Trinity Fly Fishing Report

Dave Neal Reports on 1.18.18

The Trinity River has been a bit scratchy this week. The recent rains brought the flows up only a tad but didn’t provide much color. The water below JC is high and CLEAR which can equal tough fishing.

You’re gonna have to work hard and cover a lot of water to find a fish or two right now. Keep moving because there are no pods of fish anywhere. One or two here and there. I’ve been fishing from Douglas City down through Junction City the past week.

The hatchery run is pretty much in the upper river, although we did land a fairly bright fin clipped hen yesterday in JC.

I spent the last two days fishing the JC area trying to find some fresher wild fish. These are the fish that excite me this time of year.  It was challenging but we did manage to land a few small wild steelhead and lost a couple hot ones along the way. Some nice size strong halfies 17-18” filled out the day. Fishing pretty small stonefly and mayfly patterns right now. Midday mayfly program has been solid. Occasional noses, but not many brown trout being caught.

With an eye on the forecast I’m hoping we get a few days of solid rain with these upcoming storms. The river needs to blow out for a few days and really shake things up. We could use some snow up high in the Alps, too, while we’re making requests. It’s been a dry season so far for snowpack - which is vital for the Trinity drainage.

Keep looking at the gauges and cross fingers… we still have lots of time this winter for some solid winter steelhead opportunities.

My next available dates over the next couple weeks are:
January 19, 22. February 1, 2, 6-9, 12-14. If things get exciting contact me and we can discuss your plans.

David Neal