Planning a trinity trip questions

**bubzilla** · 10-29-2007, 10:07 AM

I just want to clarify something after reading your post Tristan. I did not see anyone that I would have characterized as rude, and there were lots of gear guys fishing along with fly guys. People were being as respectful of one another as possible under the circumstances. I mean after all most people are polite enough when they're all jammed together at the airport or in bumper-to-bumper traffic too, but most of us wouldn't seek out those experiences on purpose.

Check out this picture of the Russian River in Alaska.

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/regio.../kenai.russian

Until this past weekend, that was the biggest zoo I had ever personally witnessed. Granted, the Trinity was not quite that dense, because we're talking about people who were nymphing with fly rods, but it was the fly fishing equivalent. And, the thing about the Russian, or other really popular spots on rivers in the lower 48, is that the pressure is generally localized to one or a handful of holes. The crowding on the Trinity seemed to be everywhere.

Anyway, don't mean to beat a dead horse. I was just totally shocked is all, and thought I would throw out what I had seen for others to do with what they will. If someone is into big crowds and social fishing, then maybe they will really enjoy fishing the river. For me, it was just the opposite of what I look for in a fishing experience.

To answer your question Darian, I don't know what to do, and wouldn't know where to begin. For me personally the answer is simple: don't fish there, and be VERY quite about the places I fish that are not like that yet. I don't even really go to the Rogue anymore for the same reason; although, now I see how much worse it is going to get there in the not too distant future. But, just as a sample of something I think could be done potentially, how about limiting commercial use, i.e., guiding, to certain days of the week and even then capping the number of permits that are available? What have they done elsewhere to maintain the quality of a fishery that was on the edge of overuse?

**jbird** · 10-29-2007, 12:01 PM

We are in an age of overcrowding everywhere. Going to a popular steelhead river thats having a banner run (when few others are)during peek season on a weekend, in california??...Its like going to the grand openning of a Krispy Kream shop and think your gonna get a donut and still make it to church on time. Face it, its not 1992 anymore.

The crowds here on the rogue ebb and flow. To say that "look at me" flyfishing forums are going to cause the ultimate overcrowding of this river and result in me giving up on fishing it is just silly. I have fished about 2 dozen times on the rogue this fall, and frankly, it has been the least crowded year I have ever fished. Granted its been a crummy summer/fall, but you can always catch fish on the rogue with a little persistance. I am not posting as many reports anymore cause I realize nobody wants to "Look at me!!" When the rogue gets good again it'll get crowded again. We're in an age of more money for less work and everyone wants to hit the great outdoors and anybody who wants to can be a guide. All that adds up to the recent experiences on the trinity.

My original point is that, We are making the river more crowded and WE are complaining about it. Its like finishing off the milk and then complaining theres no milk in the fridge.

Jay
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**Darian** · 10-29-2007, 12:32 PM

How about borrowing some soltuions applied to other species....

Not sure if it's still in the reg's, there used to be an alternating year closure for clamming in affect on the beaches to the north and south of point St. george.

Clamming was allowed on north beaches in one year and clsoed the next. The same was true in alternating years for south beaches. Portions of the Trinity (and any/all other rivers) could be closed during odd numbered years, etc.

Of course, none of this will stop overcrowding. I stopped fishing for Salmon/Steelhead in the American many years ago due to the fact that there were too many boneheads out there looking for a fight, vandalizing vehicles or dropping trash all over the shoreline. All a product of overcrowding....

It's easy to complain and it feels good but doesn't solve the problem.... More of us need to be like Mike McKenzie; a real activist.

Let's face it, there's only so many places we can fish and (in California) well over 30 million people looking to fish there.

Sometimes, simultaneously...

At any rate, my personal solution is to rediscover warm/saltwater fishes.... Still have some very lonely days on the water.

**jhaquett** · 10-29-2007, 12:44 PM

I agree with your last post but the "gear guy" talk is plain wrong in my opinion. The shoulder to shoulder "camaraderie", at least when applied to the salmon run I am familiar with (Feather), is a bunch of people so desperate to catch a free dinner that they carry machetes and are literally ready to use them on anyone to get the best spot.

It has nothing to do, at least for me, with being uptight. The DEAD LAST reason that I fish is to interact with other people. Over-interaction with people is the exact reason that I get away to fish! If I wanted to talk to people I would just stay on campus all day....

All I said is that it sucks for true fisherman who spend a good deal of time on the water annually (like me and many others on this board) to not get a chance to have a quality fishing experience for an awesome fish such as the Trinity steelhead in the lovely October weather.

There are LOTS of other secluded fisheries that are fishing really well right now. Also, fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, as long as you can handle a little dip in the temperature, you CAN have that quality Trinity experience here in a month or so.

My advice is to fish elsewhere until those Trinity "fishermen" decide to start spending Saturday froliking in Golden Gate Park

**jbird** · 10-29-2007, 01:26 PM

I stick to my guns on the gear fishing comment. There are some bad ones that strereotype them. Thats unfortunate cause there are tons of gear guys out there that are just as passionate as anyone else. And they are very enjoyable to fish with. They typiacally like to have fun and arent all caught up in having a "nirvana" experience. Yeah theres the cutthroats, I know, we have them here...believe me. But you can go 100 feet away from them and have a good day fishing. Heck, you could go 20 feet from them and have a good day if your willing to get along.
I totally know what you mean about wanting solitude. There is not many things more wonderful than solitude and good fishing. My point is, if your going to go to disneyland, you probably should expect to get disneyland....
I have to be totally honest, I am a gear fisherman stuck in a flyfishing world...call me a bull in a china shop...or a fart in church..or...whatever

**Finsane** · 10-29-2007, 01:35 PM

So what is the solution? Should we stop writing reports? I thought I was doing guys on this board a favor by letting themknow the river was fishing extremely well. If that was an error on my part, I apoligize. That was the first time I really fished the Trinity and I was excited by the results of our trip. I did say in that report that "people and boats were everywhere." I was suprised at the amount of people on that river. I remember thinking on the drive back to town about how that kind of pressure would affect the system as a whole. I would guess that this last weekend had more pressure that the previous.

Props to all who fish that system. All the people I ran across were first class. We walked our boat behind most waders and they all thanked us for doing that. The only ones we didn't walk behind were the ones that motioned for us to go thru in front. There was complete respect from all I encountered. This is rarely the case on most other rivers.

The downside is this. It's only gonna get worse. The population in NO CAL isn't going down. I've been here since 71 and gone are the days when you had an area to yourself. I thank God often that he gave me the brains to get out of LA-LA land in the early 70's.

The upside is this: We are a small percentage of folk that live in Steelhead country. We are the lucky ones. You will never hear me complain about fishing, fishing conditions, ect. You will see me adapt and overcome the situations and make the best of that hand I was dealt that paticular day, overcrowding, hi winds, downpours, ect.

There is plenty of solutions. Just do it!

**bubzilla** · 10-29-2007, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by jbird

The crowds here on the rogue ebb and flow. To say that "look at me" flyfishing forums are going to cause the ultimate overcrowding of this river and result in me giving up on fishing it is just silly. I have fished about 2 dozen times on the rogue this fall, and frankly, it has been the least crowded year I have ever fished.

Obviously I don't know what someone else will or won't do. Maybe you have a bigger threshold for crowding than I would have thought. I was just saying that because I remember when you quit fishing LTV because of the crowding. And, I don't doubt this is the least crowded year you have fished the Rogue. But that's only because you have only been fishing it a few years, and most of those other years have been record years in terms of the numbers of fish. The run numbers this year are much closer to normal than the early 2000s were. It's all relative, I guess.

I had fished the Trinity previously several years ago, and it was not crowded. I just wished I had known what had happened to the fishery as of late was all I was saying. You might be right that it was something I should have expected, but then I think you're only saying that because you haven't seen it firsthand. It's pretty much impossible to expect what I saw in terms of crowding when you're talking about fly fishermen. It made the Holy Water during the salmon fly hatch look like the Sahara Desert. Besides, the Klamath is in Northern California too and has been having banner years of late as well. I guess that means, by your logic, people should know better than to go there because it surely must be crowded? Okay....

At any rate, not trying to get the board completely off the subject at hand. Just thought I would provide fair warning to the guys that had said they hadn't been there before.

**nrthcsteel** · 10-29-2007, 04:31 PM

I think this whole argument is pretty pointless. I went steelhead fishing this weekend and had a great time. Thats all I will say as I dont wouldnt want to be a "cause" of the overcrowding of a river. Ive given a few reports recently but guess I wont anymore. I chose to fish a different river than the Trinity. I knew the Trinity was fishing well, DID NOT need any reports to know that! This has been THE time to fish the Trinity for how many years now???? Face it, at this particular time of year there arent a whole heck of alot of rivers/streams to go steelhead fishing in Northern California. Obviously the river that is fishing the "best" or producing the "best" numbers is going to get the most pressure. Its not like there arent other rivers close by that hold steelhead, you do have a choice on where to fish. After all its about the whole experience,Not being on the river that is fishing best,at least for me it is. There are fish in other rivers. Get out there and find them. If you want to fish alone then driving down the highway and looking for an empty pullout on a popular river at primetime of the season probably wont work out to well. But if you take the time to hike into a spot or spend the afternoon hiking around looking for new spots then you will likely fish alone or with whom you choose. And when you return to these spots year after year you will probably find them uncrowded and most likely EMPTY! And hey as a bonus you may even catch a steelhead or two, imagine that!!! Anyway I could go on a on but Im going to tie up some flies for this winter rather than wasting any more time on this subject. Kevin