News Room

CDFW has begun releasing juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon into the Klamath River now that river conditions have improved with cooler temperatures and increased flows that give the young salmon their best chance at survival and reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Based upon California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) projections of the recreational fall Chinook salmon catch on the Klamath River, anglers will meet the Lower Klamath River adult fall Chinook salmon quota below the Highway 96 Bridge near Weitchpec for the 2021 season as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced that the spit fishery at the mouth of the Klamath River will close to angling at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 27. Based on CDFW projections of the recreational fall Chinook salmon harvest, anglers will have met the “spit area” adult fall Chinook salmon quota of 15 percent of the total Klamath River Basin allotment by that time.

Due to drought and poor water conditions in the Klamath River, CDFW successfully relocated 1.1 million juvenile, fall-run Chinook salmon from its Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County. The fish were trucked to a nearby satellite facility and to the Trinity River Hatchery 122 miles away where the fish will remain until conditions in the Klamath River improve.