The good news is that winter steelhead are being caught down in Hoopa. I have been trying to find out if anybody was catching anything other than ½-pounders. This is great news for our winter steelie fishers. The weather is good for fishing as is the river. The weather report says the Willow Creek area is good weather to Saturday. Saturday and Sunday forecast says light rains and showers. Be prepared for cold weather fishing as it has been getting down into the low 30s with highs of 56.
The weirs for the Shasta and Scott Rivers have been pulled of the counting season, Shasta on January 5th and the Scott on January 3rd. The Trinity River looks great for fishing, it is a little high but still fishable. You are going to have to use different tactics with the higher water flows as you would for summer/fall type of fishing. You should go up in leader strength and you might want to up your main line strength a bit for spinner casting and leader strength for fly fishing.
Now the bad news is trying to get into your favorite fishing area. Hwy 299 from Redding to areas above Big Bar you are ok but from Big Bar to Burnt Ranch you have waiting periods because of rehabilitation along the Highway. From Hawkins Bar to Blue Lake, you have flagging of the Highway from Willow Creek to Blue Lake again due to Highway rehabilitation from storm damage. This may take some time to end the stoppages so you might want to check the Highway information before you travel.
Junction City Weir summary: Julian week 51 ending on Dec. 23, 2021 for Fall Run Chinook; 0-jack, 0- adult, total 0, season total 1,848; Coho, 1-jacks, 4-adults, total 5, season total 372; steelhead, 1-1/2-pounders, 4-adult, total 5, season total 222, Brown Trout 0, season total 11. The Junction City weir has been removed so the Julian Week 52 is the final count for fish.
Trinity River Hatchery summary: Spring Run Chinook salmon totals; 452-jacks, 1,553 adults; totals 2,005; Fall Run Chinook Salmon Julian Week 1 ending on Jan. 7, 2022; 0-jacks, 1-adults, total 1, season total 5,968.Itlooks like the hatchery will have enough eggs to supply the TRH for next year’s fish releases. The TRH is still counting fish but I did not receive a report this past week.
Klamath River Project: Shasta River through Jan. 7, 2022; Shasta River, Chinook salmon 6,908, Coho 50. Scott River through Jan. 3, 2022; Chinook 1,324, Coho 829. Bogus Creek through Jan. 6, 2022; Chinook 2,072, Coho 309.
Fishing: The Lower Trinity is clear and high with fishermen working the river in the Willow Creek area. I didn’t see many landings but I was told by a reliable source that fishing in Hoopa was starting to pick up and that adult winter steelhead were being landed with good results. This is great news because all the reports I was receiving were ½-pounders only. The river is dropping but it is still highwater fishing. Traveling to Willow Creek or Hoopa is not the greatest but one can still get to fishing areas if you have patients.
Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 10,863cfs. This is a decrease of 1,069cfs. Iron Gate Dam is releasing 1,009cfs, with day time temperatures in the low 30s to mid-50s and the river in the mid to low 40s. Right now, the Klamath is very high at Weitchpec and Orleans but it looks fishable above I-5. I have been unable to get any good fishing information above Happy Camp. The good news is the river is dropping and should be fishable very soon.
Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 86% of capacity (an increase of 1%) with inflows of 228cfs and releasing 183cfs in to Spring Creek. Shasta Lake is 35% of capacity (an increase of 1% plus 2ft) with inflows of 6,611cfs and releasing 3,042cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 83% (a decrease of 9%) with inflows of 3,415cfs and releasing 3,336cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 45% of capacity (an increase of ?% plus ft) with inflows of 4,211cfs with releases of 719cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 55% of capacity (a decrease of 1% minus 1ft) with inflows of 2,570cfs with releases of 3,080cfs into the American river.
Trinity Lake: The lake is 146ft below the overflow (a decrease of 2ft) and 31% of capacity (an increase of 1%) with inflows of 2,282cfs and releasing 330cfs into Lewiston Lake with 34cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 3,336cfs into the Sacramento River.
Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 96% of capacity (an increase of 1%) and water releases are 296cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 45.8 degrees, as of 12:00pm today Saturday January 22, 2022. Limekiln Gulch is 4.70ft at 322cfs. Douglas City is 6.43ft with flows of 405cfs with water temperatures of 43 degrees. Junction City is 2.00ft at 484cfs. Helena is 8.89ft at 623cfs with water temps of 42.7 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 4.38ft at 1,251cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 4.60ft at 1,136cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 2,389cfs and air is 48 degrees and water at 42 degrees and the river is high and with steelhead green color. Hoopa is 1507ft at 4,386cfs and water is 41.6 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath in Weitchpec are estimated to be 10,863cfs a decrease of 1,069cfs.
Klamath River flows and conditions: Iron Gate is releasing 1,009cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.83ft at 1,723cfs. Indian Creek is 5.30ft at 682cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 2,405cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 4,697cfs, and the Salmon River is 3.58ft at 1,600cfs. Orleans is 5.67ft at 6,297cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 12.40ft at 13,764cfs and water temps are 42.6 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jed Smith are 7.77ft with flows of 2,860cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 14.26 ft at N/A cfs.
Temperatures for the Valley last week had a high of 56 and a low of 32 degrees. Rain for the week was 0.08in with a water year total to date of 36.55 inches and 5.0in of snow in Willow Creek. The predicted weather for next week is high of 57 and a low of 37. The predicted weather for next week is mostly clear for the week but light rain and showers for the weekend.
