If you’ve never fished the Klamath River for salmon and steelhead, you owe it to yourself to make the trip this summer.

It’s a wild, remote, wonderful part of the world — a place where you almost feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The river is forecasted to have a big run of king salmon this year (along with lots of steelhead) and is really the only place you’re going to be able to go after salmon in California this season.

I’ve always felt that the tiny town of Weitchpec is the epicenter of the best fishing the Klamath has to offer. It’s right at the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity rivers and salmon and steelhead stack up in that area in a big way. The only drawback to fishing near Weitchpec is accommodations are very slim — either you camp or stay in Willow Creek, which is a good 45-minute drive away.

That’s all changed, however. Klamath River Adventures (www.klamathriveradventures.com) has recently built some beautiful rental cabins on a bluff overlooking the river just downstream from the convergence of the Klamath and Trinity.

The cabins feature full kitchens and baths, sleeping quarters for up to six adults, a deck with a barbecue and sweeping vistas of the two rivers and a trail down to the gravel bar for easy fishing access.

It’s a sweet setup for do-it-yourself anglers who want to fish the area but don’t want to have to make the long drive to and from town each day. They also make a great base camp for a fishing vacation — in fact, I wish they’d been there when I used to guide the area!

Speaking of guiding, if you’d rather let someone else sweat the details, native guide Thomas Wilson can show you to the best fishing the area has to offer. Who better than a local (he lives right on the river) with 29 years of fishing and boating experience to fish with?

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Wilson on several occasions. He’s an extremely friendly guy with more knowledge of the local fish, flora and fauna than anybody.

And he’s the only guy I’d trust to run a jetboat through some of the Klamath’s famed rapids and riffles. Even if you don’t get a bite (highly unlikely), the boat ride is worth the price of admission.

Lake Davis Trout Restocking Celebration

You’ve got to give the Department of Fish & Game credit. After all the negative stuff that’s been happening with the whole Lake Davis pike situation, they’re trying to make right by anglers and the local community by stocking the living begeezus out of the lake.

DFG’s been hard at it all winter long, dumping thousands upon thousands of trout into Davis to make sure the fishing is off-the-charts good this season. And they’re not done yet.

Nearly 1 million Eagle Lake strain rainbows (including 11 tons of trophies in the 6 plus pound class) will have been planted by season’s end, so you can rest assured that the lake will be absolutely stuffed with trout for the foreseeable future.

To kick off the rebirth of Lake Davis, the DFG will host the Lake Davis Trout Restocking Celebration on Saturday, May 17 in the Coot Bay area of the lake. In addition to thousands of trout begging to be caught, there will be free fishing seminars, booths, a bunch of kids events, interpretive displays, food and a lot more.

The event will run from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information on the event, contact the DFG at www.dfg.ca.gov.

J.D. Richey is a 1986 Placer High graduate, and his outdoors pieces have been published nationally. He can be found on the Web at www.fishwithjd.com.