Reel Adventures Guide Service

Still plugging away on the Trinity, hoping for some big rain this weekend...

The Trinity has been status quo this week... still scraping a few up here and there. If you fish hard and stay focused you will find a few steelhead.

Had some great gals in my boat this week and we got into some nice fish, several good ones each day. The forecast the next few days is for big snow and rain. Hoping it really dumps and blows the river out! We could use a good flushing and that will bring some fresh ones in.

(Image: Debbie with a stud wild buck that (photo doesn't do it justice) measured a hair shy of 30")

(Debbie with another wild steelhead, one of 3 she landed this day...)

Robin got a well deserved steelhead in the bottom of the 8th inning for us on this day... not many hatchery steelhead this year. 90% of the ones we've netted have been wild.

 

I'll post more next week. I have some busy days coming up with lots of booked trips after this next storm system... check out www.ReelAdventuresGuideService.com for more info in the meantime..

Just keep swimming.... just keep swimming...

A 7 year old Sacramento Chinook Salmon captured off the CA coast near Bodega Bay... crazy story. Only 2 other 7 year old Chinook (most return to the river to spawn after 3 years) have ever been documented in the past 38 years and 240,000 fish tags recorded. This King was 36" long

Read the story here...

https://cdfwmarine.wordpress.com/2019/12/17/rare-7-year-old-chinook-salmon-caught-in-california-ocean-salmon-fishery/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CA_ALDS&utm_campaign=CAanglerupdate_202001&utm_content=rare-button

Rain will bring them up...

We are firmly into the early stages of our winter steelhead season for 2020...

It's been quite a while since I've seen a hatchery fish - all the steelhead we have netted these past few weeks on the upper Trinity have been wild (with adipose). With the 10-day forecast looking pretty wet... my bet is that we'll begin to see a lot more of the fresh ones arriving soon!

All the nets, weirs and other obstacles are out of the river this time of year. With any amount of good rain the tributaries will bump and the mainstream river will rise.... sounding the alarm in the coastal estuaries and beyond to begin the journey upriver. 

(Image: Robin J has been fishing with me for well over a decade and has paid her dues, worked hard and always comes steelhead fishing with a great attitude. It's no surprise that she gets into them with her fly rod, consistently!)

(TGIF fish...her 4th one to the net on Friday. It hasn't been easy lately, but Robin made it look like it)

(Robin, set to release another nice, wild buck back into the Trinity River...)

(Images: Sometimes you just need that 1st fish to get into the game... this little wild dimer was that fish. I'd say Robin broke in her new Sage X fly rod quite well)

 

I'm mostly booked up for the rest of January but have plenty of dates available in February. I'm always happy to refer clients to other top local guides who I am proud to work with.

 

With the slow start to the season I anticipate more steelhead arriving later this winter as the storm systems move through... Either get on it, or sit and read about it until next season! Check my webpage www.reeladventuresguideservice.com for more info, including rates, calendar, and how to book a trip

 

 

 

Looks like some rain in the forecast...

Looking ahead this week to a little rain and the full moon. Steelhead fishing has been a little slow on the Trinity River these past few weeks. It's still early in the winter season and a good bump in flows just might do the trick for the next wave of wild to arrive. A lot can happen in the next few weeks...

In the meantime, we have been enjoying the Lower Sac and fishing a little on Shasta Lake for spotted bass.

(Nigel here landed his first steelhead on the Trinity our 1st day and got a few good wild trout on the Sac on day 2. Working with my buddy, Mike Hibbard, and his longtime clients enjoying two days fishing the Trinity and Lower Sac last week. It's a good idea to mix up right now until we get more wild stlhd in the Trinity...)

(Image: These wild trout from the Sacramento River here in Redding, CA never cease to amaze me... stunningly beautiful and full of it)

(Images: Took my daughter out to Shasta Lake on the last day of 2019 and we had a blast landing spotted bass all afternoon... she caught the first two and biggest one of the day. It was so much fun I went back out on New Year's Day and had a nice Bookends Bass fishing session for the New Year!)

I'll update later when I have more to contribute... We will be fishing the Trinity a bunch and a little on the Lower Sac so hopefully things begin to turn around soon! 

 

When it rains, the wild ones arrive...

It is time for winter steelhead season... Trinity River, CA.

(Sean T on his Birthday and the Solstice... we got into a few on this day, landing 5 nice adult ones outta 6 hooked... all wild fish.)

On the heels of big storm systems that drop enough rain to bump flows in the tributaries - the mainstream river rises a bit - enough to move steelhead from their waiting game downriver.

(Mark was not to be left out of the game... he always came through in the 9th inning!)

These are not the Trinity River hatchery fish of early fall (which provide numbers and multiple opportunities, especially for those who want to harvest a few for the BBQ) but the more elusive wild ones. They are not always big fish... but they have that little fat fin called the adipose fin which is like a turbo-charger. These fish jump a lot, pull hard and let you know the instant you connect with one!

January-February is typically prime time for northern California steelhead angling... Get on it! www.reeladventuresguideservice.com 

Lower Sac Trout...

The big river is also fishing great and it's a very good Plan A or Plan B right now. Solid hatches of BWO and PMD in the afternoon as well as some small caddis! I know right? Caddis in December? It's insane! The Lower Sacramento River never ceases to amaze me. It is without a doubt one of the premiere wild trout fisheries in CA, if not the entire West coast.

Jim R always finds a few good ones on the Lower Sac or any river, for that matter... he found plenty of them on this day.

 

I'll be fishing the Lower Sac all winter as well as some Bass missions out on Shasta Lake. January - February will offer up some fantastic fishing somewhere. 

 

 

(Jim's fishing buddy, Garth, getting into quite a few good ones as well...)

 

Visit the website or call, text or email me for more info on winter options for fly fishing in Northern California... there is a lot of good fishing opportunities in the middle of winter. Stay tuned!!