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Trinity River: , by Drew Griffith: Fall fishing : 3 stars

I spent a few days swinging flies for steelhead up on the Trinity river earlier this week with fellow angler Joel. After weeks of smokey conditions it was a welcome relief to finally breath some fresh air. We started off in the lower river and it didn't take long to get a rod bent. Joel swung up a nice half pounder in a good run and then hooked into a hot adult that gave us a solid two minute steelhead rodeo before bucking itself off the line. Heading furthur up river past the gorge we were greeted with ideal water conditions and stunning fall colors beginning to pop on the sourrounding ridges. I fished my muddler religiously but never got a proper fish to blow up on it by the end of the first days fishing. Joel fished an assortment of more standard Trinity patterns; sz 6 rubber legs and buggy soft hackles. Day two started early but it wasn't until the sun was high overhead that we got into fish. We targeted heavier water with sink tips in tow and were rewared with multiple half pounders and a nice rainbow colored adult. By the end of the second day we found ourselves back down in the lower river were we each did well swinging small leech patterns for chrome bright half pounders. All in all the Trinity is fishing well from top to bottom. We found fish in more runs than not. The water temps have finally dropped in the lower river, giving the fish a reason to slow down a bit. We caught the last day of water releases of 450 cfs coming out of Lewiston. They have ramped down to winter flows of 300 cfs as of this week. There is still no public access to Big Rock in Willow Creek but the gravel bar at Kimtu is now open. We stopped by the fish counting weir to chat with the fish biologist on duty. He said that morning they had counted good numbers of adult steelhead in their traps. The biologist was excited to see larger sized adults coming through the weir, something he said he had not seen in the same numbers going back a few seasons. Going into the second half of October fishing on the Trinity should only improve as more fish come out of the Klamath and Hoopa valley. I have plenty of prime dates available for anyone looking to get out on the water and swing some of the best spey water in Northern California. Swing season is here folks! 

A beautiful wild hen that crushed a swung soft hackle
A beautiful wild hen that crushed a swung soft hackle
You know you're in the right spot when you see him
You know you're in the right spot when you see him
Fall colors on full display
Fall colors on full display
Joel bent to a nice half pounder in a good riffle
Joel bent to a nice half pounder in a good riffle
Fall fishing at it's finest.
Fall fishing at it's finest.
Next 10 open days for Drew Griffith: Mar 30, 31
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