The last two days brought the Mid Klamath some strong winds that lasted to the last hours of the day. The winds made it all but impossible to hold any advantageous boat positions or to effectively cast from bank locations. My guests and I struggled through the storm however, and picked up a half dozen half pounder steelhead each day. I am thinking that the recent storm motivated the steelhead to move up-river to smaller flow locations. We simply did not see as many fish as we did at the start of the storm and at the immediate end of the storm. Our other ranch guests have similar reports of fewer fish sightings and fewer fish caught.
However, we are hearing of large numbers of steelhead just down-stream of us, and the river conditions appear ideal. Our river temperature was at 53 degrees, the clarity is excellent, there is very little moss or algae remaining after the cleansing storm, and the ambient air temperatures are indian-summer-like.
I am going to celebrate my daughter’s 16th birthday tomorrow and take a day off. Yes, she got her driver’s permit, and yes, she can drive the family car ….gulp. The Klamath River highway is a very un-forgiving place to learn to drive.
Here is a picture of a fish from three day’s ago….just to keep you excited about Klamath steelheading on the fly!