There is a new proposal for Trinity River water flows. The proposal suggests that the proposed water releases will help the survival of the outmigration of the salmonid. I can’t understand where the Trinity Management Council thinks they will get the water when the Trinity Dam is only 32% of capacity. I guess we could imagine it to be there when the proposals are going to b released even though we are still in a drought. Of the 17 California State Reservoirs only 7 are above 50% of capacity. The farmers of the state are told they will only get 10% of their requested water and the fish in the rivers are in need of the water to survive, so where does the TMC expect to acquire this extra water, they plan to flow down the river?? The New Proposal for Trinity Water Temperature Releases; raise the temp to 60 degrees, July 1 thru Sep 15 from Lewiston Bridge to Douglas City Bridge, lower the water temperature to 56 degrees, Sep 15 from Lewiston Bridge to Douglas City Bridge, lower the temperature to 56 degrees, Oct 1 to Dec 1 from Lewiston Bridge to the Confluence of the North Fork. I still ask where is the water going to come from when Trinity Lake is less than 50% and Bureau of Reclamation wants to send 53% of the water to the Central Valley. If you can figure out where the water is going to come from, please let us know!!    

Trinity River Hatchery summary: Spring Run Chinook salmon totals; 452-jacks, 1,553 adults; totals 2,005; Fall Run Chinook Salmon Julian Week 7 ending on Feb. 18, 2022; 0-jacks, 0-adults, total 0, season total 5,968; Coho salmon 0-adults, 0-jacks, total 0, season total 2,383; steelhead 126, season total 1,192.

Klamath River Project: Shasta River through Feb. 7, 2022; Shasta River, Chinook salmon 6,908, Coho 50. Scott River through Jan. 3, 2022; Chinook 1,324, Coho 829. Bogus Creek through Jan. 6, 2022; Chinook 2,072, Coho 309. Feb. 17, 2022 Shasta River, an estimated 85,071 Age 0+ have out migrated from the river. What the returns will be has not been projected yet. Scott River estimate Chinook salmon 15, Coho 0. These are marked returned from rotary screw trapping. 

Fishing: The Lower Trinity is still steelhead green with good visibility but the river is dropping. There are fishermen out fishing from Hawkins Bar down into Hoopa and they are catching fish. They are saying they are ½-pounders but I thing we are hooking the smolt releases from the TRH as the hatchery are releasing fish during this month. I shuttled some fishermen last week from South Fork to Kimtu Beach and they said that they were able to catch and release 25 ½-pounders fishing with flies. Rain could help both rivers.

Up river the word I have been receiving is that the hatchery releases are eating your bait and going after flies, abut the river is starting to get really low.

Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: The Klamath River at Weitchpec is flowing 6,430cfs. This is a decrease of 2,519cfs. Iron Gate Dam is releasing 981cfs. The daytime temperatures are in the low 30s to mid-50s and the river is in the mid to high 40s right now. The Klamath is low in the upper sections but fishable from Happy Camp area on down.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 86% of capacity (an increase of 1%) with inflows of 222cfs and releasing 247cfs in to Spring Creek. Shasta Lake is 37% of capacity (an increase of 1% plus 2ft) with inflows of 1,962cfs and releasing 2,640cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 90% (a decrease of 2%) with inflows of 3,049cfs and releasing 3,281cfs into the Sacramento River. Oroville Lake is 47% of capacity (an increase of --% plus --ft) with inflows of 3,821cfs with releases of 2,620cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 54% of capacity (an increase of 0% plus 0ft) with inflows of 1,022cfs with releases of 1,158cfs into the American river. 

Trinity Lake: The lake is 141ft below the overflow (an increase of 1ft) and 32% of capacity (an increase of 0%) with inflows of 884cfs and releasing 446cfs into Lewiston Lake with 165cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 3,281cfs into the Sacramento River. 

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 97% of capacity (an increase of 1%) and water releases are 281cfs into the Trinity River, with water temperatures of 46.6 degrees, as of 10:00am today Monday February 22, 2022. Limekiln Gulch is 4.68ft at 317cfs. Douglas City is 6.34ft with flows of 349cfs with water temperatures of 42.7 degrees. Junction City is 1.80ft at 379cfs. Helena is 10.50ft at 496cfs with water temps of 43.3 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 3.38ft at 787cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 3.38ft at 535cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 1,322cfs and air is 45 degrees and water at 43 degrees, the river is still steelhead green color but very clear. Hoopa is 13.22ft at 2,153cfs and water is 44.2 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath in Weitchpec are estimated to be 6,430cfs a decrease of 2,519cfs. 

Klamath River flows and conditions: Iron Gate is releasing 981cfs. Seiad Valley is 2.69ft at 1,607cfs. Indian Creek is 4.65ft at 410cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 2,017cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 3,119cfs, and the Salmon River is 3.11ft at 1,158cfs. Orleans is 4.30ft at 4,277cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 10.64ft at 7,719cfs and water temps are 45.2 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jed Smith are 6.07ft with flows of 1,032cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 12.75 ft at N/A cfs. 

Temperatures for the Valley last week had a high of 67 and a low of 29 degrees. Rain for the week was 0.00in with a water year total to date of 36.55 inches and 5.0in of snow in Willow Creek. The predicted weather for next week is high of 79 and a low of 36. The predicted weather for next week is some rain and snow above 2,000ft. This could help with some water in the spring but our snow pack is still below normal for this time of the year.

Websites: MyOutdoorBuddy.com, Willowcreekchamber.com,
from Willow Creek, CA Phone 530-629-3554, E-mail yen2fish@yahoo.com