Trinity River Fly Fishing Report
We may have finally turned the corner as far as smoke and air
quality in the north valley. Air conditions the last few days in and
around Redding have been stellar with cleaner air and blue skies. In
addition, the daytime highs have been cooler than average in the
high 80’s low 90’s this past week… Morning’s and evening’s have
that feel like fall is in the air!
Trout fishing on the Lower Sacramento River…
Continues to be steady to good. The river is in fine shape flowing at
9,000cfs - which is a perfect late summer flow for drift boat fishing.
This current release offers lots of options for doing longer floats. I
have been covering water and “going long” as one strategy to
finding the fish that are spread out in the system (as opposed to
anchoring on spots or backrowing a lot). Also, at 9,000cfs or higher,
the river is a bit “pushy”, especially since the big 80k release
dramatically changed the nature of the riverbed in many places. It’s
flatter & faster along the banks now and the few eddies that used
to exist (backrow spots) just don’t exist any longer, at least at these flows.
Timing is key as the mornings can be a bit slow. The late afternoon
and early evening are when the caddis and other aquatic insects are
most active. Knowing this river and it’s many different drifts is
important when things get tight - having experience along with lots
of hours on the water pays dividends. Local guides have been
committed to figuring this system out, along with its constant
evolution, over the years. I have spotted a few salmon moving through the system this past week.
It won’t be long before we see more of the big Kings (Fall Chinook) arriving in mass. A few jet boats downriver I spoke with
this week reported limited success, a few fish here and there,
including some steelhead as well. September brings much to look
forward to…
Trinity River…
Is in great shape flowing at around 700cfs in JC and slightly less
upriver in DC. The moss and algae problem seems to have cleaned
up a bit, perhaps due to the higher releases made recently out of
Lewiston Lk during the Carr Fire incident? I was able to pop into the river for a quick swing in DC yesterday. It felt good to step into this magical river again and despite not having any adult steelhead destroy my Muddler Minnow (a couple halfies did) it was refreshing to at least have the opportunity for an
encounter.
There are few fish scattered throughout the river from
Lewiston down to Del Loma. For those who put forth the effort and
enjoy the hunt, the reward… well, you know! September can be
worth it.
Here are my next available open dates:
September 6,12, 25-27 this is a good time to book a trout trip
on the Lower Sac or early steelhead trip on the Trinity River
Leave a comment