The Trinity is in Great shape, a little bony up top but fish are spread throughout the system. Some days are scratchy, other days are pretty darn good, Steve and Ken arrived for a couple days of Spey casting for Steelhead, day one was slow but they didn’t loose faith and day two we got into them pretty good…. Sounds alot like Steelheading… Commit to the Swing and you will be justly rewarded…Tight Lines
.The Trinity Basin has recieved several good bouts of rain this Fall with the most recent being this past Sunday into Monday and blew the river out from Rush Creek down. The Trinity was back in shape in the upper reaches on Tuesday, the recent rains have been just what the Doctor Ordered, Steelhead are on the move. The Summer/Fall fish are making there way to there final destinations and Fresh Early Winter Steelhead are filing in, right on there heels. As long as the Weather stays active, like it has, the fishing should remain good for the forseeable future… Happy Thanksgiving and Tight Lines !
The Steelheading on the Trinity has been ranging from Fair to Great depending on pressure, weather and luck of the draw…in other words Steelheading on the Trinity is in full swing. I’ve been bouncing around avoiding crowds with mixed results, good news is there seems to be a fair number of Steelhead in the system from top to bottom with new Steelhead still comming through the weir in Willow Creek. I’ve seen a good number of Chinook on Redds mid-river, which I haven’t seen the past couple of Seasons, a very good sign for future runs ! I’ll be guiding Spey trips on the Trinity through mid January, 1/2 day trips mid December through mid January last Season where pretty popular, hitting the warmest part of the day. Tight Lines !
The Lower Klamath is fishing fair/good with a mix of 1/2 pounders and adults to 4lbs, I jumped a couple of chrome bright steelhead in the 8-10 lb range kin a tailout making there way up river. The mouth of the Klamath is open and fresh Steelhead continue to trickle in, the numbers are down from the average but the pressure on the Lower Klamath is almost nonexistent resulting in some pretty darn good fishing at times ! as well as being some of the best swing water in the Lower 48 !The fishing on the Trinity is similar, a fair number of steelhead, the overall numbers are down but the size is up from typical. The Feds have trapped and released some fairly large Steelhead at the weir in Willow Creek recently.The Swing fishing on the Lower Sac is better then normal for this time of year for wild Rainbow’s and a mix of Wild and Hatchery Steelhead. With a lack of Salmon on Red’s the fish don’t seem to have there typical October tunnel vision of feeding almost exclusevly on Salmon Eggs.
The conditions on the Lower Klamath as are as good as they get right now, the HUGE flows of last Winter have rejuvenated and altered many of the Swing Runs for the better and water quality is good as it gets . The past couple of months the river has seen fresh pushes of adult and 1/2 pounder Steelhead, the numbers don’t appear to be huge…but they’re there !Angler pressure has been low which at times can lead to some pretty darn good fishing as well as a Great overall angling experiance, over the past week we have hooked into, and landed some, Chrome Bright Adult Steelhead and 1/2 pounders as well as Dime Bright Kings, just the right size for a 6 weight Spey Rod.If you are an avid Spey Caster and have never been you should highly consider a trip to the Lower Klamath, there might be different water elswhere but I would argue that there is no better water !…. and if your a novice or just want to try out Spey casting and Swinging for Steelhead, this is an excelent venue for that as well.My schedule is limited this year but I do still have some available dates…and it’s not too soon to plan for next Season , I’ll be on the Lower Klamath from early Sept to late October
Well the Steelhead Season is starting to wind down here on the Trinity. It’s been a challenging Season this year on the Trin, between, at what seemed like at times non-stop rain and snow to low fish counts. The one thing this Season has reconfirmed is that like many other things in Nature Steelhead fishing is cyclical, it has it’s high points and low points, having said that some of my clients had outstanding days on the river, right place, right time, nothing that could be predicted other then putting in the time and dedication to the sport.As one Steelhead Season comes to a close another one is just around the corner, not too early to start planning a Steelhead trip to the Lower Klamath ! The Summer Run starts to show in the Lower Klamath in July, I will be focusing my time guiding there in Septemeber and October when the run typically starts to thicken and the crowds start to thin. I use my jet boat to access some of the best swing water in the Lower 48, we use Spey rods and Classic Swing tactics to target these Crome Bright Steelhead, we usually encounter a mix of adults and 1/2 pounders, Hatchery and Wild ! Mild weather and Beautiful suroundings, just hard to beat !
The Trinity continues to fish fairly consistantly for Winter Run Steelhead, most of the fish that I haver encountered over the past week and a half have been in the 3-8 lb class, a mix of wild and hatchery with the vast majotity being wild. Some days we hook 4-6 somedays we get spanked, been averaging about one fish per angler per day. Which I think is to be expected when fishing for Winter Steelhead. The Great news is that a fair number of fish that have been landed lately by my clients have come on the Swing !…Tight Lines !
Once the Trinity setlled down from a giant churning froth of mud and debris I wondered whether there would be any Steelhead around or if they all boogied up into there natal tribs, well the good news is there are quite a few fresh, wild winter run fish the came up under the high water conditions, most are in the 2 -5 lb range but the 1st fish of the day yesterday was a beautiful wild buck in excess of 10lbs. The wheather forecast is wild as well so make a break for it when things settle down for a day or two.
I finished up 2016 and started 2017 fishing and guiding the Eel River drainage, parts of the Eel droped in nicely for about a six day window. There were Early Winter Run Steelhead about, a few grabs and one epic battle with a Chrome Bruiser in the mid teens, the Steelhead Won. Parts of the North Coast of California arguably have some of the best swing water anywhere and are inhabited with Dime Bright Steelhead throughout the Winter months. These fisheries are ideal for the dedicated swing angler, this is not a numbers game but one in which you are hunting beautiful water often amongst ancient Redwoods, looking for the fish of a life time ! Happy New Years !
The Trinity fished good yesterday, Dick from Seattle hooked 3 large Steelhead, all on the SWING ! He brought two to hand over 29″ and broke one stout, hot fish off ! We’ve been getting plenty of rain with more on the way, as of this morning the Trinity is blown below Weaverville Creek but looks real good above with about 3′ of visability.
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