Lower Klamath

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Any word on the Klamath River below Blue Creek? I’m thinking about pulling the jet boat up there for some fly fishing. Are Jack Salmon legal this year?


Richard

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I didn't get any takers on this thread, but had 534 views. Think I will bump it up for next season, just in case Salmon Fishing is open to fly fishing again. I spent many years fishing the lower Klamath, but when I had to switch from roe to flies I found that the main stem of the Klamath is a difficult river to catch Kings on a fly. Down there the fish move constantly staying high in the water and were hard to keep up with. The Trinity above Burnt Ranch, on the other hand, had pools where the fish would lay up during the day, simular to Tide Rock on the Chetco. Anyone have suggestions for fly fishing the lower Klamath?

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Well, it looks like no one has a suggestion for fly fishing the Lower Klamath, but we are in luck becasue the current issue (May/June) of Northwest Flyfishing has an article about the Lower Klamath.

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Okay, another year has passed, and it's now 2009. Any word on the Klamath River below Blue Creek? I’m thinking about pulling the jet boat up there for some fly fishing. Are Jack Salmon legal this year?

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I have good news. The boat ramp at Klamath Glen has been completely renovated and a new courtesy dock added. Here is even better news: The Yurok Tribe no longer net fish 7 days a week. They pull their nets on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Also, they no longer net at night, and that is a huge gain for us.

The end of September, which is right now, is usually the peak of the Salmon Run. They are expecting 500,000 fish to pass by.

I have a jet boat sitting here if anyone wants to share expenses.

[calisdad]

Don't know if you follow it but USA Fishing has been posting the events on the Klamath and Trinity here: Trinity River Fishing Report (http://usafishing.com/trinity.html)

Seems as tho the Yurok's want to get as many fish to market as they can. It's a sad state of affairs and from what I gather they want control of the river and want us to pay them for our right to fish. In October only 96 fish made it through the weir at Willow Springs and all the recreational catch had net marks.

On top of that they have stopped all dredging in California with a law suit. From what I can tell dredging benefits salmon not the other way around. The water wars are being fought. The salmon are the 'collateral damage'. No one wants to touch the issue for fear of being anti-indian. It's all bull.

Fisherman in this state need to get organized and active. I don't see that happening.

regards-
C-dad

[Bigolwiggler]

C-dad, I am in complete agreement with you on the Indian gill netting. You know , I "might" go so far as letting them go out and fish with somewhat larger limits, so long as they used 'their' traditional fishing tools you know, to keep their heritage alive and to feed their families. But these guys are are using gillnests and jet boats !! Then they are selling the fish to the Indian Casinos for profit with no regard to the health of the fishery ! Where is their concern for "mother earth " !! This is crazy !
Yep, that whole thing is a political hot potato and no one wants to touch it.
I would be willing to join a group to go to Sacramento to demand some sort of action. This is not a racism issue its an issue about sustaining a natural resource before it is completely lost.
BOW

[Orygun]

They do that crap up here all the time. Columbia River is fill of the nets. They sell endangered salmon and steelhead by the highway onramps. Well, its not always endangered fish but since you can't keep wild fish and they can, odds are the ones they are selling are "protected" There is some cooperation with the tribes. They don't catch everything and the Umatilla tribe has been running a stellar hatchery program for a while now. They actually brought back the salmon in the Umatilla River.

Things are going to get funny in the Klamath now that they have agreed to rip out four dams. All that nice summer water will be a thing of the past as the dams will not be there to supply it. With less water things will warm up. Might benefit the salmon and steelhead if it all goes back to the way it was. Or it might not.

[calisdad]

Nothing nice about the water in the upper Klamath. All that algae from Iron Gate makes it pretty nasty in places. I wouldn't let my dogs in it.

[red3fidy]

I thought the selling of fish was illegal? Who would be the governing body for this?

[calisdad]

I thought the selling of fish was illegal? Who would be the governing body for this?

Easy- the DFG checks to see if they are in violation of their fishery management plan. Since they don't have a plan they don't violate it. (I'm not making this up) Mike Augney does a pretty good job of unbiased reporting on his USA fishing site I posted above if you want more background.