River is still dirty!

The River Restoration project above Junction City is still providing lots of turbidity for that area of the river and makes for bad fishing. Will it do to or for any in-river spawning? Years ago, before the Dam the mining turned the river into a “river of mud” but the salmon had plenty of clean up-stream area to spawn in. If the river restoration is supposed to provide more spawning area for the Chinook salmon where are the reports of increased production of the salmon? I have not seen any nor is there any listed report of an increase of Chinook salmon for the upper Trinity River. The Trinity Hatchery produces 3 million Chinook, 280,000 steelhead (reduced from 500,000) and 300,000 (reduced from 500,000) Coho salmon but no reports from the TRRP of in-river spawning production. There is a report of in-river salmon Redds but no follow up of how they do. So, what does the TRRP do other than spend $15 million per year on “river restoration” that does not improve the fishing opportunities.

I will have more on the Hoopa weir next week as I am waiting for a response from the Hoopa Tribe as to how they plan to manage the weir.

Junction City Weir counts: Julian week 31 the week endingAug. 5; Chinook salmon, 5-jack, 48-adult, total 53, season total 124; Coho 0; steelhead ½-lbs 0, adults 16, season total 16; Brown Trout 3, season total 13.

Fishing: Fishing above the Round house is still very good. Both Todd LeBoeuf, Tiger T guide service, has reported great fishing above the Round House. Last week Todd took out Dana and Chris Dase of Oregon and was able to get them limits of salmon with the largest being 18lbs. They were also able to hook up and release a couple of nice adult summer run steelhead to finish off their trip.
Summer releases have arrived and Lewiston is now releasing 444cfs into the river. The extra water releases for the Hoopa Boat Dance should be released sometime around Sept. 3^rdfor the ceremonies. (This is the odd year, even years is Yurok’s)
Just 20 more days before the Fall Chinook salmon season opens! Labor Day weekend starts Aug. 31^st but Sept. 1^st is Sunday of that weekend. You salmon fishermen had better get in your reservations now if you want to hopefully get a guide and a place to stay.

Mid-Klamath: The Klamath at Weitchpec is flowing about 2,622cfs and the river is a nice green now. John Harlan from E Ne Nuck, reported that the moss has dissipated and the river is green again. The problem being that the salmon have not shown up yet at Bluff Creek. Usually they start to show up around the first week of August. He did state that he saw plenty of nice steelhead at the mouth of Hopkin’s Creek. That would be natural because Hopkin’s Creek is nothing but cold water coming down off of the mountain. The fish love to take a break there and cool off some before the head on up the Klamath or turn around and go up the Trinity.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 98% of capacity (an increase of 0%) with inflows 1,574cfs and releasing 1,628cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 8% of capacity (a decrease of % minus 4ft) with inflows of 2,829cfs and releasing 9,799cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 93% (a decrease of 0%) with inflows of 11,668cfs and releasing 11,107cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 84% of capacity (a decrease of 3% minus 7ft) with inflows of 3,062cfs with releases of 11,288cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 8% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 2ft) with inflows of 1,917cfs with releases of 1,917cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 17ft below the overflow (an increase of 2ft) and 89% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) and inflows are 5cfs and releases are 1,674cfs into Lewiston Lake with 1,372cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 10,903cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 444cfs and water temperatures of 54.8 degrees and air at N/A as of 12:00pm today Saturday August 10, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 4.89ft at 366cfs. Douglas City is 6.54ft and flows of 464cfs. with air temps of 69 water temperatures of N/A degrees. Junction City is N/Aft at N/A cfs due to turbidity. Helena is 8.75ft at 445cfs with water temps of 59.7 degrees and water turbidity of 1.40 (Hi was 4.30 @ 10am). Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 2.97ft at 623cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.40ft at 145cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 768cfs and air is 67 degrees and water at 66 degrees. Hoopa is 11.71ft at 929cfs and water is 69 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 2,622cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 1,093cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.29ft at 1,319cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,408cfs, the Salmon River is 2.25ft at 357cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,336cfs. Orleans is 2.84ft at 1,693cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 8.64ft at 2,938cfs and water temps of 71.7 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 5.07ft and flows of 368cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.42ft at N/A cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 100 hi with a low of 53. Rain for the week was 0.23in with thunder and lightning storms and total rain for the 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 mid to hi 90s and sunshine for the coming weekend. We had rain and thunder and lightning storms come through last week which cooled things down a bit.

River is dropping and Fishing is better.

As the Trinity drops the salmon are starting to move into the river. The upper river is seeing more bright fish and Greys Falls is seeing more salmon holding. I have heard that the Falls is starting to get loaded with fishermen and sometimes one has to wait for a spot to fish. Water flows are getting to a state for very good fishing on both the Klamath and Trinity.

There was no fishing report last week because I was up in Oregon checking on the Umpqua, McKenzie and Willamette Rivers on a short vacation to the Oregon Gardens. I am sorry for those of you that read my report each week and there was none. I wish you Good Fish’en and thank you for following my column.

Fishing: Fishing has started to really pick up now that the water flows are getting back towards summer flows. We are going to see the releases reach 450cfs Aug. 6^th. All the reports I have been getting people are coming back into camp with their one salmon. Seeing the upper Trinity this past week the water was beautiful, clear and very fishable. The days have been hot but are cooling down some this weekend but the following week it is supposed the turn hot again. With the sun coming out so bright the fish will start to go deep by mid-mornings and one will have to change tactics. It will be early mornings and late afternoons into the evenings as the salmon move up river seeking cooler water.

Mid-Klamath: The Klamath at Weitchpec is flowing about 1,616cfs and the river is a nice green. As the river drops a little more, we will see the river start to turn a little brown but right now the river is in great shape for fishing. There are very few fishermen out on the Klamath now, mostly locals. Sometime around the 1^st or 2^nd week of August we should start to see more larger fish move into the river. River temperatures are starting to climb a little bit right now but not so much that it is hampering good fishing.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 97% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) with inflows 2,523cfs and releasing 2,447cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 93% of capacity (a decrease of 3% minus 5ft) with inflows of 4,535cfs and releasing 9,361cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 94% (an increase of 0%) with inflows of 11,110cfs and releasing 10,923cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 94% of capacity (a decrease of 4% minus 7ft) with inflows of 2,991cfs with releases of 8,021cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 90% of capacity (a decrease of 2% plus 2ft) with inflows of 4,265cfs with releases of 5,469cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 11ft below the overflow (an increase of 3ft) and 95% of capacity (a decrease of 2 %) and inflows are 654cfs and releases are 2,205cfs into Lewiston Lake with 1,264cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 10,923cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 941cfs and water temperatures of 50.3 degrees and air at N/A as of 11:00am today Saturday July 14, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is 5.67ft at 1,030cfs and water temps of N/A. Douglas City is 7.38ft and flows of 1,061cfs. with air temps of 83 and water at 51.9 degrees. Junction City is 3.12ft at 1,150cfs. Helena is 10,48ft at 1,129cfs with water temps of 58.6 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 4.69ft at 1,405cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.72ft at 211cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 1,616cfs and air is 85 degrees and water at 61 degrees. Hoopa is 13.20ft at 2,007cfs and water is 63.9 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 4,505cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 896cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.24ft at 1,284cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,390cfs, the Salmon River is 2.56ft at 557cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,941cfs. Orleans is 3.39ft at 2,498cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 9.68ft at 5,182cfs and water temps of 69.6 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 5.22ft and flows of 479cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 12.06ft at N/A cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 95 hi with a low of 55. 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 in the low to mid 90s and lots of sunshine after the weekend. I know I would like some cooler weather and cooler water so the summer steelhead would make a run for their holding waters.

Danger on the Trinity

A dangerous condition has occurred on the Trinity River just below Hawkins Bar. Around the bend from the Hawkins Bar access the river cable that marks the river for aircraft, with the phone cable, has come down and is in the river just below the surface. It is identifiable by the two large orange balls up against the bank on river right. This cable is at just the right depth that it will hook and capsize any water craft that tries to goes by it. Please be careful if you plan to drift this part of the Trinity River! We are trying to get the river posted at this point until this hazard is removed. You must get out of the water at this point and portage around the hazard.

Once again the rivers of the North Coast are plagued by the rains. Just as the rivers are coming into fishable conditions, we get more rain that blows out the rivers. The Trinity was fishable in the upper reaches but only for a short time. Maybe this is a good thing in that we could get a good spawn from salmon as well as native steelhead which will help the river in two to three years when we see the return. Only time will tell!

The PFMC will be meeting next week in Rohnert Park to finalize the fall Chinook salmon fisheries for the Klamath River Basin. I sure hope they can come up with some decent numbers to provide an Ocean salmon fishery and In-River Sport salmon fishery. It is going to be very interesting as to what the PFMC will determine will be the allowable harvestable surplus for fishing quotas. With the CDFW accepting the petition for listing spring run Chinook I would expect CDFW would be hard pressed to be able to come up with some type of quotas for the Tribes and still be able to provide an In-River Sport fishing season

The Tribal harvest quota is 50% of any harvestable surplus; the Jessy Short settlement (a Federal Judgement) states the Yuroks’ to receive 80% and the Hoopa to receive 20% of the Tribal quotas. The Hoopa have already stated they intend to harvest a 50% share of the Tribal quota for this year. My math figures 50% plus 80% equals 130%, where is the extra 30% going to come from? We already have a problem on the Trinity with a gill net being placed in the river just above the Hawkins Bar Bridge. As far as I know there is NO Reservation in that area and the Trinity is closed to the take of Chinook salmon at this time.

I am having trouble retrieving the California Data Exchange Center for river flows and data today so I am not able to provide all of the normal river information at the lower part of this report. Sorry about that. I am still having troubles with this new computer.

Fishing: The Rivers are going up and down like a yoyo in summer. Just as the Trinity gets fishable, we have another set of storms come in and the rivers go back up again. In between the storms the upper section of the Trinity fishes good for down runners with a few late fresh native steelhead in the mix. This makes for some exciting fishing because you never know what you will have on the end of your line until you can see it.

Mid-Klamath: Iron Gate Dam is releasing 1,841cfs. at this time. Fishing on the Klamath right now is a guessing game because of the storms. The good part is that the Sierras are stacking up some much-needed snow, for later this spring and summer. (Good for the farmers too)

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 90% of capacity (a decrease of 0%) with inflows 1,548cfs and releasing 1,049cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta is 88% of capacity (an increase of 4%) with inflows of 25,043cfs and releasing 10,940cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 81% (a decrease of 3%) with an inflow of 14,563cfs and releasing 15,103cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 80% of capacity (an increase of 3% plus 9ft) with inflows of 17,897cfs with releases of 11,601cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 674% of capacity (an increase of 5% plus 5ft) with inflows of 9,108cfs with releases of 4,908cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: the lake is 48ft below the overflow (a decrease of 4ft) and 79% of capacity (an increase of 2%) inflows are 3,371cfs and releasing 156cfs into Lewiston Lake with 3,215cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 15,103cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam releases are 307cfs and water temperatures of 52.6 degrees and air at N/A as of 12:00pm today Sunday Mar. 31, 2019. Limekiln Gulch is N/Aft at N/Acfs and water temps of N/A. Douglas City is 7.30ft and flows of 1,0778cfs. with air temps of 58 and water at 46.9 degrees. Junction City is 3.96ft at 1,670cfs. Helena is N/Aft at N/Acfs with water temps of N/A degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is N/Aft at N/A cfs. South Fork of the Trinity is N/Aft at N/A cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at N/A cfs and air is 60 degrees and water at N/A degrees. Hoopa is 18.71ft at 11,275cfs and is N/A degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be N/A15,103cfs.

Klamath: Iron Gate is releasing 1,841cfs. Seiad Valley is 5.03ft at 4,059cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at N/A cfs, the Salmon River is N/Aft at N/A cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be N/A cfs. Orleans is N/Aft at N/A cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 15.56ft at 28,675cfs and water temps of 48.7 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith is 9.19ft and flows of 4,700cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 15.57ft at N/A cfs.

Temperatures in the Valley last week were 67 hi, with a low of 47. Rain for the week was 2.56in with total rain for the water year to date of 58.02 inches, with snow of 4.5in. in the valley to date. We will be seeing rainy days with light rains and scattered showers during the rest week. Nothing heavy predicted but we could see some snow melt that would change the dam releases.

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.

River is still dirty!

River is dropping and Fishing is better.

Danger on the Trinity

Weather is backing off and rivers are dropping

New Regulations for Spring Salmon

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