Cool water and rain spark a Klamath king push upriver

Fall kings on the Klamath are no longer just an estuary story. Kenny Priest’s Sept. 3, 2026 Fishing the North Coast report says adult Chinook started pushing upriver after cool-water releases from behind Lewiston Dam and a shot of rain and cooler air that dropped river temperatures.

The Bureau of Reclamation’s planned bump below Lewiston — roughly 450 cfs up to as much as 1,200 cfs from Aug. 28 through Sept. 21 — is meant to cut disease risk for ocean fish moving into the Klamath-Trinity, not to change farm or town deliveries. Priest says that extra cold water, plus the weather, should keep a stream of kings staging in lower-river holes; the estuary was still fishing well as of Labor Day week, so it is not a one-way exit.

Trinity fall Chinook rules started Sept. 1 with a 1,072-adult sport quota split 536/536 between the Old Lewiston–Cedar Flat stretch and Hawkins Bar to the Klamath confluence; Cedar Flat to Hawkins Bar stays closed through Dec. 31. The spit at the mouth closed Sept. 3 after its own quota — that pocket is done for the season, but it is not the whole river. Track remaining Klamath and Trinity quotas at 800-564-6479, and keep a North Coast salmon report card current.

Photo: Eureka angler Michael Marcelli with a lower Klamath king — courtesy Alan’s Guide Service / Fishing the North Coast.

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

Source: Fishing the North Coast — Cool Water, Rain Spark Klamath Salmon Push (Kenny Priest, Sept. 3, 2026).