Fishing Report

Trinity Lake is 85 feet below the overflow and 52.8 percent of capacity.

The spring flows reached the 700 cfs bench on June 15
and will last for 11 days. On June 26 flows will start declining and reach the summer flows of 450 cfs by July 5. This last weather front has started the spring Chinook moving up the Klamath and into the Trinity, but the main run has not entered the Trinity as of this past weekend.

The new 2009 DFG supplement is posted online at nrm.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ and should be at your local tackle shop by the end of the month.

To the best of my knowledge, the fishing regulations are: Klamath River, from Weitchpec Bridge to the Iron Gate Hatchery, you may NOT KEEP ANY Chinook salmon until Aug. 31. The Lower Trinity from the confluence of the Klamath up to the mouth of South Fork of the Trinity you may NOT KEEP ANY Chinook salmon until Aug. 31. The Upper Trinity you may keep two Chinook per day, two in possession until Aug. 31. The fall Chinook regulations start Sept. 1.

Last week I was up at the hatchery and Lewiston area to inspect many of the new rehabilitation sites. The river was clear but not real cold, a tad high but fishable. As I traveled downriver to Willow Creek, I noticed there were not very many fishermen out. I checked with a couple of the locals I knew who fished the Falls area and they were not pleased with their results. Burnt Ranch
Falls was only producing about one springer for every three fishers and Greys Falls was not as good, plus you had to wait for a place to fish. Not my kind of fishing!

Some of the deep pools above Cedar Flat looked really good for fishing, but if the main run has not shown up yet they would not be any better. My best guess would be to try some time after June 26.

The 34th Annual Big Jake’s Memorial Kids Fishing Derby went very well. There were 90 kids that showed up to fish and I saw many trout that looked as if they were holdovers that ran 12 to 16 inches. The grand winner, Nathan Witte, brought in a trout that was just short of 17 inches and was about a pound and a half. Nathan won a beginners fly outfit.

Some of the other winners for fishing were: Preschool to Second Grade - Roselyn Soto; Third to Fifth Grade - SeaAir Gale; Sixth to Eighth Grade - Travis Witte. I will post a “Special Report” with pictures within the next week of all the winners.

The Klamath fishing for springers has started to pick up on the lower river but is still slow in the Mid-Klamath. Above Happy Camp to I-5 fishing for trout has improved but the hot area is above I-5 if one is looking for trout.