Trinity River Steelhead

[kmastro]

Headed to the Trinity River Tuesday 10/22 and plan to fish the Douglas City to Lewiston area and looking for any report on how the fishing has been.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

In October most would be fishing from the South Fork down stream to Willow Creek and below.

I would call the Trinity Fly Shop in Lewiston for a report.

https://trinityflyshop.com/index.html

[hwchubb]

The Trinity has been pretty slow this season. I was up there the last week of September for 4 days with no adults swung or skated ( had a good day on the Klamath) and only raised a couple from Willow Creek to Douglas City. A buddy, who really knows the river, nymphed it for 5 days and got one fish a day down in the Del Loma area last week. There are fish there, but you will work for them. Hope for some rain.

[avidangler]

Might try down from Junction City to Pigeon point. Been a slow.....late start. Hope for rain is correct.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

A good rain in late October of 1982 triggered a huge run that Joe Shirshac and I hit just right RVing at Junction City.

It was one of my best Steelhead trips ever.

That week Joe took some Super 8 mm movie film of me that is in "Rivers of a Lost Coast".

[kmastro]

Thanks guys for the info.

[Dennis Papike]

If anyone hasn't seen "Rivers of a lost coast" your missing out on some great history of our north coast anadromous fisheries.

[tcorfey]

I agree that is an interesting movie and a great story.

Wanted to share that I was up on the Trinity river a few days ago swinging for steelhead the water for the most part was low and clear. Not sure how some of these guys with rafts were getting the boats through some sections of the river due to how low it was. Because I was fishing for steelhead I was using a 13' 7w Spey rod and swinging a 3-4" long rabbit fur leach pattern in size 6-8 trailed by a size 12 wet fly. My tippet size to the streamer was 0x and to the wet fly was 2x.

Ironically I hooked up on a lot of small trout in the 6-10" on the wet fly and after cutting off the wet fly I was catching trout in the 10-14" range on the streamer. Late in the day I did hook up on a descent size fish but I lost him after his first run, alas it was a good day even without catching a larger fish. I just thought I would share.

Regards,

Tim C.

[gtakemori]

I was able to swing up an adult (and many juveniles) in mid Sept below the NF confluence but I haven't heard much about more fish moving in the past couple of weeks. There is some stream bed remediation work being done just upstream of Junction City which causes noticeable discoloration and debris flow when it's taking place. I would guess staying around/above Douglas City or well below Junction City would be best until this work is completed.

[avidangler]

The upper Trinity is always low and clear this time of year. Walk like a cat burgler,don't wade all the way up to your chest like I see so many people do,and fish away from the boats. If you can do that and are willing to drive around you should be able to find some fish. There is a turnout every hundred feet it seems.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Great fly fishers like Walt Bennett, Neil Hansen and Al Perryman taught be to fish the run first without wading in and scaring off the fish.

[yankeefanbob]

Bill, here's something that really pissed me off the other day....my neighbor showed me pictures of some nice steelhead that he caught on the Trinity which he spent 5 days on with his buddy. The only thing I didn't like about it was that he said they used earth worms, UUUGGGHHHH!! I looked on the Ca regs. and couldn't find anything if bait was legal(probably not?), I don't want to sound like a flyfisher snob but, live worms? I just wonder if he was confronted by anybody on the river!!

[Jcolin]

Hey bob, as far as i know bait, with barbless hooks, is allowed on all steelhead rivers except the mattole. Like you and probably most people on here i think that must be changed. If the runs are hatchery fish only, then who cares, but it should be outlawed in any waters that have wild steelhead, no matter how small the overall percentage of the run. I swing flies on a lot of coastal rivers that have small runs of wild SH in the winter, like 700-1200 fish a year on a good year, and think its an absolute joke that people can legally use roe and other bait to C&R wild fish on these rivers. Im all for bonking hatchery fish, and have no qualms with bait for hatchery SH or stocker trout, but most rivers that have hatchery fish also have wild fish;even the mad gets wild fish. Would like to see some petitioning to have this changed in the next few years.

[yankeefanbob]

Hey bob, as far as i know bait, with barbless hooks, is allowed on all steelhead rivers except the mattole. Like you and probably most people on here i think that must be changed. If the runs are hatchery fish only, then who cares, but it should be outlawed in any waters that have wild steelhead, no matter how small the overall percentage of the run. I swing flies on a lot of coastal rivers that have small runs of wild SH in the winter, like 700-1200 fish a year on a good year, and think its an absolute joke that people can legally use roe and other bait to C&R wild fish on these rivers. Im all for bonking hatchery fish, and have no qualms with bait for hatchery SH or stocker trout, but most rivers that have hatchery fish also have wild fish;even the mad gets wild fish. Would like to see some petitioning to have this changed in the next few years.

I agree, with you pal!!

[Larry S]

Yankeefanbob,
Back in the 1960's, crawler harnesses were quite popular on the Trinity during the winters.
Agree with you and others that regulations should prohibit that nowadays due to the
scarcity of our wild fish.
Best,
Larry S
Sun Diego

[avidangler]

Bait is pefectly legal on the Trinity.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I would vote for no hatcheries for salmon or steelhead on a few good rivers with 100% catch-n-release, single barbless hook, artificial only.

Maybe the Smith river and maybe the Eel river and few other short ones?

[Larry S]

Bill,
I always thought that the Smith should have had the most stringent rules the
earliest. IMHO, it had the best return of wild steelhead.
So sad for many of us who have fished these wonderful
creatures; me since the 1960's.
Best,
Larry S
Sun Diego

[yankeefanbob]

Bill,
I always thought that the Smith should have had the most stringent rules the
earliest. IMHO, it had the best return of wild steelhead.
So sad for many of us who have fished these wonderful
creatures; me since the 1960's.
Best,
Larry S
Sun Diego

It is VERY sad Larry, my 12 year old grandson who's fished only once in his short lifetime would of caught those Steelies on the Trinity using the same bait.....plus in the afore mentioned pics they were holding them in hand by the gills hanging - sorry to say, I doubt it if those beauties made it!!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

As a teenager on the lower American river in the Fall I drifted night crawlers (big worms) that we so effective.

I still have the custom spinning rod and Shakespeare spinning reel I used over 50 years ago.