FISHING REPORT

The creeks and river flows are starting to increase by about 1.5 to 2.5 feet on the main stem Trinity, the Upper River, and 2 to 4 feet on the lower parts of the river. The upper river has about 3 feet of visibility and good color while the lower river has turned a nice green with about 2 feet of visibility.

The Trinity River Hatchery steelhead count went up a little bit, to about 2,100. The coho are just about through coming into the hatchery. Jan. 14 counts: coho, 3,358 for ’09 vs. 5,188 in ’08; steelhead 795 for a total 2,100 for ’09 vs. 1,170 in ’08. The DFG is in the process of putting together all of the return counts for Klamath/Trinity rivers and it has been noted that the river basin is very close to making the escapement goal for chinook salmon.

I know some of you readers have called to ask me if we did meet the escapement because you were told that the Trinity River did not make the escapement goal this year at the Sacramento International Sportsmen’s Exposition. The escapement goal is for the whole Klamath/Trinity River Basin and not just the Trinity River. I am sorry that you were given misinformation; final counts are not completed yet.

The rains just seem to keep on coming, but not in great quantities. Trinity Lake came up 14 feet this past month and Shasta Lake came up 43 feet. This is good but not great. The good part is that steelhead are moving and they are all over the upper river. The fish I reported about two weeks ago in Del Loma are now up in the Junction City area and more are heading up. With the projected rains called for this week, it will be hard to find a good place to fish, but if you are diligent you will locate them.

Whenever rain for Northern California is predicted, it is always best to call ahead to make sure the river is not blown out. The good news is that after the rains slow down and the river drops, fishing is hot for a short time.

My fishing buddies from Sacramento came up again this weekend and fished Del Loma and had trouble hooking many metal heads this time; they only hooked three and landed one little half-pounder. In between the storms is your best bet for now.

The Hawkins Bar to South Fork stretch is good, but high for wading. South Fork to Willow Creek has a lot more color to it coming from the South Fork, but it is fishable.