Fall Chinook Salmon Fishing

First Hatcher Fall salmon caught by Todd LeBoeuf in the Upper Trinity last week just before the Fall salmon season opened so was required to follow spring salmon regulations. (8lbs on roe)

The Trinity River Fall Chinook salmon fishing season opened Sunday September 1^st. You are allowed two salmon per day with one adult over 22 inches, Six salmon in possession with no more that three adults. Right now, the weather is cooling down a bit from the three-digit temperatures we have been having and some Fall salmon are making their way up the Trinity. (See picture below) The water releases for the Hoopa Ceremonies “Boat Dance” will peak out Monday night, September 2^nd. With these releases water temperatures should drop enough to start salmon congregating outside the mouth of the Klamath to start moving into the river system. Once the salmon are in the Klamath estuary it will only take a few days before they are in the Trinity and moving up river.

The Tribal weir and the Trinity Willow Creek weir will probably not be installed until after September 8^th due to the extra water releases. Once these weirs are installed and operating, I cannot predict how good salmon fishing will be. The Hoopa Tribe has not publicly declared how they are going to operate the weir or how many fish they plan to release back into the river. Until that determination is made it will be very hard to say what will happen to the Trinity River salmon and steelhead fishing or what will become of the Trinity River Hatchery program.

Increase Water Releases: the Hoopa “Boat Dance”, a portion of the Tribal Ceremonies this year water releases will start on Sept. 1^st at 5pm and run from summer releases of 450cfs up to 2,650cfs by 7pm Sept. 2^ndand then gradually decrease back to summer releases of 450cfs by 7pm Sept 5^th. Please be aware of the highwater flows during Labor Day weekend as the river will dangerous.

Junction City Weir counts: Julian week 35 the week ending Sep.2; Chinook salmon, 4-jack, 13-adult, total 17, season total 458; Coho 0; steelhead ½-lbs 0, adults 4, season total 91; Brown Trout 1, season total 22.

Fishing: There is still some turbidity in the Junction City area but it was clear for the Labor Day weekend and fishing was much better because there was NO construction going on. The river clarity was much improved. The “canyon run” from Douglas City down to Evens Bar was a good place to fish over the holiday. Many of the guides that fished the Upper Trinity left the area to fish the Sacramento for the holidays so most of the upper sections of the river were easy fishing for those who fished. There were some very nice adult steelies caught and released, from the info I received, but not pictures.

As a reminder the Trinity River is now closed to fishing of the Falls area from the bridge at Hawkins Bar up to the bridge at Cedar Flat.
Creel Counts Lower Klamath: Below Highway 101Bridge; Julian week 34 ending Aug. 26; jacks 2, adults 18 total 20, season total 52. Prior to Fall salmon season starting the spit area caught a total of 48 salmon, 46 adults, 2 jacks.
Above Highway 101 Bridge; Julian Week 34 ending Aug. 26; jacks 48, adults 5, total 29, season total 77.

Mid-Klamath: The Klamath at Weitchpec is flowing about 2,074cfs and the river has cleaned up some. John from E Ne Nuck said that everything on the Mid-Klamath is looking great and fish are starting to hold at the mouths of the creeks. He is still running a dry camp but has water for cooking and washing. The potable water system that the US Forest Service used to provide for the camp is still not up and running. I am sure that once the cooler water from the Trinity releases hit, the mouth of the Klamath there is going to be a rush of fish hitting those creeks and there will be lots of fish to be caught.
With the releases from Iron Gate increasing back up to 1,048cfs the trout fishing from Happy Camp to I-5 should be really good. Flows at Seiad Valley are 1,361cfs. Fishing above I-5 should be great but if you are in doubt, I suggest you call Scot Caldwell of SC Guide Service. I am sure he can put you onto some great fishing from Iron Gate down to I-5.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 99% of capacity (an increase of 1%) with inflows of 1,368cfs and releasing 1,022cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 80% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 3ft) with inflows of 4,347cfs and releasing 8,340cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 89% (a decrease of 2%) with inflows of 9,5956cfs and releasing 9,492cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 75% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 7ft) with inflows of 1,658cfs with releases of 9,113cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 77% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 2ft) with inflows of 2,910cfs with releases of 3,631cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 21ft below the overflow (an increase of 1ft) and 86% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) and inflows are -22cfs and releasing 1,551cfs into Lewiston Lake with 1,100cfs (this will change tomorrow night) being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 9,492cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 92% of capacity and releases are 451cfs and water temperatures of 55.3 degrees and air at N/A as of 12:00pm today Sunday September 1, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 4.92ft at 445cfs. Douglas City is 6.54ft and flows of 464cfs. with air temps of 82 water temperatures of N/A degrees. Junction City is N/Aft at N/A cfs due to turbidity of river restoration. Helena is 8.53ft at 469cfs with water temps of 61.1 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 2.76ft at 542cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.07ft at 80cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 622cfs and air is 81 degrees and water at 68 degrees. Hoopa is 11.45ft at 769cfs and water is 70 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 2,0744cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 1,048cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.35ft at 1,361cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,415cfs, the Salmon River is 1.94ft at 226cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,079cfs. Orleans is 2.55ft at 1,305cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 8.35ft at 2,432cfs and water temps of 73.2 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 4.76ft and flows of 243cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.696t at N/A cfs.
Temperatures in the Valley last week were a high of 104 and a low of 53. Rain for the week was 0.00in with a water year to date of 67.93 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. Forecasts for next week are for temperatures in the low 90s and for the coming weekend temperatures in the high 80s, with sunshine for the week and coming weekend. It is projected to start to cool down a bit which should help with fish movement and fishing.

The Trinity River Summer Flows are here!

Sorry not to make a report last week but I was down south in Fresno to meet with some old cronies I used to work with.
The Trinity River summer flows are almost here. The summer flows are supposed to be reached by August 6^th. This should be a sign at the mouth of the Klamath that the Fall Run of Chinook salmon need to start their migration up the river for spawning. The Lower Klamath opens up for Fall Run Chinook salmon August 15^th, also the limits go to 2 salmon per day with one adult; 6 salmon with 3 adults in possession. The bad news is that the Klamath is full of moss right now and it is hard to fish near the bottom of the river without getting fouled up on moss. With the present heat and the abundance of moss I would expect to see a start of an algae bloom very soon. I also hope to have the list of river closures for Tribal Ceremonies ASAP. Right now, it is hard to get people to come to fish the rivers when the ocean fishing limits are 2 salmon over 22 inches per day and the Sacramento River is 2 salmon per day while the rivers are only 1 “fish” per day.

Fishing: Fishing the Upper Trinity has been great for the last week or so but the moss has been troublesome for pulling plugs. Because of the heat it has been an early morning fish. Most guides are starting by first daylight and off the water by 1:00 O’clock in the afternoon. I have received word from several guided that the upper river is chock full of bright chrome fish and that it is fairly easy to get your one salmon and then fish for summer run steelhead. Most guides are using roe and back trolling plugs. Plugs the first thing in the morning and then switching over to roe later in the mornings. Fishing from the bank I would think spinners or spoons would be your best bet for early mornings then switching over to roe, tuna balls or 50/50 tuna/roe. For the fly guys midges are working and the hatching starts as soon as the sun hits the water.

Todd LeBoeuf of “Tiger TS guide service” has been fishing the Trinity from Lewiston down to Junction City for the last week and has been very successful of getting his customers limits. One of his customers Bo, came all the way from Sweden to fish the trinity with him. Another of his customers Autumn caught her first salmon while fishing with her grandpa. Most of the salmon were around 10lbs with one large one about 20lbs and for the week Todd’s customers were able to land 10 salmon. No bad for a week’s work.

With the moss so abundant and the heat with the sun I can see algae blooms looming in the near future. This is bad news because blue-green algae is what has been killing the Eel River. I see this as a great possibility for the Trinity if we don’t get the moss under control soon. The Eel has almost lost the salmon runs because of the algae and that could very well happen to the Trinity if something isn’t done.

The restoration work between the Round House and Junction City is making the river very dirty by 10 O’clock so you want to try and avoid that area around 11:00am to sometime in the late afternoon. As for the Trinity Restoration Program, I believe congress should audit the over all program to see if the 15 million dollars per year are being spent is for a just cause (production of endangered fish) or just to fill someone’s pocket with cash??

Mid-Klamath: The Klamath at Weitchpec is flowing about 3,488cfs and the river has turned a brown green. As the river drops a little more, we should see the beginning of the fall run Chinook arriving. There are still not very many fishermen out on the Mid-Klamath right now. Sometime around the 1^st or 2^nd week of August we should start to see some larger salmon fish come into the area looking for some cooler water and getting ready to move up the river. River temperatures are starting to climb some now (71.5 degrees @ Terwer) and that could hamper fishing if we don’t get a cooling spell soon.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 98% of capacity (a decrease of 0%) with inflows 1,703cfs and releasing 1,667cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 89% of capacity (a decrease of 4% minus 5ft) with inflows of 4,689cfs and releasing 8,842cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 94% (an increase of 0%) with inflows of 10,795cfs and releasing 10,889cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 90% of capacity (a decrease of 4% minus 11ft) with inflows of 3,208cfs with releases of 10,925cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 87% of capacity (a decrease of 23% minus 3ft) with inflows of 4,265cfs with releases of 5,469cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 14ft below the overflow (an increase of 3ft) and 91% of capacity (a decrease of 2 %) and inflows are 654284cfs and releases are 2,022cfs into Lewiston Lake with 1,303cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 10,889cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 719cfs and water temperatures of 51.4 degrees and air at N/A as of 11:00am today Sunday July 28, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 5.43ft at 741cfs. Douglas City is 6.99ft and flows of 756cfs. with air temps of 83 and water at 52.8 degrees. Junction City is 2.56ft at 787cfs. Helena is 9.62ft at 744cfs with water temps of 60.3 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 3.74ft at 940cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.50ft at 166cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 1,106cfs and air is 87 degrees and water at 61 degrees. Hoopa is 12.43ft at 1,366cfs and water is 65 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 3,488cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 896cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.16ft at 1,230cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,316cfs, the Salmon River is 2.24ft at 390cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,732cfs. Orleans is 3.14ft at 2,122cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 9.04ft at 3,748cfs and water temps of 71.5 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 5.00ft and flows of 338cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.88ft at N/A cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 104 hi with a low of 52. Rain for the week was 0.00in with total rain for the water year to date of 67.7 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. Forecasts for next week are for temperatures at 90 to hi 80s with lots of sunshine for the next eek or so. I would like some cooler weather and cooler water so the Fall Run Chinook would start to make their run for their holding waters up river.

Water flow changes

   Trinity River water releases were supposed to be 1,050cfs but due to the problems at the Lewiston water gate, which is still under repair, the true releases are 2,524cfs as of Sunday May 12^th. Reclamation hopes to have the repairs done by this week so that they can synchronize back into the TMC recommended hydrograph for the third and final peak water flows, which starts May 15^th. This will be great if that can happen and the water releases get back on schedule. Any water not used during the repairs hopefully will be incorporated into the last peak releases because Reclamation will not hold over any extra water for hot summer water. Their attitude is if the water is behind the Trinity Dam and NOT used for the river, it will be released for delivery to the south and sold. Does Trinity County get any of that money? NO!
   The River Restoration Report Cites Conflicts Headwaters report dated Nov. 29, 2018; the report states that there are conflicts in the TRRP restoration program and that there should be a reorganization of the program. There have been many conflicts about the Trinity River Restoration Program and there is a recommendation for a complete overhaul of the program in the Headwaters report. The 2000 Record of Decision (ROD) formed the Trinity Management Council with a Federal Advisory Council (TAMWG, Trinity Adaptive Working Group) made up of local stakeholders and other participants that are affected by the river restoration. The advisory group was removed in 2017. The ROD was never amended to permit this nor has it been amended for some up to date science instead of using/sticking to the science that was adopted 40 years ago.
    Water releases from Lewiston Dam have been revised to allow for the repairs to the gate that controls water flows to the Trinity River and hopefully will be restored by May 15^th but could possibly be delayed if all the repairs are not complete. Check with the TRRP website for any water release changes.
   That brings us back to a meeting last Monday May 6^th, Trinity Restoration Program Restructuring. This meeting was with the Trinity Manage Council in attendance and with all members present, but not an official meeting. Was this a Brown Act violation? The public was invited to attend but not scheduled to participate until Tom Stockley spoke up at which time 10 minutes were scheduled before lunch break and another 10 minutes for the end of the meeting. With these guidelines I can see no ability for public input nor anything else but the complete dissolvement of the TMC and TRRP. The restoration of the Trinity River has done nothing but disrupt the great fishing that once was. The release of water has shown to be the best provider for improving fish returns. If the TRRP wanted to help restore the fisheries why have they not worked on the watersheds which is where endangered species such as Coho salmon a steelhead spawn.
   California Department of Water Resources rescinds the California Water Fix Bonds for about $9 Billion. The Bond Resolutions were to authorize funding of the Delta Twin Tunnels construction. This is from Bob Wright, Senior Counsel, Friends of The River. Now what will they do with the Bond monies?

Corrections: Last week I reversed the Spring Chinook salmon limits, Sorry! Spring salmon season opens July 1^st with limits of one (1) adult per day and two (2) adults in possession.

Fishing: fishing is still pretty slow due to the highwater releases on both rivers. Right now, the Trinity is just starting to turn green from a muddy brown. Flows in the Willow Creek area are 4,863cfs and could be decreasing some more in the next weekdue to the mishapup at Lewiston Dam. You must remember that the water is 50 degrees and NOT conducive for swimming right now!

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam releases are down to 1,776cfs right now but increases are expected soon to help relieve flooding in the upper reaches of the Klamath.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 97% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) with inflows 635cfs and releasing 716cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 94% of capacity (an increase of 0% plus 0ft) with inflows of 8,317cfs and releasing 8,192cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 95% (an increase of 12%) with inflows of 8,647cfs and releasing 8,044cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 95% of capacity (an increase of 1% plus 2ft) with inflows of 12,9041cfs with releases of 11,031cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 93% of capacity (an increase of 2% plus 1ft) with inflows of 89,876cfs with releases of 8,272cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 10ft below the overflow (a decrease of 3ft) and 94% of capacity (an increase of 2%) inflows are 5,894cfs and releasing 2,320cfs into Lewiston Lake with N/A cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 8,044cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 2,545cfs and water temperatures of 48.5 degrees and air at N/A as of 12:00pm today Sunday May 12, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 6.99ft at 2,628cfs and water temps of 49.4. Douglas City is 9.04ft and flows of 3,008cfs. with air temps of 65 and water at 49.1 degrees. Junction City is 5.331ft at 2,830cfs. Helena is 13.96ft at 3,707cfs with water temps of 49.5 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 8.24ft at 4,371cfs. South Fork of the Trinity is 4.01ft at 492cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 4,863cfs and air is 73 degrees and water at 53 degrees. Hoopa is 16.3ft at 6,314cfs and is 55 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 16,892cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 1,776cfs. Seiad Valley is 5.63ft at 4,906cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 5,323cfs, the Salmon River is 5.24ft at 3,628cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 6,950cfs. Orleans is 8.20ft at 10,578cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 13,.78ft at 19,689cfs and water temps of 57.9 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 6.44ft and flows of 1,242cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 13.01ft at N/A cfs.
Temperatures in the Valley last week were 94 hi with a low of 44. We are expecting spring showers with some rain in the mix for the coming week. Rain for the week was 0.00in with total rain for the water year to date of 62.20 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. It looks like we will be back to wet weather for the next week or so.

Weather is backing off and rivers are dropping

Finally, we are seeing some of the rivers dropping to fishable conditions. As I write this column, I am watching the Trinity drop in front of my house. (I watch the river bar) This is good news! The mark we have to watch for is when the river levels at Douglas City drops below 1,000cfs then you can fish the upper sections of the river. Now all we have to do Is watch for the snow melt and the snow pack report to come out in order to see what kind of water flows we will be allotted for water flows on the Trinity this year.
Salmon fishing is going to be tough this year and steelhead fishing is down runners at this time. The thing is that down runners have used a lot of their energy spawning and are looking for anything to eat. I have even found little tiny sticks inside of them because they will go after anything that looks like food. The nice part is if you are lucky enough to hook into one of them, they still have lots of fight in them. This is also good for the fly fishermen. Another fish that we can start looking look for is sea run Browns. March is when they start making an effort to come up the Trinity. They are very hard to locate but if and when you run into one you know you will have a fight on your hands. (Its best to have plenty of running room) I haven’t had a chance to try out my area that I look for Brown Trout yet but I will be checking it out very soon.

PFMC: Waiting for the PFMC Options for salmon fishing from this week (March 6-12) when the PFMC met in Vancouver WA, to provide the options for fall Chinook salmon harvesting for the pacific coast. This was be a week-long meeting to determine just how many Chinook salmon will be available for harvest for Tribal share (50%), Ocean Commercial, Ocean Sport and In-River Sport fishing. It has already been determined that the Trinity and possibly some of the Klamath, as well as the Sacramento Rivers have been over fished. What this means is that the rivers in question did not meet their expected natural escapement goals for the past three years and now the CDFW has to come up with a recovery plan to meet the next three years of escapement for Fall Run Chinook salmon. Also, NOAA/NMFS has to approve a recovery plan for Spring Run Chinook salmon if they are listed. The strange thing is that NOAA was presented with a Draft Recovery Plan for Coho salmon in January of 2012 that could possibly fit a recovery plan for Spring salmon. I ask, “What ever became of that plan and could it be used for Spring Run Chinook salmon in the event of them being listed?” CDFW suggested 274,222 Klamath River Fall Run Chinook are swimming around in the ocean, a fair amount but not a large amount for harvest and natural spawning escapement combined. The Sacramento will need 151,000 natural spawner’s for this year as compared to a normal year of 122,000 natural spawner’s.

Reminder: The public hearings that CDFW will have to have for Spring Chinook, we are going to have to write lots of letters to the Fish and Game Commission as well as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, requesting Public Hearings in locations for Spring Run salmon fishing. Suggested locations are; Long Beach, Monterey, San Francisco, Sacramento, Redding and Eureka. With the possible listing of Spring Run Chinook all of the public affected by the listing should have a location close to them and where the regulations will affect the salmon fishing, not at the other end of the state where it is difficult for us to attend. Things we should know; is this for all fishing including Commercial fishery, Sportsmen as well as Tribal fishery?

Salmon Regulations in effect for the Klamath River; closed to the “TAKE” of Spring Run Chinook salmon from the mouth of the river to Iron Gate from Feb. 21 to Aug. 14^th (subject to the approval of the Office of Administrative Law); the Trinity River main stem from the mouth to the Bridge at Hwy 299 at Cedar Flat, Feb. 21 through August 31^st; from Feb.22to Oct. 15 no salmon shall be TAKEN from the Old Lewiston Bridge to the Bridge at Hwy 299, Cedar Flat.

Fishing: The rains and flooding we have been having are receding some but many of the rivers are still high in their lower reaches so please be cautious when you are checking them out. Right now, the Trinity is high from Junction City all the way down to the Klamath. We are seeing the river recede but one still has to be alert to the weather.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing 2,199cfs. at this time. This could make fishing above I-5 very difficult or no fishing at all. Siead Valley is flowing at 4,906cfs a reduction of 192cfs from last week. The Klamath is basically blown out at this time.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 94% of capacity (a decrease of 6%) with inflows 2,198cfs and releasing 3,475cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Keswick is 88% (and increase of 7%), Shasta is 89% of capacity (an increase of 2%) with inflows of 29,284cfs and releasing 35,673cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 72% of capacity (an increase of 8% plus 2ft) with inflows of 22,243cfs with releases of 5,795cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 60% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 2ft) with inflows of 22,385fs with releases of 9,665cfs.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 43ft below the overflow (a decrease of 4ft) and 74% of capacity (an increase of 2%) inflows are 3,635cfs and 559cfs is being released into Lewiston Lake with 259cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 40,467cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 300cfs and water temperatures of N/A degrees and air at N/A as of 11:30am today Sunday Mar. 10, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 5.23ft at 662cfs and water temps of 43.3 Douglas City is 7.46ft and releasing 1,218cfs. with air temps of 44 and water at 43.6 degrees. Junction City is 4.34ft at 1,970cfs. Helena is 12.50ft at 2,450cfs with water temps of 44.3 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 7.96ft at 3,765cfs. South Fork of the Trinity is 8.86ft at 4,974cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 8,739cfs and air is 49 degrees and water at 45 degrees. Hoopa is 20,24ft at 15,202cfs and is 45 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 26,873cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 2,199cfs. Seiad Valley is 5.63ft at 4,906cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 5,378cfs, the Salmon River is 4.86ft at 3,025cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 8,640cfs. Orleans is 9.66ft at 11,671cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 17.10ft at 36,871cfs and water temps of 45.4 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 9.22ft and flows of 4,560cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 15.52ft at N/A cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 58 hi with lows of 31. Rain for the week was 3.1in with total rain for the water year to date of 53.66 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. We will be seeing sunshine during the next week with a little bit of rain showers with some clouds mixed in.

New Regulations for Spring Salmon

At the Feb. 6th California Fish and Game Commission meeting, the Karuk Tribe and the Salmon River Restoration Council submitted a petition to the Commission suggesting that declining population trends and a low abundance of the Spring Run Chinook salmon makes vulnerable to extinction. Once a petition for listing a species is presented and accepted by the Commission emergency action has to happen. This action is to enact Regulations that work the same as if the species was actually listed. Therefore, a temporary set of regulations are in effect for one year or until the California Endangered Species Act is enacted for the species being asked for listing and it is listed as Threatened or Endangered. For the year, the regulations are as though the Spring Run Chinook are Listed and CDFW will have to hold public hearings for a reason the Klamath River Basin Spring Chinook salmon SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be listed. After the public hearings the CDFW shall present options for the Commission to make a determination if the Klamath Basin Spring Chinook should be listed under the CESA and only then shall the Spring Chinook be listed and a recovery plan shall be provided for their recover.

Regulations: the Klamath River is closed to the “TAKE” of Spring Run Chinook salmon from the mouth of the river to Iron Gate from Feb. 21 to Aug. 14th (subject to the approval of the Office of Administrative Law); the Trinity River main stem from the mouth to the Bridge at Hwy 299 at Cedar Flat, Feb. 21 through August 31st; from Feb.22to Oct. 15 no salmon shall be TAKEN from the Old Lewiston Bridge to the Bridge at Hwy 299, Cedar Flat. CDFW will also be working on regulations for Ocean fishing, sport and Commercial. Remember these regulations are only temporary until there is a determination to list or not list the Spring Run Chinook salmon.

Notice: Who turned off the power? Much of eastern Humboldt and Trinity Counties was without power for most of last week, Feb. 10 thru Feb. 15. (including me, and again this weekend) This is why there was no Fishing Report for last week and having trouble this week. Sorry!

NOTE: Don’t forget Humboldt Steelhead Days hatchery fish derby is still going on until February 23rd. Anglers can still sign up for the derby by going to humboldtsteelheaddays.com.

Klamath Iron Gate Hatchery: Right now, the counts are still going up for the hatchery and Scott River. I hope to have more on this by next week.

Trinity River Hatchery: TRH for the week of Jan. 29 thru Feb. 4; Chinook 0, season total 7,706; Coho 0, season total 745; Steelhead 270, season total 1,636.

Redd Survey: No surveys are being taken due to the weather conditions and the river being too high to safely navigate.

Fishing: A couple of weeks ago the Deadwood Creek drainage started breaking loose and it was having huge amounts run off of debris and mud, then add the large amounts of water from the North Fork and Canyon Creek the Upper Trinity was unfishable. I am still getting reports of large amounts of water coming from those creeks. The weather for this week is predicted to be good with sunshine and that should bring some hope that the Upper Trinity should be great for winter steelhead fishing. From Jan.21 through the first week of February the counts up at the hatchery have been the best in several years. This being the case, steelhead fishing should be great with lots of hatchery fish to harvest.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing 1,849cfs. at this time which makes it somewhat high but above I-5. Keep an eye for the weather as it is predicted sunshine for the next week and should be very fishable above I-5 until the next series of storms are predicted to come in. Right now, anything from I-5 down are impossible to fish. If we get a week of sunshine, the upper Klamath will be good fishing.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 89% of capacity (a decrease of 9%) with inflows 22,060cfs and releasing 5,022cfs into Clear Creek and on to Keswick. Shasta is 51% of capacity (an increase of 11% and plus 46ft) with inflows of 18,885cfs and releasing 2,022cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 87% of capacity (a decrease of 4%) with inflows of 3,000cfs and releasing 3,151cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 40% of capacity (an increase of 1% plus 7ft) with inflows of 5,837cfs with releases of 1,158cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 66% of capacity (an increase of 12% plus 32ft) with inflows of 17,814cfs with releases of 19,204cfs into the Feather River.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 55ft below the overflow (a decrease of 6ft) and 68% of capacity (an increase of 3%) inflows are 2,743cfs and 223cfs is being released into Lewiston Lake with 2,500 cfs going to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 3,207cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 300cfs and water temperatures of N/A degrees and air at N/A as of 2:00pm today Sunday Feb. 17, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 5.11ft at 567cfs and water temps of 42.7, Douglas City is 7.13ft and 938cfs. with air temps of 49 and water at 42.3 degrees. Junction City is 23.62ft at 1,420cfs. Helena is 11.66ft at 1,843cfs with water temps of 44.1 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 7.44ft at 3,253cfs. South Fork of the Trinity is 8.18ft at 4,297cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 7,550cfs and air is 46 degrees and water at 44 degrees. Hoopa is 19.58ft at 13,443cfs and is 44 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 25,985cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 1,849cfs. Seiad Valley is 5.17ft at 4,246cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 4,788cfs, the Salmon River is 5.14ft at 3,436cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 8,968cfs. Orleans is 8.95ft at 12,404cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 11.60ft at 40,384cfs and water temps of 43.9 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 11.60ft and flows of 9,495cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.62ft at 9,480cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 44 hi with lows of 33. Rain for the week was 9.95in and total rain for the water year to date is 47.41 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. Sunshine is predicted in the valley for all of this week and partial sun for the weekend.

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