Hot weather and the river dropping to  400cfs for summer flows has curtailed fishing for the time being, The river has also been heating up also which has contributed to the problem. Last week we saw 105 degrees weather and the week before that the temperatures reached 111 degrees, which didn’t help either. For the Willow Creek area to get up to 111 degrees in the month of June is very rare for the area.  Usually, the hot weather comes about the second week of July not in June, so we are seeing hot weather start a bit early for the area and lower river area. Moss has already started in some sections of the river. This is not a good indication. We could see some really hot weather this year. I am not an expert in weather I can only tell you what I have experienced living in the area for the last 40 years.  Low water for the river also contributes to fish not moving up the river. We should be seeing some Summer Run Steelhead in the early mornings and that hasn’t been happening either. All of those things are contributing to SLOW FISHING in the lower river. The upper river has been doing good but not real hot yet. With the river being so warm this early it could delay the Fall Chinook run. I can only hope that we will see the Fall Run Chinook Salmon will make it into the Trinity River.

Now the good news is that Whiskeytown reservoir is doing great. Fishing for Kokanee Salmon and Trout has been hot. From some of the reports I have been receiving fishermen have been landing some very great fish. From the reports I have been receiving the reservoir is almost full and fish are just about everywhere. Early morning is better but late evening has been doing fairly good. 

Lewiston Lake: Lewiston Lake is still seeing good water flows. Trinity Lake is releasing 2,097cfs into Lewiston Lake and shipping 160cfs to Whiskeytown. The last report I received from Louise bait fishers were doing good with night crawlers and other bait. Fly fishers were using Balanced Leeches, chironomids and Pheasant tail under a bobber. There has also been some mid-day dry fly fishing.  If you would like to know more up to date fishing you can contact the Pine Cove Marina and ask Louise or Matt (530)778-3878) for Upper Trinity River you can call Junction City Store, (530)623-2803 or North Coast Outfitters (415)596-3488. 

Willow Creek area: Fishing in Willow Creek has been slow due to the low water and heat. There ahs been some early morning fishing. (I mean early morning like at day light) I have not seen many people out fishing on the lower river with all this heat. There has been plenty of people out sunning, swimming now that school is out. Up river it has been a little bit different, there has been some action but not real hot yet. With the hot weather the last couple of weeks there has been more sunbathers and rafting. I hope that will change come fall weather and we don’t have many fires along the rivers. The rain for this water year did not reach the yearly average so it could be a dry hot summer. 

Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: Due at the CEDE the river flows and water reports are not available today so I have just used the last reports I could find. The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 4,128cfs. This is an increase of 1,589cfs. The Iron Gate/Bogus Creek area is flowing 1,175cfs a decrease of 91cfs from the last report.  The river is still flowing a bit high but as it drops fishing should start to better. For better information I suggest you call or check out their face book for Marble Mountain Guest Ranch (800) 522-6284, or Scott Caldwell, SC Guide Service (530)905-0758 to get the latest fishing information for fishing the Upper Klamath.

Lake Conditions: Trinity Lake is at 2,025,6430AF, a decrease of 97,997AF. The Snow Pack for the water year was really low this past winter and a low rain fall for the year didn’t help with water storage. We are already seeing lowering of the lake storage. Whiskeytown Lake is 99%, a decrease of 0% with inflows of 1,120cfs and releases of 1,650cfs.  Shasta Lake is 79% of capacity, a decrease of 4% and minus 10ft with inflows of 10,769cfs and releasing 2,991cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 91% of capacity, an increase of 6% with inflows of 12,210cfs and releases of 11,687cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 91% of capacity, a decrease of 6% and minus 12ft, with inflows of 8,516cfs with releases of 2,736cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 90% of capacity, a decrease of 7% and plus 7ft, with inflows of 4,129cfs with releases of 1,444cfs into the American River. 

Trinity Lake: The lake is 27ft below the overflow, an increase of 6ft and 83% of capacity, a decrease 4%, with inflows of -60cfs and releasing 2,097cfs into Lewiston Lake with 160cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown and on to the Keswick Power Plant, and releasing 11,687cfs into the Sacramento River, an increase of 252cfs. The Sectary of Interior ordered an extra 80AF to be shipped to the Westland Water District so that is where our water is going. 

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 83% of capacity, a decrease 4% and water releases of 825cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 54.9 degrees, as of 0:00pam today June 26, 2026. (The rest of the reported flows are all I could find and they are not up to date) Limekiln Gulch is 5.36ft. with flows of 865cfs. Douglas City is 7.23ft with flows of 857cfs and water temperatures of 57.4 degrees. Helena is 10.18ft at 977cfs with water temps of 57.6 degrees. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 3.26 at 399cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 1,376cfs, air is 74 degrees and water at 62.5 degrees, Hoopa is 12.69ft at 1,664cfs with water at 65.5 degrees. 

Klamath River flows and conditions: Flows at Bogas Creek are 2.17ft with flows of 1,175cfs, a decrease of 91cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.60ft at 1,546cfs. Indian Creek is 3.63ft at 83cfs. Happy Camp is estimated to be 1,627cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 1,939cfs, and the Salmon River is 2.24ft at 525cfs. Orleans is 3.38ft at 2,464cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 9.11ft flowing at 4,950cfs with water temps of 66.5 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jediah Smith are 5.06ft with flows of 549cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 11.79ft at N/A.

Temperatures for the Valley last week had a high of 105 and a low of 51 degrees. Rain for the week was 0.05in with a water year total to date of 38.57 and 1.45in of snow in Willow Creek. The predicted temperatures for next week are for high of 89 and a low of 47, with the high on Saturday. It looks like it is going to warm up a bit this week with some the high temperature of 89.

Websites: MyOutdoorBuddy.com, Willowcreekchamber.com,
from Willow Creek, CA Phone 530-629-3554, E-mail yen2fish@yahoo.com