The late spring salmon season this was anything but average despite the Klamath having one of the better spring salmon returns then previous years. Many boats and anglers anticipated another good year for estuary trolling but due to late rains and cold water temperatures, most of the spring salmon were miles and miles up river by the time July 1st came around. In past years some of the best spring salmon fishing you could find on the west coast happened to take place on the Klamath. But in recent years due to drought and a decline in the spring salmon population, sport fisherman cannot fish until July 1st. I fished the opener for 2 days and didn’t touch a fish. Matter of fact, didn’t even see a salmon roll. Two weeks later the bite seemed to pick up a little bit but still far from good. We fished for three days hooking 10 total. I will say, the quality of the fish were good, the numbers were lacking. Many boats came up empty handed and that seemed to be how most days went.
As the days continued on the summer steelhead run showed up and in great numbers. It is not uncommon to have a double digit fish day for summer steelhead. Anglers can often find themselves hooking fish almost every pass. And sometimes the bite lasts some time. And boy, do they put up a great fight. Average size ranges from 3-6 lbs, sometimes exceeding 8 to 12 lbs. Surprisingly, there was actually a small population of hatchery steelhead in the run. But! The run is not over! There are still some steelhead to be caught as the fall salmon start to make their way into the system which is what attract many of us to Yurok Country.
Redwood Fishing Adventures 