Trinity River Fly Fishing Report

LCO Staffer August Kennedy Reports on January 7th, 2026

Well, the flows are coming back up. The river is on the rise, and will most likely stay that way until February, when the river officially blows out from flows out of the dam.

What does that mean for us as anglers? An influx of water can move fish around and also bring in more adult fish, but this much water can make access difficult and even impossible in the upper section. With the river projected to flow from 1500-3000 CFS out of the dam, look to the lower river to find fish. Here, cold and clear weather, can be your friend, you'll want the river to be clear, and for the tributaries to come down in flow.

Swinging is going to be effective, fish the same small natural patterns, like Klamath Intruders, Beadhead Perpetrators, Hiltons, and Silent Assassins. In bigger, off color water, bump up your fly size to smaller Hoh Bo Spey and Intruder style patterns. Nymphing is a little more difficult in bigger water, but it's not impossible. Throw the same stones, and BWO nymphs you love, and size up a bit. Maybe a 6-8 on the stones, and a 10-12 as your dropper. 

As always, these flows are subject to change, check the Trinity River Restoration Projects page, as they will have the most up to date reports on flow changes, you never know, they might drop the flows again. It's rough that the season ended up like this, after an awesome summer and fall, but hopefully these increased winter flows truly do improve habitat, and the health of the fishery, because then its all worth it.