Happy Easter

I spent the Easter weekend with family and did not put out a Fishing Report, Sorry! 

This week (Wed & Thur) the Cal Fish & Game Commission met at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka. On my way into Eureka it snowed on me while going over Berry Summit on Hiwy 299. The Commission heard testimony on fishing regulations for the North Coast and proposed to note on the Federal Register the PFMC to accept the recommendations and have the teleconference to pass them ASAP. This means that Ocean Sport Fishing will open on the North Coast May 1^st thru Sept. 9^th. They also passed the In-River Sport Fishing for normal posted dates and 4 fish limits for Fall Chinook.  This means that Aug. 15 on the Lower Klamath you can retain up to four (4) salmon per day with a limit of 8 salmon in possession. For the Upper Klamath and Trinity this will start Sept. 1^st. This will be any combination of 4 salmon jacks or adults. Hopefully the new Regulations will be out by the June. More on this at a later date.   

At the meeting the Commissioners also heard testimony about having a Selected Marked Fishery for the Trinity for Coho salmon. I am happy to say there was favorable testimony for this but the cost might not equal the benefit so there is more study to be done and hopefully NOAA/NMFS will step up to help on this. The options are to try and harvest the excess hatchery Coho or reduce production. The return of Hatchery Coho has far exceeded the native Coho return that they are interfering with the recovery of native Coho salmon. Something has to be done on the Trinity or we will loose the run altogether. My point is if they are producing excessive Coho then why are fishermen NOT allowed to harvest them? We help provide for them through license fees so why are we not able to benefit?
                                                                                                                                                                                        
 Fishing: Friday morning I woke up to one inch of snow covering the ground and everything else. So much for “April Showers”. In checking out the lower river I saw lots of mud! The river from about North Fork down is really high from rain and snow melt. Starting April 22^nd the BOR will be starting the “Spring Flows”. Lucky for the Upper Trinity it will mean only a release of 6,500cfs for five day and then taper off to 450cfs by July. With all of the rain and Spring Flows the spring run of salmon should get the message to start up the Klamath. Our next hope is that the Hoopa Tribal Council will resend the “NO TRESPASSIMG” and allow non-tribal members access to the river on reservation land. We as fishermen also have an obligation to respect these lands as private property and not trash the shore line and be polite to the creel counters.                                  

Klamath: The Klamath is not in as bad of shape as the Trinity but it is bank to bank at the present.

Trinity River flows and conditions:
Trinity Lake is 18ft (6ft decrease) below the over flow and at 87.7% of capacity (5.4% increase) of capacity at 1:00pm to day. Inflow to the lake is 3,565cfs and dam releases are 709cfs to Lewiston Lake with 391cfs going to Whiskeytown Lake and the Sacramento River.

Trinity River: Lewiston Dam releases are 318cfs, water temps 49, air is 60 degrees. Limekiln Gulch is 5.3ft at 600cfs. Douglas City is 6.8ft at 959cfs, water temps 47, air is 58. Junction City is 11.6ft at 1,570cfs. Helena is 14ft at 1,620cfs and water at 47. Cedar Flat is 7.2ft at 8,220cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 11.6K cuffs, air 62, and water 00. Hoopa is 16.5ft at 11.5Kcfs, water temps 49.6 degrees. Mouth of the Trinity at the Klamath is 25.8Kcfs

Klamath: Iron Gate Dam releases are 1,620cfs. Saied Valley is 6ft at 5,390cfs. Happy Camp estimated at 8,280cfs. Somas Bar estimated at 11.2Kcfs. Orleans is 7.9ft at 14.2Kcfs. Klamath at 101 is 16.5ft at 31,5K, water temps of 49.2 degrees.