Klamath - 9/18/18

Several weeks ago I got a Facebook message from Christy at The Trader Magazine. She had seen some of my stories from Facebook, and she asked me if I might want to share them in The Trader. I was thrilled to do it, and Christy has been great to work with. It's just a casual thing, but it gets me out there and it's rooted in someone's genuine interest in what I have to share - I'm digging that!

So a couple weeks back Ralph calls and asks about the Klamath. We talked about a date, but when I told Ralph that the adult quota on the lower river had just been reached he opted to wait for next year. I texted the next day though to let Ralph know that retention of jack salmon under 22" was still open, and I tried to impress on him that it would be a great trip to take even if he couldn't keep a salmon. My message brought Ralph around to deciding to go through with a trip.

We met just after 6AM at the Steelhead Lodge in Klamath Glen where Ralph was staying. With the gear consolidated in my truck we set off upriver on a system of riverbar roads that are somewhat scary - you never know what you'll see out there, and you also never quite know which route is the right one to take! We managed to get up to our launch spot at the top of the Glen riffle where we got on the water and started paddling upstream. I know the area well, but I've never been on as good a bite as we had today. We ended up landing a cool dozen Chinook - 10 adults on hardware, and we heard from a powerboat that the jacks were up at Starwein and they were snapping. Two passes bouncing the bottom up there and we had a limit of jacks for Ralph to put away.

The beauty and wildness of the Klamath is pretty amazing, and getting to experience a bite like that with a guest was so outstanding. I fought kings all day from the yak in flipflops, boardshorts and a rashguard… Thank you, Mother Nature!

I'm looking to get more of that action. A 2 or 3 guest trip would be a hot ticket. If you've never been to the big K and want a tour of a place where you can paddle up into the wilderness to pursue the chrome dream, call me up and let's do it!

Oh yeah, Ralph found me through The Trader. Thank you, Christy! And thank you, Ralph, and thank you, NCKA! 

Longish video I put together for my guest, Ralph.

Thanks for the fishing report from Klamath and pictures Eric.

Such a cool trip Eric!

Wow! 

What a fabulous trip, thanks for posting that, strong work guys!

Pretty f-in awesome!!!!!

Beautiful scenery!  Gotta join you up there someday.  Thanks for the report Eric!

Inspiring stuff!!!

Eric at 7:03 on the video I see your rod, is that the clear tip of an Ugly Stix? if so is it one of their Elite Salmon rods?  Curious to which model that is.

I think I would enjoy fishing the Klamouth like that more than any ocean trip!

Eric at 7:03 on the video I see your rod, is that the clear tip of an Ugly Stix? if so is it one of their Elite Salmon rods?  Curious to which model that is.

I think I would enjoy fishing the Klamouth like that more than any ocean trip!

Kevin - Sorry I didn't see your question until this morning.  That is indeed an Ugly Stik "ELite".  Got it last year - great rod for salmon and steelhead.

Thanks for the nice notes, guys. 

Nice- looks like an awesome trip.
Well done.

Such a great Video Eric, I am pumped for some river Chrome!!!

Awesome, as usual, video. Makes all of us want to make the run up North.