I am sorry that I was so long in making a column for you to read but medical issues got in the way. I do appreciate all the loyal readers out there. I even get some interesting feedback from some of you. Thank you for reading the column.

Mother’s Day boat races Hoopa (over), Father’s Day boat races Willow Creek (over)! River Flows still high at 1,482cfs. 
It is officially summer now as the Summer Solstice in Willow Creek took place at 4:00pm June 20th. Water temps are estimated to be 60 degrees in Willow Creek and 63.9 in Hoopa but the current is still heavy, this means please be careful while doing river recreation!

According to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC), River Restoration is NOT recovering Salmon and Steelhead returns for spawning efforts. Therefore, Salmon fishing is closed for the second year in a row. What about Endangered Species; Native Coho Salmon and Native Steelhead? Are they recovering? To the best I am able to find out neither species are recovering in California streams, yet NOAA (NMFS) National Marine Fisheries Service, allows Native Americans fishing rights for Ceremonial and Subsistence. Why does NOAA (NMFS) not increase Fish Hatchery (Iron Gate & Trinity River hatcheries) releases? These fish are of the same genetic stock as the Native fish, so why not increase these fish by growing them in some of the spawning streams? There are some very good spawning streams on both the Klamath and Trinity Rivers where small gape bin hatcheries could help with increasing spawning. This would come under Watershed Restoration funding. It has been done on several spawning streams that I know of and did make a difference in the returning spawning Salmon and Steelhead. Another thing I question, where does all the money that is collected for the Salmon Harvest Card and Steelhead Cards go? I would think that all that money would go to support Endangered Species (Coho Salmon & Steelhead) recovery in some way. Could we have an accounting from the California Fish and Game Commission as to how that money is spent? It could sure answer a lot of questions to the fishermen that pay those fees on top of the ever-increasing cost of a fishing license. 

Fishing: Fishing on the Lower Trinity is usually slow this time of year although there are some Summer Steelhead moving up the river. These guys are vary cagey and hard to catch but they are full of fight. While fishing for Summer Steelhead on the Lower Trinity you will also hook smolt and small tout. The trout you hook are really immature Steelhead as anything under 16 inches is determined to be a trout and are a Steelhead when they reach 16 inches. These summer flows are also great for Rafting, Kayaking, tubing and sunbathing/swimming. (please be sure to use the sunscreen)

The upper river, Lewiston Lake and Trinity Lake are providing some great fishing for Kokanee salmon. I have also heard that there is some good bass and kokanee fishing over on Whiskeytown Reservoir. For information you can call, Indian Creek Lodge, Cory, (530)623-6294 or Junction City Store, Butch, (530)623-2803, for Lewiston Lake call Pine Cove Marina, Matt or Louise (530)778-3878.

Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 6,534cfs. This is a decrease of 5,105cfs.  Iron Gate Dam is releasing 1,018cfs a decrease of 41cfs from last time. The Upper Klamath is flowing fairly clean right now and is good fishing above I-5 all the way down to the Happy camp area. I do recommend caution as the river is flowing 1,600cfs in the Siead Valley region. To find out about fishing the area you might call the Marble Mountain Guest Ranch (800) 522-6284, or Scott Caldwell, SC Guide Service (530)905-0758 

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 90% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) with inflows of 1,446cfs with releases of 1,507cfs into Spring Creek. Shasta Lake is 94% of capacity (a decrease of 4% minus 6ft) with inflows of 4,193cfs and releasing 9,567cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 93% of capacity (a decrease of 1%) with inflows of 10,379cfs and releases of 9,922cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 98% of capacity (a decrease of 2% minus 5ft) with inflows of 2,916cfs with releases of 5,636cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 93% of capacity (a decrease of % minus 3ft) with inflows of 1,991cfs with releases of 3,595cfs into the American river. Trinity Lake storage is 2,071,671AF a decrease of 46,461AF of storage.

Trinity Lake: The lake is 24ft below the overflow (an increase of 3ft) and 85% of capacity (a decrease of 2%) with inflows of 1,492cfs and releasing 2,865cfs into Lewiston Lake with 1,383cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown and on to the Keswick Power Plant while releasing 9,922cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Trinity Lake is 85% of capacity (a decrease of 2%) and 21ft below the overflow a decrease of 2ft. Lewiston Dam is 95% of capacity (an increase of 1%) and water releases of 1,482cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 48.5 degrees, as of 10:30am today Sunday June 23, 2024. Limekiln Gulch is 6.03ft at 1,504cfs. Douglas City is 8.00ft with flows of 1,477cfs with water temperatures of 50.7 degrees. Junction City is 3.51ft at 1,600cfs. Helena is 11.19ft at 1,739cfs with water temps of 55.1 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is N/Aft at 0.00cfs (Gauge is still out of order). South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 3.21 at 205cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 1,944 and air is 82 degrees and water at 60 degrees, Hoopa is 14.03ft at 3,029cfs with water at 63.9 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath in Weitchpec are estimated to be 6,534cfs a decrease of 5,105cfs.

Klamath River flows and conditions: Iron Gate is releasing 1,018cfs, a decrease of 41cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.67ft at 1,600cfs. Indian Creek is 4.05ft at 143cfs. Happy Camp is estimated to be 1,743cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 2,568cfs, and the Salmon River is 2.81ft at 937cfs. Orleans is 3.93ft at 3,505cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 10.02ft at 7,222cfs and water temps are 66.9 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jediah Smith are 5.50ft with flows of 705cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 12.10ft at N/A.

Temperatures for the Valley last week had a high of 102 and a low of 42 degrees. Rain for the week was 0.00in with a water year total to date of 52.46 inches and 0.40in of snow in Willow Creek. The predicted temperatures for next week are for high of 96 and a low of 54. The weather predicted for next week is sunshine with a few clouds Tuesday, then warming up again.