May 28, 2025
I spent a very nice spring day today scouting a "new" reach of the Klamath River with my buddy Mark Tompkins. Iron Gate Dam was removed one year ago and you can now float through the area that was formerly inundated by the reservoir. We launched from the temporary Fall Creek access which is at the upstream end of the old reservoir. This access is pretty rough and suitable for rafts only at this point. You have to drag your raft over numerous large boulders to reach the river. However, the still-under-construction Fall Creek Access across the river looks very nice and should be suitable for drift boats on trailers when it's finished. The float from the Fall Creek Access to the Iron Gate Access (where we use to launch below the dam) is about six miles and is entirely class I and II. This float can be done in two hours if you don't stop, but someday when fishing is allowed in this stretch, I think it would make for a full day of fishing. There is great water for nymphing and swinging in this stretch. When the sediment washes out, I also think a lot of salmon will be spawning in this reach. The water types on this float are similar to what you see from Iron Gate to Klamathon Bridge, but there are more riffles, some of which are extensive.Just above the Fall Creek Access is the Ward's Canyon whitewater run. This is the section between the old Copco Dam and the head of Iron Gate Reservoir. It's very steep and consists of class IV and V rapids one after the other. Make sure to avoid this stretch unless you're floating with experts or on a commercial whitewater rafting trip!The Fall Creek - Iron Gate float has amazing scenery due to the geology of the area. There are several areas with columnar basalt formations similar to Devil's Postpile. The California Poppies really stole the show on this trip. They were in full bloom and were worthy of an invasion of super-bloom-seeking instagrammers. Thankfully there were none of those around! Most of the bottom of the lake has been revegetated with native plants, although there are some invasive plants making some headway, too. If you get out and walk around you may find cakes of dried mud that have cracked and separated. If you grab a piece, you can throw it in the river and which it float like a cork. If you walk up higher you may encounter areas that appear solid but are actually made up of individual pillars of soil separated by cracks up to three feet deep. Watch your step!The river has about a foot of visibility in this stretch. Be careful stepping into the river because you may sink into the fine sediment. Fishing is not currently allowed in the footprint of the old reservoirs, and the clarity is sufficiently bad right now that I don't think I would be tempted to try. Salmon and steelhead will be traveling through this area come fall. The river is currently open to fishing year-round below the Iron Gate Access. It's really hard to predict how long it will take for all the fine sediment in the river bottom to disperse. If there is still just a foot of visibility this fall, then it should be possible to do some steelheading below Iron Gate. It will get much better if the visibility improves.I think the outlook for fishing on the Lower Klamath is better, though. Last August the river was fishable at the mouth even when the visibility at Iron Gate was only a foot. It only became fishable once the final coffer-dam removal began and the water at Iron Gate looked like chocolate pudding. A lot of crystal clear water flows into the Klamath between Iron Gate and the mouth. The Shasta, Scott, Salmon and Trinity Rivers contribute almost two thirds of the flow during the fall months and will hopefully dilute the turbid water resulting from the dam removal. The Lower Klamath also experienced flows of over 100,000cfs this winter. Those high flows help move sediment out to the ocean. We'll be taking a look at our Spey Camp site soon and we expect to be fishing this fall! In the meantime, I encourage you to check out the river up around the old dam sites.