Surprise, Surprise!
Who did it? The different Guide Associations and Guides have been trying to get the U.S. Forest Service and the Lower Trinity Ranger district to fix the South Fork Sandy Bar Road for at least 10 years. Last week I had been asked, “Who graded the Sandy Bar Road and I could not answer the question. So I went up and drove the road down to Sandy Bar. Low and behold the road had not only been graded but ALL of the holes and water ponds had been filled in and graded. The road is so nice that one could drive a car down it but I and the Forest Service DO not recommend it! I had a hard time believing what I saw. It has been over 10 years since I have seen the road in this drivable condition. When I got home I immediately began calling people and finally contacted Nolan Cole grove Ranger for Lower trinity / Orleans Ranger Districts. He admitted to me that the new Six Rivers Forest Supervisor and Roads Supervisor agreed to fix the road right away because it was the only river access between Hawkins Bar and Willow Creek. What a great surprise and greatly needed repair. A great thanks to you guys from all of the public that use this river access for fishing and recreation.
The rivers and forest need water and it looks like we just might be getting some of that wet stuff this Wednesday. Let’s just hope not too much for the burnt areas of the fires but enough to help the firefighters with the fires. We don’t need mud slides after all the devastating fires.
Lower Klamath Count: Harvest return summery for Chinook salmon below 101 Bridge, 531 adults; above 101 Bridge 1,377 adults.
Klamath Iron Gate: The Klamath summary counts for the Shasta 13,233 Chinook salmon, Bogus Creek 579 Chinook salmon, Scott Creek 41 Chinook salmon. This looks like the final count for the Upper Klamath.
Trinity River Hatchery; TRH counts for the week of Nov. 5 – Nov. 11; Chinook salmon jacks 70 adults 1,541 total 1,611, season total 2,658 (last year at this time was 5,566) ; Coho salmon; jacks 33, adults 40 total 73, season total 134; steelhead, adults 9, total 9, season total 46.
Willow Creek weir trapping: for the week of Nov. 5 – Nov. 11; jacks 12, adults 22, total 34 season total 1,561; Coho jacks 3; adults 1, total 4, season 70; Steelhead, ½-lbs 0, adults 5, total 5 season total 551.
Redd Survey: Survey from Lewiston down to North Fork of the Trinity River; Nov. 4, Redds 158; Redds for Willow Creek 19, total 177, season total 1,692.
Fishing: Lewiston Dam is releasing water flows of 292fs. at 10:00am Monday Nov. 19. Fishing in the Upper Trinity has been fair with the low water releases. We need rain for the river and it looks like we will be getting some come Wednesday and then showers the following week. This could be just what we need to get the fish to move up the rivers. The area has been having some cold weather which the steelhead like, but with the low cold water they have become lethargic and will not come up for the fly fishermen. They will still strike the hardware and plugs if you get it right in their face but that becomes difficult with low water. It is my experience, that low clear water plugs and hardware just spook them. If we do get the rain as predicted fishing will pick up and the winter run could start any time after Thanksgiving.
Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing flows of 1,025cfs. and fishing from I-5 to Iron Gate should still be good for steelhead and trout. Fly fishing should be very good in that area provided the predicted rain does not blow out the upper river. Fishing the Siead Valley from Happy Camp up to I-5 should be good right now. I hear that Weitchpec to Orleans is still producing half-pounders with a few adults in the mix.
Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 88% of capacity (a decrease of4%) with inflows of 46cfs and releasing 631cfs into Clear Creek and on to Keswick. Shasta is 47 of capacity (a decrease of 0% and 1ft) with inflows of 3,736cfs and releasing 3,880cfs, Keswick is 88% of capacity (a decrease of 6%) with inflows of 4,700cfs and releasing 4,633cfs; Oroville Lake is 30% capacity (a decrease of 2% & minus 10ft), inflow is 715cfs and releases are 3,304cfs; Folsom Lake is 35% of capacity (minus 3% & minus 4ft.) inflows are 1,0292cfs and releases are 2,289cfs.
Trinity Lake: the Lake is 72ft below the over flow (an increase of 1ft) and 59% of capacity (0% decrease) Inflow to Trinity Lake is 24cfs and Trinity Dam is releasing 319cfs to Lewiston Lake with 21 going to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 4,633cfs into the Sacramento River.
Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 292cfs with water temps of N/A degrees and air at N/A at 10:00am today Saturday Nov. 19. Limekiln Gulch is 4.7ft at 300cfs, with water temps of 41.9 degrees. Douglas City is 6.1ft at 320cfs, water temps of 42.6 degrees and air is 32. Junction City is 1.5ft at 331cfs. Helena is 8.2ft at 321fs with water temps of 41.8. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 2.2ft at 374cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 428cfs and air is 57 with water at 42. Hoopa is 11ft at 517cfs with water temps of 42.5. Flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at Klamath River are estimated to be 2,269cfs.
Klamath: Iron Gate Dam releases are 1,025cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.2ft at 1,284cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,324cfs, Salmon River is 1.5ft at 158cfs, Somes Bar is estimated at 1,594cfs and Orleans is 2.8ft. at 1,752cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 7.9ft at 2,360cfs, with water temperatures of 45.2 degrees. Flows for Smith River at Dr. Fine Bridge are 4.5ft at 214cfs.
The temperatures in the Valley last week were 70/30 with 0.00in of rain and a season total of 1.4in. Temperatures in the valley next week are expected to reach 71/37rain expected next week and scattered showers the following week. We could us some rain to help the rivers and help put out the fires.