Chinook salmon fishing reopens on Klamath, Trinity rivers after 3-year closure

Anglers will be back on the Klamath and Trinity rivers this summer, with Chinook salmon fishing reopening after three consecutive closed seasons and giving guides, tackle shops, river towns and Tribal and family fishing traditions a season to plan around again.

Late spring-run Chinook fishing opens July 1 on the Klamath River and runs through Aug. 14 there and through Aug. 31 on the Trinity River. Fall-run Chinook fishing begins Aug. 15 on the Klamath and Sept. 1 on the Trinity and continues through Dec. 31. The California Fish and Game Commission adopted the new sport-fishing regulations at its May 6 meeting, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the reopening May 12.

The fall-run adult quota for the Klamath and Trinity rivers is 3,248 fish. Once that adult quota is met, jack fishing can continue. For late spring-run salmon, the daily bag limit is one fish of any size and the possession limit is two fish. For fall-run, the daily bag limit is two fish, with only one over 23 inches, and the possession limit is six fish, of which only three may be adults over 23 inches.

CDFW Director Meghan Hertel called the reopening “a moment of genuine celebration” and said it reflects collaboration among state and private partners while keeping long-term recovery goals in place. The same action also reopened Chinook fishing on the Sacramento River, widening salmon access in California after years of tight restrictions.

CDFW said the rebound followed increased hatchery production, habitat restoration, good water years, dam removals and earlier inland and ocean fishery closures. The last two Klamath River dams came out in 2024, leaving the river free-flowing below the former dam sites for the first time in a century and opening about 420 miles of spawning and rearing habitat.

The recovery plan for the Klamath River, developed with the Klamath Tribes, the State of Oregon, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, aims to restore wild, self-sustaining salmon and steelhead populations. Recent monitoring found 208 adult Chinook in Jenny Creek, 260 adult Chinook in Shovel Creek and about 65,000 wild juvenile Chinook in Fall Creek. More than 1,200 Chinook entered the Fall Creek hatchery, where crews collected roughly 1.27 million eggs from 416 female fish.

The $35 million Fall Creek Fish Hatchery is designed to produce 3.25 million fall-run Chinook and 75,000 coho each year, with PacifiCorp slated to fund operations for eight years. For Humboldt County anglers and the businesses that serve them, the reopening turns a recovery milestone into a real fishing season again.