klamath lake Fishing Report 2025

Aug 17

We started off early yesterday morning in the hunt for yellowtail unsuccessfully. Great fishing on it the day before but the water dropped 2+ degrees and they were very inactive. We were getting the "should've been here yesterday" vibe so we took off to fish for yellowfin. After a couple hour move and a few hours in the zone, we were getting the "should've been here yesterday" vibe again but shortly after chowing down a big fat cheeseburger the call came down from Gunny. "kelp". It's those black eyes I tell you. Gets um every time. After that we pretty much drifted till dark scratching at 20-40 pound yellowfin with the occasional flurry for 20 or so. In fact right at dark there was about 6 people fishing, all with one on and the 18 other anglers standing around with a cigar and a cocktail in hand.

The weather was choppy and rolly today but it didn't bother us. As long as your catching fish who cares what the weather does. We were all very sore and tired after today and I think we're all ready for a nice pork chop meal and a pillow and blanket. We'll be fishing for yellowtail all day tomorrow then setting us up for our last day of bluefin fishing.

Mama bear- The litluns doing fine. Pretty much had a bent rod all day.

~~Aug 16
 We had another good day today.  Well, afternoon I should say.  Yesterday, we got here at 2:30 in the PM and the fish were biting right away.  I thought for sure if we were here earlier, it would be stellar.  Nope.  2:30 was just right.  We hung out here all day not seeing any yellers, then right at 2;30, they showed up and it was good fishing for the next few hours.  We set up a little differently today and it paid off.  The grade of fish improved.  It was 70% premiums.  That's right.  18-30+ pounders.  2nd fish hold down.  We're cooling down the center well now. 

 Due to the fantastic fishing we've experienced this trip thus far, we are in need of some bait.  We're headed out to what I think is our best chance at making some.  No ones been there as far as I know for quite some time.  It's been windy.  It looks like we have a good weather window so it shouldn't look like the Flemesh Cap.  We're also hoping to run into some bluefin tuna while out there.  We're not just going out there for bait.  We're looking for something to use it on.  Let's keep the ball rolling.
       

PLUN•KER (Adjective) A stop that takes up most or all of your day. Not wide open, however 1-10 fish are always hooked. *A PLUN•KER would be impossible without the best live bait operation in the world. **Anglers that succeed in a PLUN•KER usually listen and take advice well. ***A PLUN•KER is also impossible without an amazing crew. Today’s PLUN•KER produced 123 yellowfin 18 bluefin.

Aug. 21
    Judging by how our trip has been so far, if you would have told me we would have 6 bluefin as of 1:00 this afternoon I wouldn't have believed you.  But sure enough, those darn bluefins were laughing at us.  We saw plenty of them but they didn't give two you know whats about us.  Our buddy Brian on the Spirit Of Adventure called us and told us he was seeing the 30-50 pound grade around where he was so we took a little ride down there.  It wasn't really biting that well until we got there.  Again our timing is on.  For the next few hours it was game on.  It actually took a while to get them to bite but during the best of it I couldn't get the balloon rigs out fast enough.  They were snapping!!  We ended up with a couple rounds of the 30-50 pounders with one going around 90 pounds and we also got a handful of 30-35 pound yellowfin there as well.  

    After it dried up we went looking for another.  We found several schools but none that would hang around and bite our baits.  Around 6:30 we bumped into another school that stuck and we picked up 21 more of those beauts.  And now we drift and do it again tomorrow.  

    The chefs are getting better and better at there sushi spread.  This afternoon it was terrific and I'm pretty sure I heard it's veal chops for dinner tonight.  Sweet dreams.
                                

June 28
We found some action early this morning on a kelp with some yellowtails.  Mark found it but I don't think I can give him credit for it.  "twelve  oclock, a trash can lid.  Oh I lost it. oh nine o'clock. ile in a half.  No, half mile.  Two trash can lids.  Oh I lost it".  The second time he lost it he looked ion the wrong side of the boat so i found it and  it was a good sized kelp.  Oh Mark.  Anyhow, everyone on the boat got to pull and tug on a little yeller and tag one or two if they chose.   We hit it a couple times before getting in tuna mode.  Things looked very similar to yesterday.  Many spots of yellowfin around, just no meat to it.  I'm talking 6-12 fish schools mostly and they weren't very interested in us.We worked very hard for just a handful of fish.  The good news is it wasn't boring as I think I mentioned last night.  The fish kept us on  our toes.  Good sight seeing.  Good fishing, bad catching.  Oh well.  We still had a good time out here on our first trip of the year and we have our passengers to thank.
Please excuse the spelling.  I'm sitting back in my chair as I write this and the letters on the screen are to small to see and the E on this keyboard keeps falling off.  We'll get everything under control real soon.

 

Our 80 yellowfin and 34 skipjack did not come easy today. 15 stops on schools that were big enough to catch 500 if they were in the right mood. Beautiful weather and amazing sign of fish.

47 nice grade Yellowfin, 7 Yellowtail and a Bluefin for today’s group in awesome weather.