From Eureka to Trinidad optimism reigns supreme over the all too short ocean salmon season which begins Friday and concludes Wednesday. Allan Rice of Bucksport Sporting Goods reports there is lots of bait in the bay and salmon are showing.

Charter boats are enjoying solid bookings and a 77-pound halibut was taken 180 feet offshore at Trinidad. Three salmon were hooked and released early Wednesday. “It's looking real good,” Ruby Rollins commented.

Trinidad will also be the scene of a Salmon Derby with a $500 grand prize.

Meanwhile, there are good reports on the Klamath and Trinity rivers.

”Fishing is good and getting better all the time on the Klamath,” said guide Rich Mossholder. “There are a lot of fish in the river down to Klamath Glen. They range from half pounders to 35 pounds. Most anglers are drifting roe. Now is the time to get out there.”

Mid-Klamath water temperatures are running somewhat cooler this year and it seems to have helped the salmon to go upstream without too much trouble, points out guide Ed Duggan. “For awhile I was really worried that we were going to have the same problems that happened several years ago when we had the 'big kill' due to the extremely warm water. I am hoping that will not be the problem this year and that we will get back on track to good numbers of returning salmon again. I know we have been having good numbers of steelhead return and the half pounder action has been very good the last couple of years.”

Ed went on to say that the lower Trinity has been hard fishing the last couple of weeks but I expect that to turn around as the fish start to move up the river. The Tish Tang to Red Rock area is more of an early morning fish as compared to the Willow Creek to Hawkins Bar section being more of a late evening fish except for Saturdays because the weir opens Friday afternoons and closes Sunday afternoon to help capture fish for Monday morning counts.

”The weir usually opens every afternoon between 1 and 3 p.m. to let fish upriver and not stress them out so much. This is good because if the fish get too stressed out they become weaker and are unable to reach their spawning grounds,” he noted.

Numbers coming through the Willow Creek weir are not large yet but are increasing daily. There are some German Browns in the mix but there seem to be more in the upper section going through the Junction City weir.

”From what I have been able to gather is that there are more salmon coming into the river system down at the mouth of the Klamath and that is bringing in more steelhead. Half pounders have been hooked down on the Klamath around Weitchpec and the lower end of the Hoopa Valley. This is good news for the fly fishers and by Labor Day weekend there should be some very good fishing on the Trinity for them clear up to Tish Tang.

”The word is that there seem to be jack salmon in the lower Klamath and Trinity which will help fishermen fill their limits. I have been on the river a lot lately and it appears that more fishermen are catching and releasing. I hope that they are thinking of the years ahead when they release their fish. If this is the case we should see a good salmon return in two to three years. It would be nice if we could return to two adults and one jack for salmon limits on the rivers again.”

Fishing for king salmon on the Sacramento river has continued to be fair, for hard working guides. Most anglers are reporting two to four fish per boat for salmon averaging 18 to 26 pounds. Most productive water has been from the barge hole near Anderson downstream to Chico. Best bets have been sardine wrapped K-16/K-15 Kwikfish lures in silver or gold color combos. Roe tipped with a flame colored Quickie puffball has also produce some nice bright kings. Back bouncing or drifting has been the two most productive techniques.

Current water releases from Keswick dam into the Sacramento river near Redding are 11,000 cfs with no scheduled changes to date. Big fish of the week for clients of Dave Jacobs professional guide service was 28 pound hard fighting chrome bright king salmon caught by Scott Toschi from Lodi, while drifting roe tipped with a Quickie puff ball. Salmon counts have slowly continued to rise to 2,937 salmon as of August 27th.

Currently flows into the Feather River near Gridley are 3,900cfs. Anglers can expect best bite early in the mornings back bouncing sardine wrapped K-15/K-16 Kwikfish in silver or gold color combos. Look to switch over to roe tipped with a Quickie in hot pink or flame colors back bounced or mooched in deeper holes as the sun gets on the water. Most productive water has been from the outlet downstream above Gridley with some good bank fishing opportunities upstream in the low flow section near Oroville. Driftboaters have also reported good fishing in the low flow section of the Feather. All hard fighting salmon have been averaging 18 to 22 pounds with the occasional big 30 lb plus salmon being caught. Salmon limits are 3 salmon per person as of July 16th.