BY Kenny Priest
Following some excellent salmon fishing in the Klamath estuary over the past few weeks, adult fall-run king salmon are now beginning to make their way upriver. There are a couple of reasons for the push. First, cool water releases from behind Lewiston Dam began last Friday to help reduce the risk of disease in the salmon. The other factor is the weather. Cooler outside temperatures, along with a fair amount of rain, can do wonders for river temperatures.
Combined, these conditions should produce a steady stream of kings moving upriver and staging in the various holes throughout the lower river. But don’t give up on the estuary just yet—the fishing was reportedly pretty wide-open on last Monday. I think it’s safe to say we’re smackdab in the middle of what could be a pretty good run of kings.
According to Dan Troxel, an environmental scientist with the Klamath River Project, 432 adult salmon were harvested from the State Route 96 bridge at Weitchpec downstream to the Klamath mouth during the week ending Aug. 26, counting toward the quota of 1,624 fish. As of last Friday, 1,192 adults remained on the quota. Meanwhile, the spit area closed to fishing as of Thursday, Sept. 3.
With excellent conditions and the Labor Day crowd on the water, I’d expect a big dent to be taken out of the remaining quota in the coming days.
