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Thread: Upper or Lower?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
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    Morgan Hill, CA
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    Default Upper or Lower?

    Heading to Lewiston tomorrow and bringing my drifter. Should I head down river or will I be able to find some action up above Douglas City? How about DC to JC? I have been wanting to do that float for a while but I have never personally rowed that stretch and have only been in the canyon between DC and JC with a guide once. I don't remember it being a sketchy float but looking at Google Earth there looks to be one sketchy area towards the end of Steiner Flat Rd. Other than that, it looks like a pretty mellow float. Any advice on floating this section.

    Anyone else heading up this weekend?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    In October I would fish from Willow Creek down stream.

    After the first rain in November I would be around DC to JC (Douglas City to Junction City).


    Check with the Trinity Fly Shop in Lewiston on the upper river.

    Kiene's, the Fly Shop and Trinity Fly shop all have good Fall steelhead flies.


    If you want to swing flies I would get a guide who likes to do that.

    Call Andy Guibord at Kiene's who manages their guides for Nor Cal.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    The OV
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    490

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    A friend just got back from our usual October Del Loma area trip yesterday (I did the North Umpqua and Rogue for two days two weeks ago instead, and had a nice quiet, relaxing trip without any screeching reels to break the tranquility). Was very slow there, but he talked to others who were doing much better around Junction City. That DC to Evans Bar should be a good bet.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Shatanistan
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    94

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BumpBailey View Post
    Heading to Lewiston tomorrow and bringing my drifter. Should I head down river or will I be able to find some action up above Douglas City? How about DC to JC? I have been wanting to do that float for a while but I have never personally rowed that stretch and have only been in the canyon between DC and JC with a guide once. I don't remember it being a sketchy float but looking at Google Earth there looks to be one sketchy area towards the end of Steiner Flat Rd. Other than that, it looks like a pretty mellow float. Any advice on floating this section.

    Anyone else heading up this weekend?
    There's always fish throughout the river this time of year but the big numbers will definitely be down river.

    If you like paint on your drift boat don't take it in the canyon section between DC and Evans at this flow. There is lots of bedrock that is unavoidable that you will most definitely hit if its your first time through there. There is also now a tree blocking most of the channel below the DC bridge which I imagine will take out a drift boat at some point this year.

    If you want an easy stretch without any technical water, Evans all the way down to Pigeon is an easy float with tons of spots to get out and wade. Expect lots of company as most of the guides are fishing the JC stretch now.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    Default

    A raft seems like a good deal on the Trinity River......
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Red Bluff
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    513

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    The reports I am getting is fish in the Lower part, I have not heard of any fish from the upper but that may be because people are fishing lower.

    I have been through the canyon a few times but it was always with a guide in a raft. The section right below Dutton Creek is sketchy and one guide told me he will not load his clients until after he is through that section although that was several years ago. There is also a spot further down that a guide told me is bad in a hard boat but not bad in a raft. That is my favorite section of river in October, the times I have through there was always in October and we got a few fish and saw no one until Evans Bar. You might check with The Fly Shop for conditions on that section.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Grass Valley
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    174

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    It rained on and off last week, sometimes hard. Deadwood Creek by Lewiston kicked out a bunch of muddy water on Friday. That turned the whole upper river to a nice chocolate milk sort of brown color, probably due lack of vegetation from the Carr burn in the upper watershed. This may be a pattern that we see for the whole winter.

    No one I talked to was catching adult steelhead. Half pounders were plentiful in spots, mostly down low, Willow Creek and down. I didn't fish much above Del Loma. Maybe float Big Rock to Tish Tang? I talked to the Hoopa fisheries agent at Tish Tang and he said that that they had seen a wave of adult steelhead come through their weir awhile back but not many recently. Maybe the rain last week will help move some more fish but it might not have been enough. He also said that they released the salmon smolts from the hatchery into the river.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    Davis
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    This reply might be late, but be careful in the Canyon with your driftboat. The river is fairly low now. As mentioned above, there's a strainer below the DC bridge. I ran it in a driftboat last month when the flows were about twice as high as they are now. It might be too skinny to get around it, in which case you'll have to line the boat through. The canyon below that isn't super bad, but you will hit a lot of rocks. I'd recommend one of the floats between Evan's Bar and Pigeon Point.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Morgan Hill, CA
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    Thanks for the replies guys. I wish I had some great reports for you all but it was tough fishing for a couple of halfies. I got up there late Friday morning. After a quick discussion at the fly shop I elected to avoid the canyon float. Friday I did a familiar float, Lewiston Bridge to Bucktail. Nothing but smolts. Almost every stop I would swing up 4-5 smolts. Saturday I floated uncharted waters(for me). I put in at Sky Ranch around 10:00 and schedule my shuttle to move my truck to Pigeon Point. Didn't realize how long of a float that actually is. In a little 6 hours of fishing I realized I was only at the Junction City Campground and it was 4:30… that left me about 2.5 hours of daylight to float- ROW 4.7 miles of new waters! Fishing again was unspectacular with only a couple of half pounders and way too many smolts. Sunday I decided to fish the water I had to row past on Saturday. I was in the water at 9:00 and fished hard until 4:00. All for only a couple of tugs. Tough fishing! I made my second rookie move of the weekend at the Pigeon Point take out. I got stuck in the sand backing my trailer down to the take out. Embarrassing! Thankfully, an awesome guide yanked me out. Thanks again Aaron from Wild Harvest! Aaaah the Learning Curve! Can be a bitch at times!

    I saw a lot of dead smolts up around Lewiston. Run-off after the fires??? That Carr Fire left a big scar! Really sad driving through the town of Old Shasta and very eerie driving over Buckhorn!

    Last but not least, there is always the one guy! All the reports I heard were negative except for his! The one guy. I floated past this couple that was walking in and nymphing on both Saturday and Sunday. As Ifloated past on Saturday he said he got a couple. Yesterday, I saw them again and he had landed 6! I asked steel or salmon? All wild steel! I know swinging isn't the most productive but, when all the gear and egg soaking guys are claiming skunks, you gotta wonder.....

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