Some Light Rains with Cloud Days Ahead

For the next week or so it looks like we will be getting some light rains or scattered showers. It doesn’t look like enough rain to make the rivers rise much. In fact, the Klamath Trinity River Basin is on the down side. Yes, the Klamath Trinity rivers are dropping, the Trinity not as much as the Klamath. The good news is that most all of the reservoirs are 80% or better of capacity except for Lake Oroville (11%) and Millerton Lake (55%). With this information plus the Snow Pack (yet to be announced) it appears that the state is over the drought for sure and water quotas for all should be sufficient to allow farmers and rivers to have the very much needed waters.

The CDFW proposed “New” regulation changes for the Eastern Sierras Trout fishing on paper looks good but if you take into account the weather conditions and lack of personnel available for the proposed “Opening”, the safety of the general fishing public could be in dyer trouble what with deep snow and bad cell phone reception. I hope that CDFW will take another look at the proposals and consider the public’s safety before they make anything permanent.
I am sorry I have not received the results from the PFMC meeting yet but one should be able to get the results by going to their web site.

Fishing: Fishing this last week has been on the slow side for the Trinity and I have not received my usual information from the Klamath side but from the water flows it appears the both rivers were too high for much good fishing. If the rivers continue to drop, I am sure fishing will pick up during the next week.
I hope everyone has great Easter and those who do go fishing I wish them “Good Fish’en”.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing 4,560cfs. at this time. I don’t think there would be much fishing above I-5 with this kind of releases from Iron Gate. The water flows in the Happy Camp area is 10,436cfs which is very high at this time but dropping fast. Orleans and the Weitchpec areas are way to high to even consider fishing at tis time but should be fair to good flows in about a week.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 98% of capacity (an increase of 2%) with inflows 1,270cfs and releasing 670cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 90% of capacity (an increase of 2%) with inflows of 24,409cfs and releasing 38,964cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 8489% (an increase of 2%) with an inflow of 40,394cfs and releasing 39,749cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 11% of capacity (a decrease of N/A% plus N/Aft) with inflows of 19,717cfs with releases of 10,370cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 82% of capacity (an increase of 2% plus 2ft) with inflows of 9,109cfs with releases of 9,935cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 20ft below the overflow (a decrease of 9ft) and 87% of capacity (an increase of 5%) inflows are 5,398cfs and releasing 238cfs into Lewiston Lake with 5,160cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 39,749cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 307cfs and water temperatures of 50.39degrees and air at N/A as of 9:00am today Sunday Apr. 14, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 5.18ft at 623cfs and water temps of 49.3. Douglas City is 7.33cft and flows of 1,104cfs. with air temps of 51 and water at 54 degrees. Junction City is 3.77ft at 1,420cfs. Helena is 12.15ft at 2,153cfs with water temps of 50 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 7.98ft at 3,786cfs. South Fork of the Trinity is 7.52ft at 3,618cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 7,414cfs and air is 55 degrees and water at 50 degrees. Hoopa is 19.13ft at 12,292cfs with water temp of 50 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 33,979cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 4,560cfs. Seiad Valley is 8.14ft at 9,345cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 10,436cfs, the Salmon River is 6.34ft at 5,633cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 16,054cfs. Orleans is 11.79ft at 21,687cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 18.41ft at 44,316cfs and water temps of 50.8 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 9.91ft and flows of 5,995cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 16.16ft at N/A cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 77 hi with a low of 46. Rain for the week was 2.00in with total rain for the water year to date of 61.45 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. The north coast weather is predicted to have light rain and scattered showers with cloudy days in the mix. The Trinity Valley is predicted to be the same. Come on sunshine!

We have Rain!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and was able to enjoy family together.

We had a good rain last week. This last storm brought the Klamath Valley 3 to 5 inches of rain depending upon where you were. The good part is that it was enough rain to help the firefighters get control of the fires but not enough to cause instability of the area and cause mud slides. The rain did cause small slides and lots of rocks to fall onto the roads and Hwy 299. The bad part of Hwy 299 was from Junction City store to Burnt Ranch. One had to be careful and watch for rocks. The rocks were the worst hazard as they cut and punctured tires, in some cases not one tire but two and possibly three. In talking to Patrick at Del Loma RV Park and campground he said that, “many of his new customers at the park were there for waiting for repairs”. (Mostly tires) I would suggest that you be extra careful when driving from Weaverville to Willow Creek on Hwy 299 for the next couple of weeks as the area is expecting more rain in the immediate future.

With the rain and weather change we will see more steelhead and possibly some later run Chinook salmon. CDFW has put out a report that the Trinity River Hatchery has reached their quota of 4,800 fall run Chinook salmon and reopened the Trinity River to harvesting fall run Chinook salmon. As I have not personally caught salmon at this time of the year I cannot say how or what kind of shape these salmon would be in for eating.

Klamath Iron Gate: The Klamath summary counts for the Shasta 14,182 Chinook salmon, Bogus Creek 890 Chinook salmon, Scott Creek 333 Chinook salmon. This looks very good for the upper Klamath and could very well help with the recovery of the salmon runs up river.

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. (I will get another update on Monday 11/26/18)

Redd Survey: Survey from Lewiston down to North Fork of the Trinity River; Nov. 19, Redds 105; Redds for Willow Creek N/A, total 105, season total 2,095.

Fishing: Lewiston Dam is releasing water flows of 292fs. at 12:00pm Sunday Nov. 25. Fishing the Trinity has been slow over the Thanksgiving weekend. We needed rain and finally got it. The last storm started to raise the river some and that is a good sign. It will start more steelhead heading up the rivers and could possibly bring in some more fall run salmon. Fishing for fall run salmon, the regulations are the same as they were for regular salmon season; two fish per day, only one adult over 22 inches and six on possession with no more than three adults. If the coming storms brings in as much rain as predicted we will have steelhead fishing for sure. Some of the creeks that the fish spawn in are open to the river now and more rain will defiantly allow for more spawning streams to open. The Lower Trinity below Hawkins Bar to the mouth of the Trinity at the Klamath and the Upper Klamath above I-5 to Iron Gate is also open to the take of fall run Chinook with the same regulations as the Trinity. With CDFW opening the Trinity Back up for Chinook salmon fishing and the possibility of more fall run salmon coming into spawn we should see a good influx of steelies arriving to dine on those loose salmon eggs. I have always had good steelhead fishing behind spawning redds. Fly fishing with glow bugs behind spawning salmon is almost a sure thing for a big fat fall run steelhead hookup.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing flows of 1,053cfs. and fishing from I-5 to Iron Gate should still be good for steelhead and trout. The Upper Klamath above I-5 should also be good for late fall run Chinook salmon if they make it that far. The rains have definitely help the Klamath more fish are showing up around the mouth. I didn’t get a report for the mi-Klamath this week due to the holiday weekend but am trying to find out how the river is doing.
Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 86% of capacity (a decrease of2%) with inflows of 711fs and releasing 633cfs into Clear Creek and on to Keswick. Shasta is 47 of capacity (a decrease of 0% and +1ft) with inflows of 3,993736cfs and releasing 3,891cfs, Keswick is 92% of capacity (an increase of 4%) with inflows of 4,682cfs and releasing 4,657cfs; Oroville Lake is 29% capacity (a decrease of 1% & minus 1ft), inflow is 4,846cfs and releases are 2,379cfs; Folsom Lake is 34% of capacity (minus 1% & minus 1ft.) inflows are 1,959cfs and releases are 1,647cfs.

Trinity Lake: the Lake is 72ft below the over flow (an increase of 0ft) and 59% of capacity (0% decrease) Inflow to Trinity Lake is 342cfs and Trinity Dam is releasing 623cfs to Lewiston Lake with 350 going to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 4,657cfs 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 12:00pm today Sunday Nov. 25. Limekiln Gulch is 4.7ft at 310cfs, with water temps of 45.8 degrees. Douglas City is 6.2ft at 340cfs, water temps of 46.5 degrees and air is 47. Junction City is 1.6ft at 358cfs. Helena is 8.2ft at 396fs with water temps of 46.8. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 2.8ft at 563cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 815cfs and air is 53 with water at 47. Hoopa is 12.4ft. at 1,336cfs with water temps of 47.5. Flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at Klamath River are estimated to be 3,892cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate Dam releases are 1,052cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.3ft at 1,326cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,420cfs, Salmon River is 2.2ft at 413cfs, Somes Bar is estimated at 2,143cfs and Orleans is 3.4ft. at 2,556cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 9.5ft at 5,884cfs, with water temperatures of 48.5 degrees. Flows for Smith River at Dr. Fine Bridge are 6.3ft at 1,130cfs.

The temperatures in the Valley last week were 61/34 with 3.42 of rain and a season total of 4.82in. Temperatures in the valley next week are expected to reach 56/33 with some showers towards the middle to end of the week and more rain predicted for the following week. The higher altitudes above 7,000 can expect snow. This will be good for the rivers and the fires as it will surly put out the fires and start more fish moving up the rivers.

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.

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.

Winter water flows; where is the rain?

We are into Fall weather and there has been very little rain with limited rain projected for the near future. What with fires raging in both Northern and Southern California and not much rain in the future we are hurting for water. I received an email asking me, “With Paradise burning what will happen to steelhead fishing?” I can say that the fall run of steelhead for the Trinity River is looking better each week. From the Willow Creek Weir counts it appears that the peak of the Fall steelhead run came in the week of Oct. 1 thru Oct. 7. The Trinity River winter water flows are now down to 300cfs and it will depend upon rain to help bring the push to make more steelies to move up river into their staging areas to go up their spawning streams or to the hatchery. Low river flows are hampering the drift boaters but are making the bank fishers very happy.
I am sorry for not having a fishing report for the last couple of weeks but I made a trip up to Bozeman Montana to fish and deer hunt with my son and his friend of many years. I am sorry to say that it was probably the best fishing and hunting trip I have ever had. I was able to hunt and fish in the same day with being able to get both deer and fish. The lakes and Madison River were full of fat Rainbow and German Brown trout. The Browns ran up to 20 inches and the Rainbows were 12-18 inches. We kept what we wanted to eat and released the rest for another fisherman. I only hunted for whitetail deer but I can’t ever remember seeing so many elk and mule deer in open range than what I saw up there. Of course most of them were on private property and unreachable but still seeing them was wonderful. I was even privileged to see a bull moose in the wild, man are they big!

Lower Klamath Count: Harvest returns 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.

Trinity River Hatchery: The TRH has ended the spring run counting and will start up after the spawning break or the spring versus the fall run. For the week of Oct. 29 – Nov. 4; Chinook salmon jacks 91 adults 696 total 787, season total 1,047; Coho salmon; jacks 24, adults 10 total 24, season total 61; steelhead, adults 84, total 37, season total 37.

Willow Creek weir trapping: week of Oct. 29 – Nov. 4; jacks 9, adults 28, total 37 season total 1,525; Coho, jacks 6; adults 5, total 11, season 66; Steelhead, ½-lbs 4, adults 54, total 58 season total 548.

Redd Survey: Survey from Lewiston down to North Fork of the Trinity River; Nov. 4, Redds 105; Redds from Willow Creek to the Klamath 106, total 211, season total 1,515.

Fishing: Lewiston Dam is releasing water flows of 307fs. at 1:00pm Saturday Nov.10. Fishing in the Upper Trinity has been very good for the bank fishers but water flows are hampering the drift boaters. Last week Patrick at Del Loma RV and campground said that the fishers in the park were really doing good fishing behind the park and that one landed a nice 24 inch hatchery steelhead on a Copper John fly. This sounds great as there should be more of those Iron Heads on their way up to that area by this coming weekend. Because I was out of the area I was unable to get any reports from the Willow Creek / Hoopa area but there appears to be plenty steelhead in the area if the weir counts have any validity. With the low water flows it should be great fly fishing. As for hardware you might want to gear down a bit for low clear water. I would suggest dropping a size to try and entice the fish better rather than spook them.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing flows of 1,050cfs. Fishing from I-5 to Iron Gate should be good for steelhead and trout with the good water flows. Fly fishing has been doing good from Happy camp down to Orleans from the report I received from the Marble Mountain Ranch above Somes Bar. I didn’t get what was the hot fly but I will try and find out which flies are working in that area by next week.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 92% of capacity (a decrease of4%) with inflows of -8cfs and releasing 261cfs into Clear Creek and on to Keswick. Shasta is 47 of capacity (a decrease of 4% and 8ft) with inflows of 2,975cfs and releasing 4,472cfs, Keswick is 94% of capacity (an increase of 1%) with inflows of 4,942cfs and releasing 4,603cfs; Oroville Lake is 32% capacity (a decrease of 4% & minus 20ft), inflow is 906cfs and releases are 4,157cfs; Folsom Lake is 38% of capacity (minus72% & minus 11ft.) inflows are 922cfs and releases are 1,943cfs.

Trinity Lake: the Lake is 71ft below the over flow (an increase of 2ft) and 59% of capacity (2% decrease) Inflow to Trinity Lake is 22cfs and Trinity Dam is releasing 329cfs to Lewiston Lake with 22 going to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 4,603cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 307cfs with water temps of N/A degrees and air at N/A at 12:00pm today Saturday Nov. 4. Limekiln Gulch is 4.7ft at 316cfs, with water temps of 42.9 degrees. Douglas City is 6.2ft at 340cfs, water temps of 44.8 degrees and air is N/A. Junction City is 1.5ft at 346cfs. Helena is 8.3ft at 343fs with water temps of 44; Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 2.3ft at 391cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at4423cfs and air is 70 with water at 45. Hoopa is 11.1ft at 527cfs with water temps of 46.8. Flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at Klamath River are estimated to be 2,264cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate Dam releases are 1,053cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.1ft at 1,230cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,271cfs, Salmon River is 1.5ft at 161cfs, Somes Bar is estimated at 1,576cfs and Orleans is 2.8ft. at 1,737cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 7.9ft at 2,414cfs, with water temperatures of 49.5 degrees. Flows for Smith River at Dr. Fine Bridge are 4.5ft at 223cfs.

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 74/36 degrees with sunshine and clouds next week and then some scattered showers for the weekend the following week. We could us some rain to help the rivers and fires.

Weather has Changed

The weather has changed and we are definitely into fall weather. The water year for 2018 -02019 began October 1 and Willow Creek has received 0.9 inches of rain. On Oct. 3 Douglas City and Lewiston had a heavy rain cell come into their area and dropped 0.25 to 0.50 inches of rain that caused a wall of mud to come to out of the Deadwood Creek drainage and into the Trinity River. (Note that the Carr Fire burnt into the Deadwood Creek area and almost into Lewiston) This wall of mud started to move down the river and by 9:00am Douglas City store noted that the river was a solid wall of mud and moving down river. By Friday Oct. 5, it had reached Big Bar and moving down to Del Loma. This was very disturbing to many of the fishermen and I started to get phone calls to see if I knew what was causing it? After many phone calls I was able to find out that the Carr Fire in the Deadwood Creek Drainage area had not been rehabbed yet from fire suppression tactics and that is why there was so much silt and dirt was able to reach the creek and into the river. Sometimes it takes a while to get fire damaged areas rehabbed from fires and this is one of those problems. I hope the US Forest Service will be able to try and get to that area soon. Funding will be the major hold up. The good part is that as of today Sunday Oct 7^th the river has pretty well cleared its self up and the Willow Creek area just got a little discolored water.

Special Notice: The department of U S Commerce has declared the West Coast Fishery a Disaster for 2015 to 2017 as of Sept. 25^th. West Coast Commercial salmon fishermen will be able to apply for Disaster Relief Funds for July 2016 to March 2018. This will be very helpful to the fishing and support industries. Let’s just hope it will apply to the inland salmon fishing people also. I know that the last time this happened I went to the Golden Stat Fishermen’s Association meeting in San Francisco and was able to include $3 million for California Inland Fishery group that helped many guides and businesses receive funding.

Lower Klamath Count: For the week of Sept. 30; I was unable to get the report for this area.

Klamath Iron Gate: No report for this week; Shasta, Chinook salmon 4,115, season total 4,477; Bogus Creek, Chinook salmon 0, season total 14; Scott, Chinook salmon 0, season total 0.

Trinity River Hatchery; for the week of Sept.24 – Sept 30; Chinook salmon, jacks 145 adults 672 total 817, season total 1,542; Coho 0; steelhead, ½-lbs 1, adults 1, total 2, season total 3.

Junction City weir trapping: week of Sep. 24 – Sep. 30; Chinook salmon; jacks 10, adults 87, total 97, season total 1,045. Coho, jacks 0, total 0, season to date 0; Steelhead; 1/2lbs 0, adults 5, total 5, season to date 61; Brown Trout 0 total 0, season to date 20.
Willow Creek weir trapping: week of Sep. 24 – Sep. 30; jacks 125, adults 391, total 516 season total 857; Coho, jacks 0; adults 0, total 0, season 2; Steelhead, ½-lbs 1, adults 89, total 90 season total 221. The bears are raising hell at the weir and the new camera system is causing the fish to shy off from going through the tunnel. I hope this will change soon as there are plenty of fish stacking up below the weir.

Fishing: The Lewiston Dam is releasing water flows of 460fs. at 11:00am Sunday Oct.7. As of last Friday CDFW has not declared the Trinity has reached their quota for adult Chinook salmon and there is the possibility that the season could be extended to Oct. 21^st.This is great news as there has not been very much harvesting of adult salmon on the Trinity. Also the main part of the Fall run has not arrived yet. After seeing the counts this last week at the W. C. weir we could be seeing that happen very soon though. I am seeing more fishermen along the river now and I am getting more report s of people landing fish, both steelhead and salmon. I think the weather change has had a lot to do with it as it is getting colder in the mornings and the water temps are dropping. My suggestion is to get out there now as there will not be a better time. Each week the seems to be more steelies arriving in the Willow Creek area and that only means that fishing is going to get hot.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing flows of 1,041cfs. This is a great time to fish the Upper Klamath from I-5 to the dam. I know fishing has really picked up in the Orleans to Happy Camp section of the river and the river has cleared as the temperatures have dropped. The Wetchpec section of the river has been reporting a good f steelhead and salmon for some very good fishing.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 978% of capacity (an increase of 1%) with inflows of 406cfs and releasing 105cfs into Clear Creek and on to Keswick. Shasta is 42% of capacity (a decrease of 11% and 12ft) with inflows of 4,609cfs and releasing 6,261cfs, Keswick is 89% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) with inflows of 7,239cfs and releasing 7,705cfs; Oroville Lake is 37% capacity (a decrease of 2% & minus 6ft), inflow is8351cfs and releases are 3,615cfs; Folsom Lake is 47% of capacity (minus 1% & minus 1ft.) inflows are 1,035cfs and releases are 1,739cfs.

Trinity Lake: the Lake is 68ft below the over flow (an increase of 1ft) and 61% of capacity (0% decrease) Inflow to Trinity Lake is 129cfs and Trinity Dam is releasing 936cfs to Lewiston Lake with 812s going to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 7,705cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 460cfs with water temps of 50.6 degrees and air at 56 at 11:00am today Sunday Oct. 7. Limekiln Gulch is 5ft at 485cfs, with water temps of 49.5 degrees. Douglas City is 6.4ft at 487cfs, water temps of 51.2 degrees and air is 56 Junction City is 1.9ft at 467cfs. Helena is 8.8ft at 482fs with water temps of 51.2; Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 2.7ft at 544cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 626cfs and air is 59 with water at 56. Hoopa is 11.4ft at 677cfs with water temps of 90.
Flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at Klamath River are estimated to be 2,605cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate Dam releases are 1,041cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.2ft at 1,264cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,309cfs, Salmon River is 1.7ft at 204cfs, Somes Bar is estimated at 1,724cfs and Orleans is 2.9ft. at 1,928cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 8.1ft at 2,839cfs, with water temperatures of 61.5 degrees. Flows for Smith River at Dr. Fine Bridge are 4.7ft at 285cfs.

The temperatures in the Valley last week were 72/48 with 0.9in of rain and a season total of 0.9in of rain (Oct 1new water year). Temperatures in the valley next week are expected to reach 79/42 degrees with a cool down and some sunshine next week then a couple of days of scattered showers the week after.

Some Light Rains with Cloud Days Ahead

We have Rain!

Surprise, Surprise!

Winter water flows; where is the rain?

Weather has Changed

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