January usually brings weather! What kind is the question? According to the National Weather Service we are supposed to see a break in the weather this next week. Because of the rain that is melting the snowpack most of the creeks feeding the Trinity are flowing very good but are starting to drop which allows the river to start dropping also. If the weather forecast is correct, we should see a tapering off from all the wet weather. This will be good for the river as it will allow the river to clear up and start to come down and maybe, just maybe, provide some good fishing. Right now, the river here in Willow Creek is muddy. If we do see a tapering off this coming week, we should see some fresh winter steelhead inter the river and start their way up. I sure hope so, because I am tired of sitting in the house and watching it rain outside. Alex Dodd, a meteorologist with the National Weather said “it like is a fairly weak front coming in Thursday for sure Friday”. We could see some fishing maybe by Sunday or Monday of next week. 

Don’ forget to turn in your Salmon Harvest card and /or your steelhead Report card. You have until January 31st. You can send the results in electronically at www.dfg.c.gov/steelheadcard . While you are on line you might want to order your 2020 fishing license also.  

A reminder that the new “Online location for the fishing report will be at; Archive reports, www.norcalfishreports.com/news/archive.php?author_id=945 ; new reports will now be at www.norcalfishreports.com/spots/1896/trinity-river---willow-creek-weir,php . I thank you all for your loyalty.

Trinity River Hatchery: Julian week 23 ending Jan. 14; Fall Chinook, 0-jacks, 0-adults, total 0, season total 1,586, combined total 6,064; Coho, 0-jacks, 0-adults, total 0, season total 649; steelhead, 8, total 8 ,season total 64.

Fishing: Right now the Trinity River is blown out below Helena (Pigeon Point takeout). As for the upper sections of the Trinity it looks like one could be fishing by the weekend or mid-week.

Upper Klamath fish video counts: Julian week 2 ending Jan. 14, Bogus Creek, Chinook salmon 0, total 974; Coho 0, total 56; Scott River, Chinook salmon 0, total 1,565, Coho 0, total 369; Shasta River, Chinook salmon 0, total 5,867, Coho 0, total 66.

Mid-Klamath to Happy Camp: The Klamath at Weitchpec is flowing about 41,932cfs. The Mid-Klamath is going up some but should start to subside this coming week. The Klamath at Iron Gate is releasing more water right now to allow for snowmelt. It should start to lower releases this week and allow for some fishing. Your best bet to find out about the I-5 to Klamath section is contact Scott Caldwell through SC Guide service as Scott keeps a pretty good tabs on the flows in that area.

Lake Conditions: Whiskeytown is 86% of capacity (a decrease of 0%) with inflows of 790cfs and releasing 790cfs on to Keswick and the Sacramento River. Shasta Lake is 75% of capacity (an increase of 1% plus 2ft) with inflows of 14,629cfs and releasing 4,060cfs into Keswick. Keswick is 87% (an increase of 2%) with inflows of 4,999cfs and releasing 4,992cfs into the Sacramento river. Oroville Lake is 61% of capacity (an increase of 1% plus 4ft) with inflows of 9,564cfs with releases of 2,023cfs into the Feather River. Folsom Lake is 49% of capacity (a decrease of 0% plus 0ft) with inflows of 3,627cfs with releases of 2,065cfs into the American river.

Trinity Lake: The lake is 30ft below the overflow (an increase of 2ft) and 81% of capacity (an increase of 1%) and inflows of 4,222cfs and releasing 332cfs into Lewiston Lake with 28cfs being diverted to Whiskeytown Lake and on to Keswick Power Plant, which is releasing 4,992cfs into the Sacramento River.

Trinity River flows and conditions: Lewiston Dam is 99% of capacity (an increase of 0%) and water releases are 304cfs with water temperatures of 43.6 degrees, as of 9:00am today Monday January 27,2020. Limekiln Gulch is 9.45ft at 464cfs. Douglas City is 6.86ft and flows of 665cfs. with air temps of 45 and water temperatures of 41.1 degrees. Junction City is 2.89ft at 905cfs. Helena is 11.08ft at 1,522cfs with water temps of 44.5 degrees. Cedar Flat (Burnt Ranch) is 8.27ft at 4,438cfs. South Fork of the Trinity near Hyampom is 8.13ft at 4,328cfs. Willow Creek is estimated at 8,766cfs and air is 48 degrees and water at 45.5 degrees. Hoopa is 21.47ft at 18,803cfs and water is 47 degrees. Water flows at the mouth of the Trinity River at the Klamath are estimated to be 41,932cfs.

Klamath River flows and conditions: Iron Gate is releasing 1,734cfs. Seiad Valley is 5.48ft at 4,675cfs. Happy Camp is estimated at 5,934cfs, Somes Bar is estimated to be 4,694cfs, and the Salmon River is 7.18ft at 7,435cfs. Orleans is 12.17ft at 23,129cfs, the Klamath River at Terwer Creek is 22.15ft at 68,356cfs and water temps are 47.2 degrees. Flows for the Smith River at Jedia Smith are 14.24ft with flows of 17,364cfs. and flows at Dr. Fine Bridge are 20.37ft at N/A cfs. 

Temperatures in the Valley last week had a high of 58 and a low of 35. Rain for the week was 1.98in with a water year to date of 32.62 inches, with snow in willow Creek, snow of 1.45in. in the valley to date. Forecasts for next week are for temperatures in the highs of 67 and lows of 35 with some a mixture of light rain and scattered showers during the first part of the week and with some showers and sunshine and light clouds predicted for Monday and Tuesday.  The Highways are clear of snow some snow along the roadsides. If you plan to try and come up you might want to check for road conditions through CalTrans before you travel.