he Pacific Fishery Management Council released its “Review of 2024 Ocean Salmon Fisheries” report Wednesday, and the news was not good for the Klamath Basin.

Based on an ocean abundance of 178,200 Klamath River fall Chinook thought to be swimming in the ocean last fall, forecasters predicted roughly 65,138 adults would return to the river. Unfortunately, the run fell well short of the preseason predictions. A total of 36,568 adults returned to the river. Of those, just 24,032 escaped to natural spawning areas, which was 66 percent of the preseason prediction of 36,511 adults and well below the 40,700 floor escapement goal.

The estimated hatchery adult return was 4,489 compared to 21,964 in 2023. Jack (2-year-old kings) returns to the Klamath basin were 7,085, including 5,959 that escaped to natural spawning areas. In 2023 11,673 Jacks returned to the basin.

Spawning escapement to the upper Klamath River tributaries (Salmon, Scott and Shasta rivers), where spawning was only minimally affected by hatchery strays, totaled 7,317 compared to 7,765 in 2023. The escapement in 2024 to the Shasta River was 4,951 adults. Escapement to the Salmon and Scott rivers was 1,520 and 846 adults, respectively.

The above river return and escapement numbers reflect no ocean commercial or recreational salmon fishing as well as salmon closures on both the Klamath and Trinity rivers. According to the report, an estimated 136 fall Chinook were harvested in the Klamath River basin recreational fishery in 2024. Tribal adult harvest was 7,249 (Yurok: 4,963 adults; Hoopa Valley: 2,286 adults), which was 113 percent of the tribal allocation of 6,434.

The report also states:

“In 2024, four dams were removed from the Klamath River which allowed salmon to move volitionally upstream from the site of Iron Gate Dam for the first time in many years. Newly available mainstem and tributary habitats were occupied by salmon following dam removal. Substantial monitoring efforts Oregon and California provided age-specific spawner estimates for the 2024 run. The estimated run size in the Klamath mainstem and its tributaries from of Iron Gate (California) to Keno Dam was 1,494 adults and 151 jacks in 2024.”

In 2024, recreational angling for salmon in the Sacramento River and its tributaries was closed as well. A total of 99,274 hatchery and natural area adult spawners were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento River Basin in 2024, substantially lower than the 180,061 predicted. Fall Chinook returns to Sacramento River hatcheries in 2024 totaled 26,834 adults and 8,301 jacks, and escapement to natural areas was 72,440 adults and 10,864 jacks.

With the Klamath Dam removal project now completed, what our ocean and river salmon seasons will look like in the coming year is still a work in progress and will be flushed out in the coming weeks.

Next up is the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Annual Salmon Information Meeting, which will be held via webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 26, starting at 10 a.m. The meeting will be via webinar only and covers 2024 spawner abundances returning to the Central Valley and Klamath Basins, 2025 abundance forecasts, and management context guiding the development and implementation of 2025 ocean salmon fisheries.

Following the Salmon Information Meeting webinar, California representatives will work together to develop a range of recommended ocean fishing season alternatives at the March 5-11 Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Vancouver, WA. Final season recommendations will be adopted at the Council’s April 9-15 meeting in San Jose, CA.

Salmon information meeting details can be found on the CDFW’s Ocean Salmon web page.

The weather ahead
According to Eureka’s National Weather Service office, a long fetch of moisture emanating from the subtropics will get ingested into a frontal system that will approach the west coast on Saturday. “The front will most likely stall offshore or just to the north of the OR/CA border containing warm fronts producing bouts of moderate to locally heavy rain across Del Norte County. The brunt of this atmospheric river will be aimed north of the area with Del Norte on the southern edge. Thus, expect mostly beneficial rainfall. Minor nuisance flooding will be possible and as we have seen with multiple rainstorms, possible landslides in steep terrain on 199. Heaviest rain appears to arrive Saturday night (4pm-4am). Otherwise, expect mild temperatures with a chance for light rain for the remainder of the area during the weekend.

Gusty winds will also occur with this stationary boundary and minor impacts are possible especially over the coastal headlands. A frontal wave is forecast to develop early next week (Monday) and stronger wind gusts to 40 mph or more are more probable as a cold frontal boundary pushes across the area.”

The Rivers:
Mad
As of Thursday, the Mad was just above 11 feet (5,500 cfs) and starting to drop. It’s forecast to drop to 9.45 feet by Saturday evening, but a smaller system will bump up the flows back over 10 feet Sunday. It will need at least a week of dry weather before it turns green. That doesn’t appear to be in the cards for the next 10 days.

Main stem Eel
The main stem Eel was running at 20,500 cfs as of Thursday, and is still big and muddy. If the forecast is correct, it could be fishable sometime within the first or second week of March.

South Fork Eel
The South Fork should be down to a fishable height by early or mid-next week. As of Thursday, it was down to 4,500 cfs at Miranda and predicted to be around 2,200 cfs by Tuesday. Whether it’s fishable will be contingent on the slide in the Confusion Hill area. It was spilling mud earlier in the week.

Van Duzen
Similar to the South Fork Eel, the Van Duzen is on the drop following a peak of 2,500 cfs Wednesday near Bridgeville. This will likely be short-lived as more rain is in the forecast for the weekend which will push flows up to roughly 3,000 cfs. Will need a solid week of dry weather before it starts to fish.

Smith River
The Smith dropped into shape Wednesday, when some boats chose to plunk and other drifted the high flows. With no rain until the late Saturday, conditions should be excellent the next few days. Another big rise is forecast for Sunday, with flows reaching 21,000 cfs (15.2 feet) at the Jed Smith gauge. Boat traffic should be lighter as the Chetco will begin to fish on Friday.

Southern Oregon rivers
Steelhead fishing continues to be fair at best on the Chetco reports Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “Guides are getting a couple fish a day, while plunkers are finding an occasional steelhead at Social Security Bar and Loeb Park,” said Martin. “Good conditions are expected just before the weekend. Steelhead fishing also is fair on the Elk and slow on the Rogue. Fishing has been much slower than normal on the entire Oregon Coast.”

Brookings ocean update
According to Martin, rough weather has kept boats at the dock in Brookings. “Calm winds are in the forecast Thursday and Friday before another round of stormy weather.”

Kenny Priest operates Fishing the North Coast, a fishing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and www.fishingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com.