Klamath Report 9/21-9/23

[Jeff F]

We (Eric O. and myself) fished in the Orleans area Thurs-Sat. Eric arrived on Thursday and got a few nice 1/2 pounders up to 19". I arrived Thurs evening. We fished a couple of our favorite spots on Friday with marginal results. Only a few hp's each, nothing to write home about. No fish over 18", except a 20" jack salmon, which was in really nice shape.

Saturday morning, as we were preparing to head to the river, our neighbor at the campground came up and asked us if we wanted to float the river with him, as his shuttle partners wouldn't be coming until Monday. Of course we obliged and had a great float from Ulathorne down to Big Bar. However, the fishing was pretty slow again. We all managed some hp's, but again......nothing of any size, the largest fish being 19" or so.

We definitely saw lots of fish splashing and moving up through tailouts, but they just didn't seem to be real grabby this time around. Water temps were nice and cool, flows were perfect, crowds non-existent, weather perfect, etc. But the fishing was very slow for us.

Maybe we were late to the party and missed the first good push of fish? Who knows. But next year, we're not waiting around for reports. Gonna head up there maybe a week or two earlier. When I lived in Eureka, I used to do really good up in Orleans the first two weeks of September. So that's the plan for next year.

All in all, it's always a great trip to the Klamath, but the fishing has definitely slowed the last few years for reasons unknown to me.

~Jeff

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Floating the rivers is definitely an advantage being able to hit multiple riffles.

Will be interesting to see how it goes in Oct/Nov.

[Trouter925]

I'll be up in Weitchpec next starting weekend for a week. Would a drive up to the Rogue be manageable? Maybe spend a night in Grants Pass and eat a night at my place in Weitchpec?

[Bkane]

Probably fewer fish in the system overall. 70's and mid 80's we had tremendous fishing but like all rivers the counts are down��

[JayDubP]

I'll be up in Weitchpec next starting weekend for a week. Would a drive up to the Rogue be manageable? Maybe spend a night in Grants Pass and eat a night at my place in Weitchpec?

It is 4-1/2 hrs to Grants Pass... I'd take Hwy 96 to I-5 (3hrs) and then I-5 to Grants Pass (1-1/2hrs) .

Are you boating or wading near Weitchpec?

Good Luck,

Jim

[Trouter925]

I don't have a boat...I was planning on driving up & down 96, fishing as a I went until I found fish... Maybe skip over to the Trinity and check that out as well. My first time up there so I'll be doing a lot of exploring.

[Bill Markwood]

Contact the Ashland Fly Shop. They seem to have a handle on what's going on in that area.

[EricO]

A few pics from the trip. First fish was very hot and put a nice bend in my 7wt
with several reel screams and jumps. He was hooked right in the nose and wasn't
going anywhere on 1x.

One of the most respectable battles from the trip was, what I thought, a real nice
half pounder. Yanked line from my reel, head shakes, a few upstream runs...when I
get this thing in, it was pushing maybe 13.5".

The fight of a steelhead always impresses me, especially the ones that go ballastic.

Found some nice taps in Weaverville Wednesday night...Stagecoach Pizza has some
rockin pizza and good beers on tap...Fall River Hexagenia IPA, Founders, Union Jack,
and Stella. It was a great way to begin the trip.

Eric O

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Eric.......nice pictures.


The Klamath River is very special to many of us and I hope we can get some new people bonded with it.


Most of the time many of use fish it with only a floating line, long leader and small Steelhead flies or #10/12 nymphs.

Swinging flies is normally as successful as indicator nymphing on the Klamath.

You can fish it from just above Hwy 1 bridge near the Pacific Ocean by jet boat then walk and wade or drift in a boat from all the way to Iron Gate Dam just above Interstate 5.

Anyone needing info on getting a trip together please contact me for any help.

Sept/Oct/Nov can all be good.

.

[Digger]

so you guys drove thru the Helena / JC area and had no road closure issues?
How did it look? everything burnt down?

[EricO]

Hey Digger,

About 10 min outside Weaverville is controlled one way traffic. Near Junction City, the road was washed out
leaving only one lane. So it was a good 30 min wait until we could be shuttled through.

Saw well over a dozen homes burned to the ground except for the chimneys. You could see
other areas where the fire burned right into someone's backyard, and the homes were spared, so they were
extremely lucky.

Can't remember the name of it, but there was a lodge type place that was completely wiped out.
Tons of cars and trucks that were torched.

Very sad to see.

Once you hit Willow Creek and go north to Orleans, there are two places with one way traffic where the
road is being redone. The second one is close to Weitchpec, and that's just one lane as half the road
is washed out. But the wait wasn't more than 10 minutes.

Eric

[Jeff F]

so you guys drove thru the Helena / JC area and had no road closure issues?
How did it look? everything burnt down?

I live in Santa Rosa, so I come up Hwy 101 from the Arcata side. Eric's in Rocklin, so he drove through the fire area. He can probably describe it better since he was there. From what he told me, it's toasted.

[Trouter925]

Been up on the Klamath since Saturday. Fished 3 longs days so far. All the way up to Happy Camp. Slow is a good word. I've brought a couple 12" to hand. Feisty - lots of jumping. Brindle Bug and good old muddler minnow. Ran into four people fishing on Green Riffle today. They said it had been slow for them as well. They have been fishing since Sunday as well. The said they caught a few half pounders on the Trinity during a float. 299 has some road closures. I had to wait in Weaverville about 2 hours. They were only letting traffic through 3x a day with a pilot car. I would definitely check caltrans for road conditions before coming up on 299.

I've seen a few fish (salmon) rolling at Green Riffle and Dillons Creek.

[ricards]

299 West is a mess. Reference this page, if you are thinking about driving it.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/d2/index.html

[hwchubb]

Wow, thanks for that link. Hadn't heard about the planned Junction City closure, adjusts my travel plans later this month...

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Had more reports and I guess the fish are not in very good numbers but there are some being caught.

Some Half-pounders, some adult Steelhead and some salmon too.....on flies.

Looks like the Rogue River is a better bet this Fall.