The beginning of summer, Memorial Day, and the boat races have passed and Father’s Day is here. With those Holidays passed and present summer is officially here June 20,2021 FATHER’S DAY! I hope you all have a great time and note that the state of California is supposed to open for Business as Usual! I am not sure if that will happen but a chance to hit the outdoors and enjoy a chance to go fishing would be a great day. I have read those reservations for most places in the Eastern Sierras is non-existent but the Trinity is wide open for those who want to recreate.
The scoping period for the reduction of water flows on the Trinity River is open but I have not heard of many objections coming in. We need to send email and letters to the TRRP, Mike Dixon, and let him know that the changes are not in the best interest of the river. The TMC needs to know they are supposed to represent the general public and the best interest of the river, NOT their ideas of how the river and water should be taken care of! How do we save the river and fishery? Disband the TMC and replace it with true representatives and stakeholders of the river. If and when that ever happens then and only then will we save the fishery and possibly the Trinity. I would hate to see the Trinity River turn into the Eel River but that is a possibility if something isn’t done soon. A good thing would be to have Trinity Supervisor Gogan as the Trinity County and Supervisor Madrone on the TMC or Taskforce whichever the Secretary of Interior decides to appoint. The government needs to get control of C-Shasta (Blue Green Algae) before there is NO fishing at all.
Upper Klamath River Rotary Screw Trapping count: Julian week 21 ending on June 14, 2021; Shasta River; 482 Chinook salmon age 0+, season total 239,284, Juveniles, 1yr old 0, season total 115; 0 Coho salmon age 0+, season total 128; 64 Rainbow Trout age 1+, season total 404, 3 Rainbow Trout age 2+, season total 2,847; Scott River, 305 Chinook salmon age 0+, season total 7,363; 1yr old Chinook 0, season total 62; 2 Coho salmon 1yr+, season total 171; 142 Rainbow Trout age 0+, season total 865, 23 Rainbow Trout age 1+, season total 1,417.
Fishing: The Boat Races interfered with fishing in the Willow Creek area this past weekend but one could fish in other areas. The problem was that Friday it rained all day and Saturday was overcast and cloudy so not many people took advantage of the chance to hook into a summer steelie or the possibility to hook up with a spring Chinook salmon. I have not heard of many springers being landed this spring so I am wondering if this is going to be a fair to good Chinook salmon season this year. I sure hope things change form what they are now.
Up river, the water flows have been up and sown to help flush down the smolts that were re leased but I haven’t seen many smolt go by but the Willow Creek rotary screw traps have not been working so I haven’t seen any reports from them.
Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 2,927cfs. This is a decrease of 1,841cfs. Iron Gate Dam is releasing 1,082cfs from Iron Gate but I am not hearing about much fishing in the Upper Klamath at this time.
Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 98% of capacity (an increase of 4%) with inflows of 1,329cfs and releasing 1,916cfs in to Spring Creek. Shasta Lake is 41% of capacity (a decrease of 6% minus 36ft) with inflows of 1,920cfs and releasing 5,120cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 95% (an increase of 6%) with inflows of 7,282cfs and releasing 7,571cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 36% of capacity (a decrease of 3% minus 15ft) with inflows of 887cfs with releases of 4,720cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 34% of capacity (a decrease of 3% minus 5ft) with inflows of 1,005cfs with releases of 2,364cfs into the American river.
Trinity Lake: The lake is 92ft below the overflow (an increase of 6ft) and 50% of capacity (a decrease of 2%) with inflows of 340cfs and releasing 1,946cfs into Lewiston Lake with 1,461cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 7,571cfs into the Sacramento River.
Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 95% of capacity (an increase of 3%) and water releases are 485cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 50.5 degrees, as of 11:45pm today Monday June 14, 2021. Limekiln Gulch is 4.96ft at 466cfs. Douglas City is 6.62ft with flows of 470cfs. with air temps of 70 and water temperatures of 57 degrees. Junction City is 2.06ft at 507cfs. Helena is 8.85ft at 616cfs with water temps of 61.6 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 3.18ft at 704cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.45ft at 151cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 855cfs and air is 71 degrees and water at 62 degrees. Hoopa is 12.03ft at 1,147cfs and water is 65.1 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath in Weitchpec are estimated to be 3,927cfs a decrease of 1,841cfs.
Klamath River flows and conditions: Iron Gate is releasing 1,082cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.32ft at 1,340cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,494cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 2,298cfs, and the Salmon River is 2.25ft at 482cfs. Orleans is 3.13ft at 2,780cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 9.33ft at 4,568cfs and water temps are 64.1 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jed Smith are 6.84ft with flows of 1,620cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 13.54ft at N/A cfs. Temperatures in the Valley last week had a high of 84 and a low of 43 degrees. Rain for the week was 0.99in with a water year total to date of 45.11 inches and 1.5in of snow in Willow Creek. The weather predicted for next week is high of 101 and a low of 55. The weather predicted for next week is more sunshine for the end of the week and into next week. The weekend is predicted to reach triple digit. Remember to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water.
