TRINITY RIVER FISHING REPORT – September 24, 2023

From Willow Creek, CA. By E. B. Duggan “D” Fishing, 707-599-2357 at yen2fish@yahoo.com

FALL IS UPON US FISH MOVING UP RIVER

Well it looks like Fall is officially here. I have been getting scratchy information from some fishermen hooking into some early Fall Run fish and the Willow Creek Weir has been counting some Fall Hatchery Coho from the fishermen I contacted they are hooking into some chrome fish both in the upper reaches of the river and in the lower sections. They also have caught and released some late run springers. Fishing in the Willow Creek area this last weekend has been hard due to so many rafters enjoying their last chances to get a fun run on the lower river. Water on the lower section of the trinity is getting a little bumpy because of the low flows.
    I got the last notice of Tribal Ceremonial events on the Klamath River but by the time you have read this it will be over so you will be able to fish most anywhere you wish without a problem. Sorry about such a late notice, hopefully I will get an earlier notice about Tribal Events on the rivers so I can wear you about them to prevent any problems.
    I am getting some good information about early counts from the weirs about Fall Run fish. I only hope it will continue so that the native fish escapement will increase for next year. It would be great if the Klamath River Basin could start to recover but I don’t think this will happen. What I believe has to happen is that California Department of Fish and Wildlife has to get off their butts and pay attention to what Washington Fish and Wildlife is doing to help recover their fisheries so that fishermen will start to come back to fish. The loss of fishing license fees is starting to hurt CDFW and curtail their funding for fishery projects. They need to wake up and realize that we the fishing public is losing the opportunity to fish and getting disgusted with their decisions. If we all decided to NOT buy a fishing license for one year, they might get the message that we pay their salaries and fund fishing projects and we are discussed with their actions. The loss of fishing opportunities discourages people to fish!  
Trinity River Hatchery summary: Julian Week 37 ending Sep. 16, 2023; Fall Chinook Salmon, 42-jacks, 497-adults, total 539, seasonal total 716; Coho Salmon 0; Steelhead 2.
Junction City Weir summary: Julian Week 37 ending Sep. 16, 2023; Chinook Salmon,9- jacks,45- adults, total of 53, seasonal total 1,476; Coho Salmon 0, Steelhead, 1- ½-pounders, 1- adults, total 2, seasonal total 134; 0-Brown Trout, seasonal total 21.
Willow Creek Weir summary: Julian Week 37 ending Sep. 16,2023; Chinook Salmon, 11-jacks, 45- adults, total 56, seasonal total 164; Coho Salmon, 7-adult, 0- jack, total 7, season total 7; Steelhead, 15-1/2-pounders, 34- adults, total 49, seasonal total 16 (hatchery total 50). The Willow Creek weir started counting fish Aug. 27, 2023. Note: The weirs count about 10% of the fish moving up river so the seasonal totals are not just the number of Ad clipped hatchery Steelhead that are moving up the river returning to the Trinity River Hatchery.  
Fishing: The Trinity River Vally has officially started to see some Fall Weather. For a long time, the area has not seen rain this early in the year. Our rain used to come in October but lately it has not been until November. I am not complaining because rain not only helps the fish but helps put out the fires that is ruining out forests that helps provide the shad for the rivers and cool water for the fish. For a long time, we have had to fight for the ability to fish for salmon and now it has finally come to the point there is not enough salmon to fish for and we are not able to fish for salmon this year or maybe even next year. I am happy to see there are Steelhead in the river to catch and release for the thrill of hooking into one. Last week Dave Grahm and his son Walker, 9 years old, caught and released 8 adult Salmon, 6 adult Steelhead and one adult Brown Trout. Walker landed four of the fish and his first adult Salmon. The fished from Suzie Q to Tunnel Flat using plugs and spinners. Drifting from South Fork to Big Rock during the week was fair to good fishing but on the weekend was hard dur to many rafters on the river. Right now, spinners (Panther Martin #9-6s) are providing some good action but yesterday a large Mayfly hatch broke out so fly fishing should really pickup. 
Mid-Klamath and Happy Camp: The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 2,276cfs, this is a decrease of 25cfs from last week. Iron Gate Dam is currently releasing 1,003cfs a decrease of 0cfs from last week. The Klamath River has decreased the releases a little bit but I don’t think it will hurt the fishing possibilities on the mid to upper parts of the Klamath. The major problem of fishing the Mid-Klamath are the fires and the runoff from the fires. Access on Hwy 96 is problematic at the best, but above I-5 there are no fires or heavy smoke yet. If you are interested in fishing the Upper Klamath you might call Scott Caldwell a call (530-905-0758) Hwy 199 up in Del Norte has been closed due to the Smith River Complex fires. 
Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 98% of capacity (a decrease of 0%) with inflows of 1,162cfs and releasing 1,098cfs over to the Keswick Reservoir. Shasta Lake is 74% of capacity (a decrease of 1% plus 2ft) with inflows of 2,849cfs and releasing 5,715cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 91% (an increase of 4%) with inflows of 6,991cfs and releasing 6,946cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 75% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 5ft) with inflows of 2,778cfs with releases of 10,139cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 70% of capacity (a decrease of 6% minus 2ft) with inflows of 2,162cfs with releases of 3,146cfs into the American river. Trinity Lake is 1,290,587AF a decrease of 47,659AF. A loss of the gain for last week.
Trinity Lake: The lake is 75ft below the overflow (an increase of 6ft) and 53% of capacity (a decrease of 2%) with inflows of 169cfs and releasing 1,623cfs into Lewiston Lake with 466cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown and on to Keswick Power Plant, and releasing 6,946cfs into the Sacramento River.
Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 93% of capacity (an increase of 1%) and water releases of 457cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 49.9 degrees, as of 1:30pm today Sunday September 24, 2023. Limekiln Gulch is 4.90ft at flows of 457cfs. Douglas City is 6.71ft with flows of 451cfs with water temperatures of 53.4 degrees. Junction City is 1.99ft at 453cfs. Helena is 8.58ft at 503cfs with water temps of 57.6 degrees. Burnt Ranch at Cedar Flat is 2.79ft at 564cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.92ft at 110cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 674cfs and air is 79 degrees and water at 66.5 degrees, Hoopa is 11.53ft at 741cfs with water at 63.2 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath in Weitchpec are estimated to be 2,276cfs a decrease of 25cfs.
Klamath River flows and conditions: Iron Gate is releasing 1,003cfs a decrease of 0cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.09ft at 1,161cfs. Indian Creek is 3.56ft at 67cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 1,228cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,336cfs, and the Salmon River is 1.50ft at 199cfs. Orleans is 2.46ft at 1,535cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 8.05ft at 2,552cfs and water temps are 63.4 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith are 4.44ft with flows of 221cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.48ft at N/A. Temperatures for the Valley last week had a high of 86 and a low of 42 degrees. Rain for the week was trace with a water year total to date of 77.96 inches and 0.00in of snow for a total of 7.50in. in Willow Creek. The predicted temperatures for next week are for high of 86 and a low of 48. The weather predicted for next week is a cooling down some rain and rain showers. One should come prepared to get wet with some better fishing

Good Fishin and Good Luck but remember; “keep your tip up with a tight line lands fish”
Websites: www.norcalfishreports.com/spots/1896/trinity-river—willow-creek-weir.php, info@willowcreekchamber.com