The Labor Day weekend is here! This is the last Holiday weekend of summer. It also is the unofficial start of Fall Salmon fishing, but there is NO Salmon fishing season for the third year. There was suppose to be a small Ocean Salmon fishing (7,000) season that barely lasted one whole weekend. The In-River Fall Salmon Sport fishing was canceled again because there was not enough Ocean abundance to allow for enough natural (native) return to meet the escapement goal. What happened to all of the spawning area that TRRP made to help reach the increase returns of Fall Salmon? It hasn’t worked! The Klamath River Bason has not been able to meet the natural salmon escapement goal of 40,700 for some time.

August 30th is normally the date for the closure of fishing in the Falls area. Because of normal summer water flows (450cfs) the CDFW closes the river from the Ceder Flat Bridge (Hwy 299 west) to the Hawkins Bar Bridge. This entails the Greys’ Falls and Burnt Ranch Falls area. Because of the normal low water summer flows fish get trapped below the falls allowing to many fish to be harvested to meet the native fish escapement in the Upper Trinity River.  

It seems as though we just can’t get away form the heat. Each year it has been getting hotter come Labor Day weekend Holiday. Some say that it is Climate change some say it is because of all the fires. I have my own ideas but I don’t believe that is the cause and I am not knowledgeable enough in that field to officially say so I will just say that it is getting hot on Labor Day weekend. Because of the heat many more people are heading to the rivers for a cool fun day. Please be careful while swimming in the rivers. The Trinity River is higher than normal for this time of year as extra water has been released for the Hoopa Tribal ceremonies. Water flow in the river will be high!   

There will be some reprieve August 22 thru 30th as the Bureau of Reclamation will be increasing water releases starting August 22 and peak out at 2,300cfs for the Hoopa Valley Tribe bi-annual Boat Dance Ceremonies. On August 30th water releases will go back to summer flows of 450cfs. Trinity River recreators can expect an increase of water turbidity with the increased water releases. Swimmers and tubers should take caution during these higher water flows.

Lewiston Lake: I didn’t receive a report from Lewiston Lake this week but I expect fishing should be fair in the early mornings. It will be hot during the day but could pick up in the evening. With the extra water flowing through Lewiston the lake will have good fishing water. You can contact the Pine Cove Marina and ask Louise or Matt (530)778-3878) for Lewiston Lake fishing; for the Upper Trinity River you can call Indian Creek Lodge, Andy or Hannah, (530)623-6294), Junction City Store, Butch, (530)623-2803. I have not received any fishing information from Indian Creek Lodge for some time now.

Willow Creek: Big Rock area would be a good area to fishing the early mornings before the swimmers and rafters hit the river. Upper Kimtu Beach would also be a good place to cast a line. Knight crawlers should give you a good chance to hook some ½-pounders, of course flies are always a good choice. Small to medium spinner or spoons on light line could also give you some action.

Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 2,501cfs. This is an increase of 34cfs. The Iron Gate/Bogus Creek area is flowing 949cfs a decrease of 16cfs from the last report. I haven’t received a fishing report from the Upper Klamath for a while. To get the latest fishing information I suggest you call Marble Mountain Guest Ranch (800) 522-6284, or Scott Caldwell, SC Guide Service (530)905-0758 to get proper fishing information to fish the Upper Klamath.

Lake Conditions: These readings are for August 24 at midnight. It appears that readings are being posted a day late. Whiskeytown Lake is 98%, a decrease of 0% with inflows of N/A cfs and releases of N/A cfs.  Shasta Lake is 64% of capacity, a decrease of 2% and minus 3ft with inflows of N/A cfs and releasing N/A cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 96% of capacity, an increase of 3% with inflows of N/A cfs and releases of N/A cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 70% of capacity, a decrease of 3% and minus 9ft, with inflows of N/A cfs with releases of N/A cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 50% of capacity, a decrease of 1% and minus 1ft, with inflows of N/a cfs with releases of N/a cfs into the American River. Trinity Lake storage is 1,983,757AF a decrease of 357,502AF of storage. 

Trinity Lake: The lake is 30ft below the overflow, an increase of 2ft and 81% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) with inflows of N/A cfs and releasing N/A cfs into Lewiston Lake with N/A cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown and on to the Keswick Power Plant, and releasing N/A cfs into the Sacramento River. 

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 98% of capacity, an increase 1% and water releases of 766cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 48.8 degrees, as of 0:00pam today Sunday August 25, 2025.  Limekiln Gulch is 5.28 at 767cfs. Douglas City is 7.06ft with flows of 747cfs with water temperatures of 57.1 degrees. Junction City (gauge is out of order), Helena is 9.71ft at 778cfs with water temps of 59.6 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) (Gauge is still out of order). South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 2.31 at 98cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 867cfs, air is 83 degrees and water at 70.5 degrees, Hoopa is 11.93ft at 1,030cfs with water at 72.8 degrees. 

Klamath River flows and conditions: Flows at the Iron Gate/ Bogas Creek are 949cfs, a decrease of 16cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.11ft at 1,196cfs. Indian Creek is 3.39ft at 50cfs. Happy Camp is estimated to be 1,246cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,246cfs, and the Salmon River is 1.57ft at 225cfs. Orleans is 2.40ft at 1,471cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 8.10ft flowing at 2,970cfs with water temps of 73.8 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jediah Smith are 4.44ft with flows of 252cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.26ft at N/A. 

Temperatures for the Valley last week had a high of 109 and a low of 52 degrees. Rain for the week was 0.00in with a water year total to date of 53.50 and 1.75in of snow in Willow Creek. The predicted temperatures for next week are for high of 100 and a low of 56. The weather predicted for the next week is looking to increase for the weekend and then start to cool down after the Holiday.