Chinook return to the Klamath, Trinity, and Sacramento after a three-year closure

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says Chinook fishing is open again on the Klamath River Basin and the Sacramento River after three straight years of closure. The Fish and Game Commission adopted the inland seasons, bag limits, and a Klamath–Trinity quota at its May 6 meeting. Feather, American, and Mokelumne rivers also get a full season after a shortened 2025.

CDFW credits hatchery production, habitat work, better water years, dam removals, and the recent inland and ocean closures for putting more adults back in the Central Valley and Klamath Basin. This is still a managed fishery, not an open house.

On the Klamath, late spring-run fishing ran July 1–Aug. 14 (Trinity through Aug. 31). Fall-run starts Aug. 15 on the Klamath and Sept. 1 on the Trinity and runs through Dec. 31, with a fall-run adult quota of 3,248 fish. Central Valley fall-run is generally July 16–Dec. 16, two fish a day. Check the current freshwater booklet before you leave the truck — boundaries and jack rules differ by stretch.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Chinook Fishing to Reopen on Klamath, Trinity and Sacramento Rivers After 3-Year Closure, May 12, 2026.