Low and Clear !The release out of Lewiston Lake into the Trinity river has been lowered to it’s winter flow of 300 CFS till April 2014 and since we haven’t had any significant rain since late September to get the tributaries running the Trinity is running Very Low!Boat traffic in the JC and Douglas City area hasn’t been to bad but there are allot of bank anglers out, especially in the mid river from Big Flat to Cedar Flat.As for the fishing I would rate it fair, there are Steelhead around but with the skinny conditions and moderate fishing pressure fishing is a little tough. We’ll have to wait to see if we have as large of a run as last year, there doesn’t seem to be as many Salmon around as last year if that’s an indicator.I guided Brady from San Francisco, who in 3 short years has become quite the Spey aficionado. We floated two different drifts, one middle river and one lower river, we saw Steelhead, hooked Steelhead but were unable to bring any to hand. That’s the beauty of early Steelhead, there HOT!, and not easily landed.
Category Archives: Fishing Reports
Big Fish
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- Don with a Dandy !
I guided Father and Son duo Don and Ben from Pleasonton the last two day’s. The weather ranged from sunny and warm to cloudy, windy and heavy rain ! We welcomed in the first real fall/winter storm on the last day of Summer, over an inch of rain in the last 24 hrs in Redding !. Hopefully it’s a prelude to a much needed wet winter. The fishing was up and down but we managed to land some nice fish including three rainbows over 20″
Quiet Day
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- light weight spey in action
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- Nice Bow
I guided Steve and Jim from the East Bay on the Lower Sac. They wanted to mix there day up with nymphing from the boat and also get out and wade, swing some flies and hopefully fish some dries. We hooked some fish on the drift while nymphing and Steve was able to swing up a couple of nice Rainbows on his 4wt Gary Anderson Spey Rod. Unfortunately the dry fly action never got going, other than the occasional Dragon fly fluttering about the hatch was non existent which left the fish uninspired ! Having said that they each hooked fish and had a wonderful day on the river!
Better late then Never !
Well after a last minute law suit by Westlands Water District aka Darth Vader, to stop what everyone else in the world thought was the right thing to do, the water is now flowing ! At this time the release out of Lewiston Lake is about 1400 cfs. The release is scheduled to ramp up to 2650 cfs by midnight tonight and then ramp down to 850 cfs after Tuesday and stay at 850 cfs until Sept 19th and then ramp down to 450 cfs till mid October. This is the medicine that the Trinity and more importantly the Klamath needed, water temps in the Lower Klamath have been hovering around 70 – 74 degrees for a month or more. This flushing flow should reduce stress on the fish and hopefully flush out any pathogens that have been building with the low flows and high temps. To date there has been a decent run of Summer Steelhead that have entered the Klamath and most of which are headed for the Trinity, the cooler temps in the river will entice more Steelies to leave the salt as well as an estimated 272,000 Fall Run Chinook. Looking to be a good year, despite the efforts of Darth Vader ie; Westlands Water District !
Perfect Weather
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- hard earned rainbow
I guided Sarah and Ryan from Genoa Nv on Sat., we had perfect weather for August, low 90s, partly cloudy and just a slight breeze. It was the nicest day I’ve had on the Lower Sac in some time, unfortunetly the fish didn’t take notice. We floated from Bonneyview to Balls Ferry and fished hard but were only rewarded with a few fish. There was little to no insect activity through out the day so I guess the fish took the day off. Tomorrow will be a different story, always is. The flows have begun to drop and stabilize, currently 11,982 cfs, after the summer peak flows, the fishing will only get better on the Lower Sac from here on out.
Fishing on the 4th !
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- Dave with a scrappy rainbow
I guided Mike, David and Will on Lewiston over the 4th. The weather was perfect and the crowds minimal but the fishing was slow. We only managed to land 3 fish for about 4 hrs of fishing, the fish we landed where caught striping various color small leaches on full sinking and intermediate lines.I saw very little insect activity, maybe due to a swinging barometer, the day before we had the most intense thunder showers here that I have seen here.I,m sure the fishing will improve.
Hot ! Hot ! Hot !
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- another chunky rainbow
Another HOT day in the North State, seems like there is no escape with this heat wave extending all the way from the Northwest to the Southwest. Redding hit a high of 115 on Tuesday but I would estimate that on the river it was closer to 100. The fishing was decent, we hooked fish throughout the day and they were nice sized, healthy, chunky, rainbows.The fishing on the Lower Sac will only get better as the summer rolls on and the fish become more accustomed to the Summer flow regime.Don’t let the summer pass you by without spending a day or two on the World Class Lower Sac !
Fishing Well !
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- Plenty of Fat Rainbows like this in Lewey !
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- More than Trout in Lewey !!!
I fished Lewiston over the weekend and it fished Very Good. The fish are spread out and not podded up like earlier in the season. The dry fly action is limited to VERY technical midge fishing to smutten trout, why not they have a billion midge to choose from. Swinging and stripping small leeches is a different story, the fish are aggressive and the takes solid. The grab has been solid from around 9 am to 3 pm and there is plenty of lake to find some solitude. I have often wondered whether the sores I have noticed on some fish were caused by Lamprey, last year I swore that I saw a fish swim by with a Lamprey attached, it was confirmed yesterday when I landed a fat 16″ rainbow with a fat 10″ lamprey firmly attached.The water in Lewiston Lake does not warm up in the summer like most lakes in the state, the water stays cool all summer and the fishing will be consistent through the Fall.Get off the couch and book now!
Record Heat !!!
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- next lesson, holding the fish for a pic
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- he wasn’t actually choking the fish!
I guided Everet and Jesse from San Francisco on Saturday, we floated from Balls Ferry to Jelly’s Ferry. Even with record heat 110 to 112 degrees the fishing was almost comfortable, as long as the breeze and the boat kept moving. The flows ramped up to 13,500 cfs on Thursday, seemed to put the fishing off a bit, we landed several fish on jimmy legs. I think the fishing will improve as the flows stabilise.Don’t be totally turned off by the summer heat in Redding, being on the water feels much cooler than the actual temperature. Just be sure to have a good hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and drink a lot of water!!!
Solid Fishing Continues
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- George with a Dandy !
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- Greg with yet another one…
I guided George and Greg from Foster City today, the weather was less than ideal with gusty winds and thunder showers in the distance but the fishing was pretty good, and has picked up a bit from the last couple of days.
The nymph grab was solid from about 9-3 mostly on smaller mayfly nymphs and a couple on rubber leggs.Nice fish Too! Many 16″ to 18″ !
Steel Bridge Guides 