Fish Lake Kids Fish Derby

Saturday June 6^th will be the 35^th Annual “Fish Lake Kids Fish Derby”. It’s hard to believe that this Kids Fish Derby has been going on for that many years. Many of the originators are long forgotten but there are a few still around that helped start this program. I have only been working with it for a short time but I believe that it is one of the finest programs for kids to spend quality time with their parents. Many of the kids that first participated are now bringing their kids and grandkids. Not only have the prizes improved but so has the quality of the fish they catch. Oh yes lets not forget the Free Hot Dog feed provided after the prizes are handed out. The kids are divided up into their own age groups and there are two divisions of competition, fishing and casting. The event is no longer on the DFG Free Fishing Day so I must warn parents if they want to fish they have to have a valid DFG fishing license. It is also greatly appreciated when parents bring along a salad or cupcakes to help with the Hot Dog Feed. Sign up starts 8:00am and fishing is 9:00 to 12:00 noon. Hope to see you there!

Trinity River Conditions

The Trinity came up quite a bit with this last storm that came through at the end of the Memorial Day holiday. In fact it probably won’t be fishable for another week to ten days now. Before the Holiday fishing for Springer’s was starting to have some good results above the South Fork. Grays Fall was still a bit high but some of the locals were bringing out one to two fish per try. The average fish brought out was 10 to 15lbs. Above Cedar Flat one had to pick their spots to fish because of the high water but some were able to hook one now and then. Douglas City and above was just getting fishable for Spring Chinook when the storm came in. The good part for the river was that rafting and kayaking conditions were good for experienced rafters. We also had great sunbathing conditions all up and down the river.

Klamath River

The Upper Klamath was producing some nice trout fishing while Spring Chinook were in the Weitchpec and Lower Klamath. Tom Willson just below Weitchpec told me that he saw a big slug of springer’s head up the Trinity the Friday before Memorial Day. John H said that he came down to his spot below the bridge and was abele to hook a nice springer but that he was going to wait for the river to go down more before trying again. My recommendation would fish the mouth of the Lower Klamath for the time being then move up to Weitchpec when the river drops about 2 to 3ft.

River Flows and Levels

Trinity Lake is 59ft below the over flow (10ft decrease) and 62.4 percent of capacity (2% increase) at 12:00pm today.
Inflow to the lake is 10,139cfs and 3,965cfs is being released to Lewiston Lake with 2,045cfs to the Sacramento River.
Trinity River at Lewiston releases are 1,920cfs, water temperatures 48.4 degrees.
Limekiln Gulch is 6.6ft at 2,1501fs. Douglas City is 5.2ft at 2,725cfs, water temps are 51.4 degrees, air 72 degrees.
Helena/North Fork is 13.9ft at 8,400cfs, water temps 51.4 air 74. Cedar Flat is 8.6ft at 5,000cfs.
Willow Creek 6,520cfs, water at 53, air 78. Hoopa is 18.9ft at 10.9K cfs, water 55. Mouth of Trinity is 31.69K cfs.
Klamath River releases at Iron Gate Dam are 1,070cfs. Seiad Valley is 6.3ft at 6,000cfs.
Happy Camp estimated at 7,188cfs. Somes Bar estimated at 14K cfs. Orleans is 11.6ft at 20.7k cfs.
Klamath at 101 is 18ft at 39.6K cfs water temperatures at 53.2 degrees.

Temperatures

In the valley last week were 83/46 degrees with 2.3 inches of rain, to date 84 inches. Weather next week in the valley will be, 80/44 degrees, Monday, Tuesday cloudy with possible showers Wednesday and Thursday.  The Memorial Day weekend was nice weather but the rains started to show up as everybody was headed home. It really came down for a couple of days and brought up the Trinity about 2ft and the Klamath about 4ft. As soon as the rivers drop about 2ft we should see more Spring Chinook come into the Lower Klamath and also head up the Trinity. The word I got from the estuary was that Chinook up to 30lbs had been landed but most were in the 10 to 15lbs range.