The Seasons of the Klamath River

The Klamath River is open year-round to fishing most years, but the timing of the steelhead runs mean that certain times of year will be more productive than others. Also, warm water conditions can make the upper sections of river un-fishable in the late summer months.

Summer

The season can start on the lower Klamath as early as July, but the real season doesn’t get started until sometime around the middle of August to the middle of September. There can be some great traditional steelhead fishing on the lower Klamath River during this early season, from the mouth of the Klamath upstream past Johnson's Bar and on towards the confluence with the Trinity River near the town of Weitchpec. Steelhead fishing on the Klamath in this early season is an exciting angling adventure. Anglers typically use jet boats to maneuver the river and access various riffles and runs that hold these early season steelhead.

The primary technique is traditional swinging, with single or two-handed rods, using various floating lines, sink-tip lines and shooting heads. This is the way Steelhead are meant to be caught; once you've felt the tug of a chrome-bright fish at the end of a tight line, you'll be hooked as tightly as any fish. The Steelhead in this part of the river are fresh from the ocean, full of all the strength and ire of any saltwater species. They run in size anywhere from half-pounders to adults ranging up to 12 pounds.

Fall

The so-called "middle Klamath" is the rugged, remote sections of the river starting at Weitchpec and running upstream through Somes Bar, Orleans, Happy Camp, and the Seiad Valley. Highway 96 paralells the river through much of this section. There's a lot of fantastic steelhead water in this section of the Klamath, and not much angling traffic. In fact, our friends at the Marble Mountain Ranch are located smack dab in the middle of all of it, and usually have the river to themselves from

October through November.

The Marble Mountain Ranch is a guest ranch located at Somes Bar, offering a family atmosphere with guest cabins, home-cooked meals, and guided fly fishing on these remote stretches of the Klamath River. The professional guides at Marble Mountain Ranch utilize McKenzie-style drift boats or whitewater rafts to access areas of the river that are rarely, if ever, fished by anyone other than the ranch staff. Traditional swinging techniques are the only techniques needed down here, with average days including hooking multiple half-pounders and opportunities for a few adult steelhead, too.

For more information on the fishing opportunities at the Marble Mountain Ranch, click here.

Winter

The portions of the Klamath River that our guide staff concentrate on begins at the Iron Gate Dam, just north of the town of Yreka and south of the Oregon border along the Interstate-5 corridor. There are several drifts in this upper region of the Klamath that our guides focus on during the late fall and winter months, targeting both half-pounders and adult steelhead.

Starting around the middle of November, Steelhead start showing in good numbers in these upper reaches of the Klamath, and they'll keep coming until around the middle of March. These are strong, wild fish that consistently keep anglers enthralled with aerial acrobatics and long, powerful, reel-burning runs. The fish on the Klamath River are a mixture of "half-pounders" in the 16-20 inch range, and adult Steelhead that average 4-5 pounds, with fish up to 10 pounds landed each year.

In the colder fall and winter season (November through February), our guides prefer to drift nymphs under indicators in the upper Klamath, as they have found over the years that we’ve been guiding this river that it is far and above the most productive way to catch fish during the winter. The upper Klamath River’s deep pools and channels are ideal for dead-drifting nymphs.

Our guides fish this stretch of the Klamath in comfortable drift boats. There is very little wade access between Iron Gate Dam and Interstate 5, so drifting these sections of river is the most effective way to cover the water and find the fish.

Many of our guides and guests choose to use Klamathon Lodge as a home base for extended trips to the Klamath River during the winter steelhead season.

Spring

The late spring/early summer season, from the time flows begin to drop around the end of May until the water grows too warm to fish by the middle of July, presents one of the most exciting dry fly fisheries in the region. Thousands of giant stoneflies – both salmonflies and golden stoneflies – hatch on the upper reaches of the Klamath during this time of year. The Klamath’s resident rainbows in the section of river pod up in the riffles and near the willow-lined banks. Our guides drift the river, often using Klamathon Lodge as a home base, while anglers cast big dry flies to aggressive trout that average 10-14 inches, with fish over 20 inches hooked daily.

To find out more information on Klamathon Lodge, please click here.

To make a reservation, please give us a call at 800-669-3474 during business hours any day of the week. We can give you the answers you need or the detailed explanations to questions you might have, or check on guide availability and confirm your guide reservation in minutes.

If you prefer to correspond on-line simply e-mail us at info@adventuresinflyfishing.com and we will respond promptly.