Now booking Klamath River Spring Salmon
(Steve Shamp & Marty Allen show off a pair of beautiful salmon from a recent trip.)
June 13, 2008
After having semi-tough to brutally tough fishing to this point, it looks like we may have finally turned the corner. I had a couple of days off mid-week and started fishing again Thursday. We started hooking fish as soon as light broke. Unfortunately, we lost the first five that day and ended up two for seven with a total of eight bites.
Today was a much slower start. We got a fish at 6:00 and lost another one just before 8:00. Around 1:00 most of the other boats had pretty much packed it in. I was considering suggesting the same. So much of this game we play is playing your hunches and following your gut feeling. Something told me to stay put and continue fishing. At 1:00 we got our third bite of the day and were rewarded with a beautiful 25 pound salmon. After that we got bit about every half an hour. Our net result was four for seven with a total nine bites. I can't really explain why they didn't run for us before the afternoon, but I guess we will take them when we can get them.
Good Fishing,
John
June 5, 2008
After two days of getting shutout on the river, my confidence was waning. At 10:00 this morning, we still had no bite. As a result, I decided to move to a completely different spot ~ it paid off. Wes Narver, from Temecula, landed two really nice salmon ~ the largest, a perfect fish weighing 22 pounds.
Everybody is speculating as to why these fish aren't showing up in good numbers. One common theory is that they don't like to come in on the big tides. If that's the case, we should see some pretty good fishing around the beginning to middle of next week. Of course, I'm hoping for tomorrow.
Good Fishing,
John
June 4, 2008
I really didn't want to write this report today because I fished again without a bite. For the first few days that I was here, I was doing better than most. For some reason, the fish have not come through me for the last couple of days.
There were a few fish hooked below me around the corner, and a few fish above me around the corner. Somehow, those fish are getting around me. Granted, I only had two spinners in the water today with one client, but I felt like our rods should have been bitten where we were fishing. I did make a subtle move this afternoon to a little bit different spot, and it fished well and looked really good. So, I will set my anchors there tomorrow morning. I think that their running lane should be a little tighter where I will be.
On a positive note, I did hear rumor that there were a bunch of springers splashing below the 101 bridge this afternoon. I suppose we will find out if the rumor is true in the morning.
Good Fishing,
John
June 3, 2008
Today was the toughest day that I have experienced all springer season. We fished from daylight until 4:00 this afternoon without a strike. The scuttlebutt from other boats was that it was nearly or equally difficult for them. As I understand it, there were four or five boats that came off the river with one fish today.
We had rain this morning, but I am certain that it had no bearing on the day. There's really no explanation that I know of as to why these fish shut down on us today, and I will not change my game plan tomorrow.
Good Fishing,
John
June 2, 2008
When you are working as hard for fish as everyone up here has been, you just hope that every bite sticks. As luck would have it, that was not the case this morning. We hooked two fish early and lost both ~ one right at the boat. We did end up with a couple that came later in the day. One was a beautiful 20 pound fish caught by Kevin Perry of Santa Cruz.
One thing that I did find encouraging was the fact that I had a couple of bites very early this morning. This has not been the case, and those early fish are the ones laying on the flats at night. Rather than relying strictly on the fish that come in on the tides, I am now hopeful that we will have fish coming at us first thing in the morning.
Good Fishing,
John
June 1, 2008
We got three bites today, and luckily, we landed all three. The fish ranged from ten to sixteen pounds and all were chrome-bright, fresh from the ocean. There should be more fish in this river than there are. The ocean is calm, so there's really no reason for them not to be streaming in. However, as I said before, it could change as quickly as tomorrow. For now, we just put in long days and grind the few out that we can get.
Good Fishing,
John
May 30-31, 2008
Fishing the last couple of days on the Klamath has been what I would call spotty. Yesterday, we got bit three times and landed two of them ~ one of them around 17 pounds. Today, our rods were bit four times which which resulted in one fifteen pounder for the boat. We lost a couple of fish as well. Both of them jumped and threw the spinner.
The river is dropping very very slowly, and the color is holding. However, neither factors into the fishing. The bottom line is that there are not a lot of fish moving through the lower river at this time. That's how it is with springers. If they are moving, we catch them, but if there aren't a lot of fish swimming, you are at their mercy. I certainly expect it to get better. It could happen tomorrow ~ it's really just a matter of which tide they decide to enter the river on.
Good Fishing,
John
May 29, 2008
The Klamath River has dropped into shape both in height and color over the last several days. We are just getting started with the spring run fishery. At this point, I have to say that it looks very encouraging. Currently, I am averaging a shot at five fish a day to 20 or so pounds.
Contrary to popular belief, there is salmon fishing still to be had in California. Spring salmon, in particular, are the best tasting fish we catch all year.
I still have dates available beginning on June 16th. If you are interested, call or email me.
Good Fishing,
John
