

Usually low water levels occur in late summer, but sometimes, like in 2018, already in June the river was very low. This happened only once in 30 years. Maybe climate change ?