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.