-Hangover Helper: There is a clean (but rather uninteresting) line right of center, down the tongue. To the left of center is a good size wave, definitely bigger than what was there before. A few people tried surfing at the new wave with mixed results.
-Carbis/Fisherman's Bend: That nice little surf wave on river left near the beach is gone. Still some surfing to be had near the middle.
-Freight Train: At this level, both left and right of the island were runnable, although it looks like the main current is going right of the island now. Surf spot at the train bridge is gone. Eddy lines under the bridge are different now due to most of the water coming from the other side of the island. Don't think its as squirelly as it used to be. A few OK new surf spots now right below the bridge.
Got really shallow in a few spots from here on down. It wouldn't totaly surprise me if you'd be walking at least one of these stretches at 850cfs.
-Pinball: It may just have been that the higher level washed some features out, but this was really disappointing. Wasn't as fun as it used to be.
-The Gap: IMO this is the rapid that changed the most. If you want evidence, look no further than the fact that I made it through without much trouble haha. Right sneak line is gone. There is a line of rocks extending diagonaly out from the river left bank to right of center. The center tongue felt like it was more of an abrubt drop than it use to be. The two holes don't appear as menacing. You can got down the center tongue and angle right to clip the edge of the holes. Even if you hit the holes, I think you'll be fine if your paddling hard. I got all sorts of disorientated in the Gap and have no idea if I missed the holes or not. It looked a lot easier from up above on the road. Once I got into it, I felt like I was getting hit with waves from all different directions, so I just paddled hard and ended up just fine.
We'll see what it looks like during a confirmed 850cfs release. I'm leaning towards saying that the Irene changes were overall for the worst, but I'll withhold a final decision until I get out there a few more times and get to know the new Fife. I'm sure I'll find a few new surf spots next time out.
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