What is Freestone water rivers? What is difference between Tailwater and freestone river?

From the fishing angle the rivers are categorised mainly in two types - freestone river and tailwater river. The first one is the normal river that originates from some snow cap region or big spring fed region and proceeds down on its natural path and then flows on the plains below for quite some time and finally meets the ocean. These rivers get good water during the rainy seasons also and generally swell up and create flood conditions around. The water in these natural and normal rivers increases and decreases as per the seasons and there is a lot of fluctuations during the year. Many rivers almost dry up in summer and there is no marine life remaining in it during that period. The importance of rivers is manyfold and fishing is one of them. So, from the fishing perspective, these seasonal rivers are not very enterprising as the quantity of the water as well as the temperatures of the water of these rivers fluctuate much during the course of the year and is not very conducive for the fishes to survive in all the season. People who have a livelihood association with these rivers based on the fishing would choose certain favourable periods in the year when the hatching of fish species will be maximum and then they will catch the premium fresh water fishes during that season and wait for the next year for that opportunity.

On the other hand the tailwater rivers are actually on the output side of big dams and are always have sufficient water as the water from the dams is released in regulated ways and its temperature is also regulated to some extent due to the big reservoir and storage in the dam. Moreover, due to the continuous supply of water and other favourable conditions like sufficient oxygen in the dam water coming down in the river, the tailwater rivers are flush with the flora and fauna which is essential for the growth of fishes and other such creatures in the water streams. So in most of the places the tailwater rivers would have a continuous water supply and that is the reason why tailwater rivers are a preferred place for fishing. There are many tailwater rivers in the world which are a great destination for fishing tourism as they are always full of fishes, a plenty of them there in the stream. They are also a good source for fish catchers for commercial purposes.

The rivers which hold fishes are mainly classified into three types.
1. tailwater rivers
2. freestone rivers
3. spring creek rivers.
This classification is made basically depending upon the biological facts like the amount of oxygen, vegetation, entomology and other scientific facts. To understand these scientific facts one has to understand the biology well.
1. Tailwaters are dam-controlled waters. The flow will be controlled by the gates of the dam. Once the flow is controlled by the dam, the temperature will vary depending on the flow. These rivers are good for fishing of quality fishes. Mossirori river is an example of this. The water that flows from the dam from Rajahmundry to the ocean will also come under this type as the flow is controlled from Dowlesivaram of East Godavari Dt of AP where there is a dam.
These waters are good for fishing as the water management will be in our control in these rivers.
2. Freestone water rivers: In these rivers, there is no control of water flow and natural flow will be there and there may be changes in the flow of water from time to time. The water content and flow depends on nature. The flow will be high when there are rains and in summer there may not be sufficient water. So the temperature of the water will increase. The conditions for fishing in these rivers will vary from time to time. In these rivers, there is no certainty of the quality of fishes. The people who go for fishing in these waters will understand the variety of fishes available by noting down the temperature.
3. Spring Creeks: These are not much suitable for fishing. These are made of groundwater seepage of natural water. They are also from the melting od snow.

A freestone is a river that forms from snowmelt in mountains. This snowmelt forms into small creek which flow downwards. These small creek change into streams and eventually form into a river and over a distance tributaries immerse into main river. On early stage a freestone river is called the headwaters. In the spring and summer, freestones offer great fishing but in winter headwaters may get freeze. Freestone river is fishaible though, but it depends on weather and seasons also.

A tailwater begins at a dam. In other words a freestone may flow into a reservoir, but when it then comes out the dam, it becomes a tailwater. Generally, when it comes over the top, water is warm and when it comes out the bottom water is cold. A tailwater is rich in fishes, so almost throughout the year it is good for fishing.

There are various types of rivers in any geographical area depending upon the source of water and slope of the ground. Normally, these rivers are seasonal and they will swell in the rainy season and either have less water in summer or some of them even dry up in the climate of our country. In some countries, especially the western ones, the water remains sufficient throughout the year and they manage it nicely through the management of dams etc which is nowadays done through computerised control. This gives the rivers sufficient water and that is always conducive for the growth of fishes which is a source of employment to many and source of fishing entertainment for the tourists and visitors to such rivers. In our country also there are some of such rivers which are controlled through the ousting water of the big dams. The rivers whose water is controlled from the upstream dams are known as tailwater rivers. They are well known for their water sustainability throughout the year and are very useful for hatching of the fishes and other water creatures. Tailwater rivers are a boon for development of river fisheries.

Other type of rivers belong to freestone water which do not have any upstream dam control for their water level and get it from the natural sources like snow capped hills, springs, and rains. These are also having good amount of water but in summers sometimes they shrink so much that the fishing is not viable there. So they have restricted fishing opportunities. Another drawback is that once the stream is dried then afterwards when water is received from upstream side the fish hatching takes time and many times there are no fishes in that stream which is definitely a disappointing thing. One more important thing in this matter is that the rivers which are fed from the springs or waterfalls are very full of water in and after 2-3 months of rains but by the end of winter they become almost dry and have no water. So these are also freestone types but of no use for fisheries. Until unless we tame the rivers by making big dams there is no hope for a god river fishing thing.

When someone is planning for fish it is necessary to choose right destination /rivers. There are mainly three rivers as already explained in above posts viz. Freestone rivers, Tailwater rivers and Spring creek rivers.

In the Freestone rivers or streams, the main water is the surface water that is water flow mainly from snowmelt and rainfall. Hence, they rise and fall of water are basically based on the seasonal fluctuation. In summer season, due to rise in temperature snow melts and river swell with water. But due to continuous rising in temperature the flow ebbs back throughout the summer. Then it reaches to its lowest level. In summer season, the water level becomes low and in this less flowing muddy heavy water more insect population grows hence there are more and healthy fish population. Freestone water body may vary in size from small stream to large river. Freestone river or stream displaces stones while flowing through the river or stream bed hence, it is called as freestone. These rivers are not impeded by the construction of a dam.

While tailwater rivers are created from the flow of a reservoir of a dam and essentially has dam. Fishes are present in the down streams of rivers at the bottom of dam due to rich nutrient in the sediments. Tailwater may have some very large fishes due to high nutrient availability. In tailwater river flow can be lower or higher but these rivers do not have muddy water. Tailwater fishes mainly feeds on caddisflies and mayflies.