Like a cat with nine lives, the Klamath River is coming back to life. The four dams have been removed and fish are returning to their ancestral home in Southern Oregon, Siskiyou and Del Norte counties.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');The California Dept of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reports volitional Fish passage has been restored with the removal of Iron Gate, Copco 1 and Copco 2 and JC Boyle dams. Monitoring adult salmonoids and juvenile productivity will be ongoing with preliminary adult Chinook basin estimates available by February 15. Initial results are positive with documented spawning in multiple tributaries in California and Oregon upstream from the former dam sites. Results of juvenile monitoring will be available, this summer. Temperatures and flow dynamics to a dams out environment and are already showing signs of improved ecosystems function.Here’s the Fish Hatchery update: CDFW’s Fall Creek Hatchery will play a significant role in the repopulation of the Klamath. The newly constructed $35 million hatchery is iintended to jump start salmon populations in the upper basin and be a bridge-restored Klamath River. Annual productions consist of 3.25 million fall-run Chinook salmon and 75,000 Coho Salmon. As of January 10:• 317 Chinook have been processed and almost 300,000 eggs are on hand.• 45 Coho Salmon have been processed (23 females and 22 males) almost 43,000 eggs are on hand. There are zero Coho 7broodstick on hand and zero additional Coho have been trapped in in the last few weeks. Status of fishing both the lower and upper Klamath:Currently, Steelhead Fishing is the main option for fishing the Klamath. Winter-run Steelhead make up the bulk of fishing opportunity at this time of year.Fishing success has been reduced somewhat by the dam removal process, heightened sediment loads have impacted water clarity but ongoing rainfall is improving river clarity, according to CDFW.Salmon fishing will begin in earnest this summer. The Pacific Fishery Management Council will begin data collection in February and the California Fish and Game Commission will analyze the data and pronounce regulation of the Klamath. Special thanks to the following CDFW staff:• Dan Troxel, Environmental – Specialist-Klamath River Project• Peter Tira, CDFW• Morgan Knechtle, DCFW googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });