The prediction of Triple Digit Heat for next week is going to be hard on the fishing and the people. Wednesday July 1st was the opening for Spring Chinook salmon fishing on the Lower Klamath and the Upper Trinity rivers. Saturday July 3rd was “Free Fishing Day”. Friday the Trinity Valley saw 103 degrees…
At the time of this writing it is 101 degrees and at end of the day it was 112 degrees. The water in Hoopa was 77.9 degrees. Salmon can survive in 72 degrees but really will die after 75 degrees. The following is research I have done on the internet: The State Water Resources Control…
At the June 14-15th California Fish and Game Commission meeting listening to the dozen or so Tribal speakers and only one sports fisherman decided to list the Upper Klamath Spring Chinook salmon as a Threatened Species under the California Endangered Species Act (ESA). Note: Not the Federal Endangered Species Act! Most of the Tribal speakers that spoke for…
The beginning of summer, Memorial Day, and the boat races have passed and Father’s Day is here. With those Holidays passed and present summer is officially here June 20,2021 FATHER’S DAY! I hope you all have a great time and note that the state of California is supposed to open for Business as Usual! I…
Memorial Day Weekend to many is the start of summer. With temperatures reaching into the 100’s it does remind us of summer. It also starts the warming of the rivers. Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green algae) was discovered on the Lower Mad River. It also starts the blooming of Cyanobacteria on the Eel, Klamath ad Trinity Rivers….
C. Shasta hits down migrating juveniles between the Shasta River and the Scott River. 70% of the juvenile salmon trapped in the Upper Klamath showed they were infected with the Ceratonova Shasta virous. 97% of the juveniles trapped between the Shasta River and the Scott River tested positive for C. Shasta. This plus the…
The CDFW proposed salmon Regulations for 2021; Klamath Spring Chinook salmon; July 1 to Aug. 14 one salmon only jack or adult, (you land a salmon you are don for the day) 2 in possession; Trinity Spring salmon, (above the mouth of the South Fork to Old Lewiston Bridge) 1 salmon per day jack…
The Trinity River spring water releases have started. Today Sunday May 2, 2021 at 11:00am Lewiston Dam is releasing 1,406cfs into the Trinity River. The sad news is that the Klamath River Basin Harvest proposed total is 1,221 Fall Chinook Salmon. Broken down; Lower Klamath from Weitchpec Bridge to the mouth is 610 salmon; Kamath…
The Trinity River spring water releases have started. As I came home Saturday, I could see that the river was that it is muddy from Poker Bar area all the way down to my house in Willow Creek. Today Sunday the releases are supposed to be 850cfs but the California Data Exchange Center reads…
HAPPY EASTER: Bright and sunny for the Easter Bunny! We have been having really good weather for the last couple of weeks with sunshine and no rain. We do need some rain to help bring in the late runners of steelhead. On my trips up and down the Trinity I have not seen any drift…
The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) will be meeting April 6 – 9 and 12 – 15 to determine which of the proposed choices they will choose for the Klamath River Basin Fall Chinook salmon season quotas. As I have not been attending these meetings, I have to rely on some of my close…
The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) salmon advisory team has come out with some preliminary numbers for Pacific Coast Fall Chinook salmon harvest availability. The cause; there are many causes but everyone wants to point the finger at someone else or some other problem. Science says that the reason there are declining returns of…
The valley received a good rain forth week but a light snow for the snow pack needed for the coming water year. Many of the reservoirs are 505 or below. This is not good for water releases for fish or the farmers. In my travels this last week I saw a light snow covering…
We are still in an “Over Fishing” rating by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC). The PFMC will meet in March to come up with the recommended choices for Fall Chinook salmon quotas for the 2021salmon season, then in mid or late April the PFMC will meet and make the “Fall Run Chinook salmon”…
Recent storms have brought us lots of rain but our snow pack is still below average and water content. This is not good news for both water storage and spring water flows. We could be into a designated “Dry Water Year”. I hope not as we could still get more snow from coming storms….
What does the weather have to do with fish and fishing? Many people have asked that question. The weather had much to do with fishing. If we have had fair to good rain to get fish to come into the river to spawn, if the rivers get low amounts of rain then there is…
For now the Trinity is in great fishing condition with winter steelhead in the river. The river condition is just right in the upper part of the river with the lower section of the Trinity coming into great fishing condition for winter steelhead fishing. The weather predictions for the coming weekend are possible snow Sunday…
Finally the Trinity River Hatchery is seeing some adult steelhead. This past week the Trinity has sent the message to the steelhead down in the Klamath to start going up the Trinity. This past week the Trinity Valley has seen a significant amount of rain to raise the river and we are seeing fresh adult…
I hope everyone had a GOOD and safe New Year. The New Year brought rain and raised the Trinity River to the point of good water flows, the trouble is it is hard to find the steelies. It seems that the upper river is crowded with drift boats and rafts fishing so some fishers are…
The winter solutes has officially come and the winter weather is here. I hope all had a great Christmas and am wishing you a Happy New Year. I am sorry about last week as I was under the weather and was not able to make the report. We also had a bit of weather for…
We are seeing more rain and the rivers are finally showing some changes. The Trinity did not come up a lot but enough to see a difference and possibly start the winter run of steelhead moving. At least I hope so. I was down to the river this morning and there is some color to…
Winter will officially be here in two more weeks! The days are getting shorter as winter approaches. That is nice as you won’t have to get up so early to go fishing but you also won’t have as long to fish. It never ends, the good verses the bad. The shortest day of the year…
Sorry about nofish report last week but I was spendingsome time with my family trying to obey the COVID rules and not over staying time with each family group. I thank you for understanding and hope all had a good Thanksgiving. The rain has slacked off for the time being but the cold is showing up…
Rain for this last storm came to just over two inches, not only did it do good for the river and fish but really helped with the fires. We still have more rain coming! The fires seem to be coming under control and in some instances is helping to put the fires OUT. (Thank goodness)…
The rain for last week was not as predicted, not even close. What little rain we did get was not enough to start any kind of large steelhead movement. The barometric pressure drop did help to start some movement in the upper river as fly fishing for steelhead started to get good but not great…
Sorry about last week for no report I was laid up with an injure and couldn’t work the computer. There is very little to no smoke from the fires now. Highway 96 in the Happy Camp area is open on a limited basis so please be careful. All areas above I-5 on the Klamath is…
Sorry about last week for no report but I was up in Idaho checking things out for fishing. Lots of places to fish is all I can say. I was in the The rains, what little the were, helped the firefighters and slowed the fires progress down. In fact, it helped the firefighters gain control over…
The fires are still providing plenty of smoke along the Klamath-Trinity Rivers. The Red Salmon Complex Fires are slowly coming under control but they are providing most of the smoke on the Trinity River. For the last week I couldn’t see across the river from my house. Today, Sunday I can see the top of…
After the rain last week (0.01in) the Willow Creek area has cleared of the heavy smoke and fishing has picked up if you can find a place to get down to the river. We are seeing more fresh fish moving through. The US Forest Service (Six Rivers) has not opened up river access to the…
Smoke in the valley has been pretty heavy for the past couple of days. The salmon are in the Trinity and fishing is fair to good. Orleans area is heavy with smoke from the Happy camp fire and the Red/Salmon Fire complex. This fire is now up to 88,000 acres and is expected to continue…