The Calaveras River in California’s Central Valley was once a river of extremes that flooded regularly. Over the last several decades, however, it has been transformed into a complex water conveyance system used to deliver water for agricultural, municipal, and residential uses. Modifications made to divert water from portions of the river can prevent migratory trout and salmon from passing...
Full Story 

We are still in an “Over Fishing” rating by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC). The PFMC will meet in March to come up with the recommended choices for Fall Chinook salmon quotas for the 2021salmon season, then in mid or late April the PFMC will meet and make the “Fall Run Chinook salmon” recommended quotas for the Klamath River...
Full Story 

Rivers conditions are trending toward perfection this week and it’s pretty much now or never for the 2021 winter steelhead season. In what has been called one of the toughest seasons anyone can remember, if the next week or so doesn’t produce some quality fishing, it’s likely the season will go down as a bust. There are plenty of theories...
Full Story 

  Studying steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) populations in the rivers of California’s Central Valley has long challenged scientists and managers due to the species’ diverse and complex life history. Although recent initiatives such as the Central Valley Steelhead Monitoring Program (CVSMP) have sought to improve our understanding of steelhead in the Sacramento River Basin, no such concerted efforts have been developed for the...
Full Story 

The recent storms have brought good amounts of rain to the Klamath River Basin but did it bring enough snow to increase the snow pack for decent Spring Flows? Up on the Oregon side of the Klamath watershed I have a report of 12 feet of snow but on the California side the snow pack is still low, down into...
Full Story 

Following a disappointing 2019 adult fall run on the Klamath, 2020 proved to be only slightly better. Unfortunately, the numbers weren’t enough to get us out of the “overfished” category, and it’s likely we’ll have some severe restrictions both in the ocean and in the Klamath and Trinity rivers in 2021. “Based on this year’s run size, I’d expect very limited fishing opportunity in the coming...
Full Story