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Guided Fly Fishing on
the Klamath River
The Klamath River
System is one of the most impressive drainages on the West Coast,
starting in the vast Klamath Basin in southeastern Oregon and carving
its way across Northern California’s rugged Siskiyou Mountains
before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. For thousands of years,
the water of the Klamath – as well as its native salmon and
steelhead – has been an integral part of life for the people
inhabiting the region, including the Karok, Yurok, Shasta, Modoc,
Klamath, and Hoopa Indian tribes, as well as ranchers and outdoors
enthusiasts.
When The Fly Shop®
opened its doors in 1978 the Klamath River was one of the primary
guided angling destinations that we offered. In the years
that followed the Klamath River System endured some tragic times,
as the effects of decades of mining, trapping, logging, and agricultural
irrigation left the waters in the river tepid and warm, drastically
affecting the runs of anadromous Salmon and Steelhead that had once
numbered in the millions (in fact, the Klamath River historically
had hosted one of the largest runs of Chinook Salmon in the entire
continental US).
Although the Chinook Salmon run on the Klamath River has been nearly
decimated, the Steelhead in the river have made a remarkable comeback
in the past decade, and with recent litigation regarding dam removal
there is a great glimmer of hope for the future. Once again, the
Klamath is back!
Seasons
The exact range
of the season on the Klamath River can be hard to predict,
as the steelhead begin to enter the river system at different times
each year depending on weather and water conditions. Although there
are steelhead to be found somewhere in the Klamath nearly every
day of the year, most Klamath River anglers consider the steelhead
season to begin as early as July or August and run through March.
The Klamath is
a very long river system, and it’s general seasons can be
broken down into the river’s three different regions:
the lower Klamath (below Weitchpec and the confluence of the Trinity),
the middle Klamath (including the sections of the river paralleled
by highway 96 through Somes Bar, Orleans, Happy Camp, and the Seiad
Valley), and the upper Klamath (from Iron Gate dam downstream to
Interstate 5). Though there are opportunities to target steelhead
on the fly on all of these sections of river, our guides focus on
fly fishing the upper sections of the Klamath River during the heart
of the fall and winter season when the highest concentrations of
fish can be found. This can start as early as the middle of November,
and often runs all through the winter months and into early March,
with the bulk of the best fishing from December through February.
Late Spring/early
summer also has some great trout fishing on the upper Klamath.
Giant Salmonflies and golden stoneflies hatch on the river this
time of year, bringing scores of hungry rainbows to the surface
aggressively attacking big dry flies cast against the willow-lined
banks.
Click
here for more detailed information on the seasons to fish the Klamath
River.
Fly Fishing the Klamath
River
The Klamath River
is perhaps best known for its historical runs of half-pounder steelhead.
These immature steelhead spend only one year in the ocean
before returning to their natal river by the thousands, and average
14-18 inches. In addition to the great populations of these smaller steelhead,
the Klamath has good annual runs of adult steelhead from 4-8 pounds.
A typical day of Klamath River steelhead fishing often includes hooking
a handful of feisty trout-sized half-pounders combined with one
or two (or sometimes more) adult steelhead. It is one of the best
rivers anywhere to introduce someone to steelhead fly fishing because
they’ll have a better than good chance of hooking some fish,
and more likely than not they’ll have chances of hooking good
numbers of steelhead on any given day.
There are two
main techniques used to fly fish for steelhead on the Klamath River:
Swinging flies and nymphing. Swinging flies is the most traditional
method to target steelhead, and can be effective in the lower and
middle sections of the river during the early season (August-November)
when water temperatures are warmer and the steelhead are more active
and aggressive. In the colder fall and winter season (November through
February), however, our guides prefer to drift nymphs under indicators
in the upper Klamath, as they have found over the years that we’ve
been guiding this river that it is far and above the most productive
way to catch fish during the winter. The upper Klamath River’s
deep pools and channels are ideal for dead-drifting nymphs.
The portions of
the Klamath River that our guide staff operates on begins at the
Iron Gate Dam, just north of the town of Yreka and south
of the Oregon border along the Interstate-5 corridor. There are
several drifts in this upper region of the Klamath River that our
guides focus on during the late fall and winter months, targeting
both half-pounders and adult steelhead. They also fish this same
section of river in the late spring/early summer, targeting resident
trout on big dry flies during stonefly hatches.
Our guides fish
this stretch of the Klamath River in comfortable drift boats. There
is very little wade access between Iron Gate Dam and Interstate
5, so drifting these sections of river is the most effective way
to cover the water and find the fish. Indicator nymphing is the
predominant strategy, working the deeper holes where the large Steelhead
congregate.
There are a few
minor tributary streams entering the Klamath River in these upper
few miles, yet the river remains largely controlled by releases
from Iron Gate Dam. The Klamath’s water always has a dark
tea-color tint to it, but the river generally remains fishable in
the upper floats throughout the winter months. Big winter storms
may blow the river out, but it clears quickly, usually in just a
few days’ time.
To make a reservation,
please give us a call at 800-669-3474 during business hours
any day of the week. We can give you the answers you need or the
detailed explanations to questions you might have, or check on guide
availability and confirm your guide reservation in minutes.
If you prefer to correspond
on-line simply e-mail us at info@adventuresinflyfishing.com
and we will respond promptly.
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