High water flows are subsiding and the river is coming into summer shape. Most of the spring salmon have made their way up through the lower river but there are a still trickling through.
Summer steelhead are next at bat and are also some of the largest steelhead on this river. The summer run steelies usually show in mid July and run a very respectable 5 to 12 pounds with a few into the mid to high teens. They are a mix of hatchery and wild fish that aggressively attack roe side drifted in the slots and riffles of the lower river. It’s not unusual for guides to see counts of 8 to 12 steelhead and even a salmon or two per day. Bankies can get in on the action tossing roe, spinners and spoons at the Glen and Terwer riffles.
The first waves of fall run salmon will start nosing into the river in early August. Most of these early fish are caught in the estuary by boats trolling spinners on spreader setups on either side of the high tide. This season's spring run was strong and hopefully the fall run is as well. It will need to be with a tribal commercial quota of 35K fish and a sport quota of 5000.  Now is the time to book your fall salmon trip while there are still dates available. Wally Johnson and Steve Huber both have dates avaibale in September the peak of the run.

Guides:
Wally Johnson Guide Service steelheadguides.com 530 496-3291 Evenings 707 482-0390
Steve Huber stevehuberguideservice.com530 623-1918
 

Springers
The Klamath spring run salmon or "springers" start to return in May and their numbers build with peak fishing on tap through June. There are already some good reports of fish being taken on the lower river by both sport anglers and in nets.
This is an anchor fishery where boats anchor in the travel lanes on the edges and seams of the river and drop back spinners to intercept salmon. These are tough fighting an arguably the best tasting fish with most running in the 10 to 18 pound class.  The best fishing is usually in the early morning hours and will last through about noon. Springers tend to move through very quickly and a couple of hours of dead action can often be followed by 15 or 20 minutes of fast and furious action where boats in one stretch get several take downs apiece. A typical set up is pictured right. Note the dropper line to the weight, your drop line should be 12 to 18" long to position the spinner roughly 12" off the bottom. You have to get your boat in the right spot and the spinner right in the fish's face to make them grab it.
Guides Steve Huber and Wally Johnson will both be offering springer trips in June.

Endangered Salmon Evacuated From Northern California Rivers While Dewatering Problem Goes Unaddressed
River conditions on the Scott and Shasta Rivers of Northwestern California are expected to get so inhospitable this year that California fish managers this month began to relocate what few endangered coho salmon can still be found in the two Klamath River tributaries, transplanting them dozens of miles down the mainstem Klamath River to supposed safety.
"At this point, coho are so close to extinction and the Scott and Shasta are so severely dewatered each year that this type of action may be warranted, but it cannot be a substitute for rewatering, and in the long term it's not likely to be a viable survival strategy for coho in these basins," said Klamath Riverkeeper Erica Terence. "It's a band-aid solution at best on what has become a major water hemorrhage," she added.
As young coho were being captured and shipped elsewhere in the Klamath River basin as part of their emergency rescue program by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) in the Scott and Shasta valleys readied to start issuing permits (ITPs) with CDFG's blessing for Scott and Shasta irrigators and ranchers to kill coho as usual.
Klamath Riverkeeper joined a coalition of river and fish advocates that filed a legal challenge against the ITP program last fall. Co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Quartz Valley Indian Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the Institute for Fisheries Resources, the Environmental Protection Information Center, the Sierra Club and the Northcoast Environmental Center.
"Both the fish rescue operations and the ITP program are an attempt to do the barest minimum possible to say that something is being done to protect coho, while enabling the same poor practices that caused these coho populations to crash in the first place," Terence noted.
Since the ITP program underwent environmental review last year, new data has come to light showing that only 9 coho returned to the Shasta River in 2009 (all of them male), while just 81 made it back to the Scott River. Based on these startlingly low counts and similarly low counts in 2008, CDFG scientists concluded in a report released last winter that two out of three generations of coho are "functionally extinct" in both river basins.  
That makes this year's adult coho run and their offspring the last hope for the species in those two important river systems.  Coho salmon in the Scott and Shasta were listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act in 2001. The listing followed creation of an exhaustive Coho Recovery Strategy ordered by the California Fish and Game Commission, most of which has yet to be implemented.
One obvious factor for coho salmon’s perilous situation in the Scott and Shasta River is excessive water diversions for local irrigation. Last year both rivers were pushed to record low water levels by a combination of out-of-stream water diversions and widespread (but largely unregulated) groundwater pumping which also seriously depleted local stream flows.  Yet nothing in the DFG’s current ITP program prevents such irrigation dewatering in the future.  If anything, the ITP program gives an official blessing to business-as-usual irrigation practices that harm fish.
"To truly prevent the imminent extinction of coho salmon in these watersheds, an ITP program needs to include mechanisms for keeping water in the stream, curbing excessive and unregulated groundwater pumping and completing an unflinching, comprehensive analysis of Dwinnell dam and its impacts to fisheries in the Shasta River," Terence said. "Unfortunately, Fish and Game's program doesn't do any of that."
Although the Scott and Shasta Rivers and their coho runs face similar challenges, hydrologic differences and differing human infrastructure dictate that solutions for the two river systems will be somewhat different.
In the Shasta River watershed, cold spring water feeding into the top of the system is impounded in Dwinnell Reservoir, where it is heated in the reservoir to lethal temperatures for fish before being released downstream. Much of the water in the reservoir is also sucked out for agricultural use by irrigation districts, an activity which can lower the lake as much as 80 feet by summertime

Kamp Klamath
Our favorite campground Kamp Klamath "on the quite side of the river" is adding a bunch of amenities. These include a fisherman's breakfast starting at 6AM, box lunches and a boat shuttle from the campground to the mouth. They also offer discounts for those anglers looking to park their RV for a month or more and enjoy a few weeks of this incredible fishery. They have full hookups and the entire campground has free wireless internet. Don't miss the Saturday night salmon and chicken B-Q with live music!
Kamp Klamath is a secure, quiet, forested campground surrounded by Redwood National Park and where we have set up our fish camp for over 20 years. Great people and a great place to stay. 707 482-0227

River's West Lodge

Imagine a remote lodge... accessible only by jet boat where anglers can target steelhead and salmon laying in the riffles below. This is NOT Alaska, this is the River's West Lodge on the Klamath river in Northern California.
Rivers West Lodge is located 12 river miles up  from Klamath Glen and they offer both lodging (includes river front cabins with private baths  and three meals per day) and fishing packages through our sponsors.
You can choose from a variety of packages that can include being picked up on the first morning by your guide, fished hard all day and dropped off at RWL or catch the afternoon jet boat shuttle up, have dinner, enjoy the evening bite, and meet your guide lodge-side in the morning. Klamath Glen motels sold out? Not a problem. RWL welcomes sport anglers coming up on their own boat to stay and have dinner (breakfast the following morning and lunch is included) and also offers packages for larger groups of up to 20.
This is a great option for anglers looking to find their "own water", corporate groups or just some friends and family to get off the beaten path and enjoy some incredible fishing in a very incredible setting. For more information and reservations please call 707 482-7775 or contact our guide sponsors for full packages.

For those of you booking a trip with one of our guides and not interested in camping and looking for something more than a hotel room check out this river front house. This vacation rental is located on the lower river at Panther Creek and sleeps up to 10. It's perfect for a family weekend getaway or larger groups. We know that a few of our readers have booked the home and have enjoyed its prime location. You can find more info here at Panther Creek vacation rental.

Kamp Klamath Located on Klamath Beach road is one of the most beautiful and quiet campgrounds on the lower Klamath river. Kamp Klamath is secure and has a friendly staff and the entire campground has a wireless net connection. They also have reduced rates for weekly and monthly visitors. The crew here at USAFishing has set up a fish camp here for over 15 years. The telephone number is 707-482-0227 or toll-free 866-KLAMATH. Their e-mail address is kampklamath@msn.com

In Seiad Valley sits the Klamath river side  park a quiet little RV park right on the banks of the Klamath for anglers looking for a quieter stretch of the river away from the crowds

Friends of the Cal Ore Fish. This organization supports hatcheries in California & Oregon and lobbies on behalf of anglers on many issues. We here at USAFishing want to say thanks to this great organization for all their hard work. To learn more and to contribute to their cause please visit their site. cal-orefish.org