Whereas the lower river flows through hillsides forested with Douglas fir and redwoods, the upper river below Iron Gate Dam flows through the dry juniper and pine-studded hillsides of Siskiyou County's high desert. Whereas the lower river has a relatively mild coastal climate, the upper Klamath is known for its hot, dry weather during the summer and its chilling cold during the winter when the steelhead run is in full swing.

On October 26, I made my second trip to the Klamath River with Kutzkey after going on a phenomenal trip last fall with Kutzkey and Fish Sniffer Webmaster, Richard Alves. When I arrived at the Klamathon Bridge in the morning to leave my Toyota Tacoma, the trees in the riparian corridor along the river were brightly arrayed in their fall colors.

However, a front had moved through the area the day before I was set to fish, which always seems to turn steelhead and salmon fishing off. "We had a tough day yesterday; the fish went off the bite," said Kutzkey. "The two anglers fishing with me only caught seven salmon and one steelhead."

On any other river, Kutzkey's score would be called wide-open fishing, but four fish per rod on the Klamath is rated as a tough day! When we launched the boat below Iron Gate Dam, the air was chilly, in the twenties, and the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. We were the only boat on the river!

"Nobody else is on the river - this is the way I like it," said Kutzkey as he rowed the boat down to the aptly named "The First Hole" - the first spot where you can legally fish below the hatchery. I started back bouncing roe and on the second bounce had a bite.

On the fifth bounce I had another bite, set the hook and had a hard fighting salmon. The fish ripped out lots of line before we got it to the boat. "Do you want to keep it," said Kutzkey. "Yes, I could use the roe and I promised I would bring home a salmon or two to smoke." The fish was around 16 pounds and had the distinctive copper belly you find with chinooks that have been in the Klamath for several weeks. But it was in excellent shape, with no lamprey marks.

After landing that fish, within several minutes I hooked another chinook. "This is a larger fish," I said. This fish fought more than the other one and took several runs before we got it beside the boat. A limit of big chinooks within the first 15 minutes - it doesn't get any better than that!

We had several other bites, and I lost one fish, but Kutzkey decided to move down to the famous Blue Heron Hole, one of the best holes for big salmon and steelhead on the river. The deeper water didn't produce any fish, so Kutzkey went to the shallower water at the tail of the hole and we had a double hook-up. I landed a female, while Kutzkey caught and released our first male chinook.

After we caught a few salmon, both Kutzkey and I began to fish for steelhead, since they were starting to arrive in big numbers. I threw out a nightcrawler, while Kutzkey tossed out a salmon egg pattern Glo Bug. We could see salmon everywhere we went spawning on the tailouts of riffles.

"The steelhead and trout are getting pushed out of the spawning redds on the riffles and are hanging out in the fast water where they are feeding heavily on the salmon eggs," said Kutzkey. "It can be difficult water to fish, but that's where the fish are."

Kutzkey hooked the first steelhead of the day, a beautiful wild 3 pounder that we released after a couple of photos. Then it was my turn to hook-up with a gorgeous, fat 3-1/2 pound steelhead that grabbed my Glo Bug. In between hooking the steelhead, we also hooked and released some native rainbows in the 10 to 14 inch class. As we drifted downriver, I got a hard strike on my Glo Bug while drifting with light spinning gear.

"This is a big steelhead," I said. However, the "steelhead" turned out to be another salmon as it jumped several times out of the water. It was a blast catching these salmon on 8 pound test line!

On the next riffle, we had our second double hook-up of the day, both hooking salmon. I caught mine on a nightcrawler - a first for me - while he fooled his with the Glo Bug. We also landed three more steelhead, as well as losing a couple steelhead, and released numerous trout.

By the time we arrived at the Klamathon Bridge, we had caught a total of 8 chinooks, releasing all but three, five steelhead to 4 pounds and around 12 trout. We also missed numerous bites. Where else in North America can you find such great fishing in a five mile, six hour drift?

It was a fantastic day of fishing - and Kutzkey said it will only get better as the winter run of steelhead moves into the river. The salmon fishing was done for the season at press time, but anglers can look forward to enjoying the recovering run of wild steelhead - with a few hatchery fish spicing up the catches.

The Iron Gate Hatchery's count was up to 24,300 chinook salmon at press time, the third largest run since the facility was completed in 1962, so the hatchery will have no problem meeting its production goal. On the day we fished, the hatchery had already trapped 20,939 adult Chinook salmon and taken 8,023,675 eggs. Their production goal for Chinook salmon is 4,920,000 smolts (released in May-June) and 1,080,000 yearlings (released in November), according to Kim Rushton, hatchery manager.

The hatchery's production goal for steelhead is 200,000 yearlings (released March - May). However, the vast majority of steelhead caught throughout the Klamath are wild and must be released.

Kutzkey is one of the most knowledgeable and friendly guides I've ever fished with on any river. A third generation guide with over 20 years experience, his grandfather, the late Al Kutzkey, was one of the first fishing guides in California. He started his fishing lodge on the upper Klamath River in Hornbrook and is now in the fishing hall of fame.

Kutzkey's father, Tim, developed many of the fishing techniques that are still widely used by fishermen today. I look forward to making the trek to the Klamath later this fall when the steelhead fishing is even hotter.

For more information, contact Albert Kutzkey Guide Service, 321 Anderson Road, Yreka, California 96097, Phone: 530-842-2229, www.kutzkeyfishing.com.