High Sierra Trout
Steelhead Mission: Day 1
Dan and I left Reno at 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning for the long journey to the Trinity River. We met Ryan outside of Sacramento at 4:30 and headed up I-5 to the mountains of Northern California. It rained the whole way up there, but the rain miraculously let up when we turned off the highway on the road down to the river. We suited up quickly, eager to be the first ones to cast to the fish waiting in the pools and runs of the Trinity. There were a couple of guys waiting for their guide to get back from shuttling the trailer down to the take out, and for some reason they weren’t fishing while they waited. Otherwise the parking area was empty when we started the hike upriver to the first hole. This spot has been the most reliable spot I’ve fished on the Trinity, it has given up fish every time we’ve hit it so far. We spread out along the drift and I pointed out to Ryan and Dan the lies that had produced fish before. About five minutes into our fishing I hooked up on the first fish of the day (pictured below). This was a strong fish that fought well, providing a great start to the morning.
Good start
After we thoroughly fished through the run without any more action we headed upstream to another productive hole. I hooked two fish on yellow Jumbo Johns that quickly broke me off. After that the action slowed considerably, the fish weren’t as active as they were the last time I fished it. The rain had colored up the water a bit, so maybe that was why the bite was slow. Ryan hooked into a nice jumper on a rubber leg
stonefly nymph that took him a while to land. Long enough for me to fight my way through a vicious tangle of blackberry bushes in order to get a picture of his first steelhead ever (pictured below).
Ryan’s first steelie
We fished our way downstream without anymore fish until we got to the pool we started at. I caught two fish in quick succession on yellow Jumbo Johns (pictured below). One of them was a fatty that jumped numerous times and took out most of my line on a nice long run.
Fish #1 Fish #2
After a lunch of chicken noodle soup, salami sandwiches, fresh greens, beer and Jim Beam we were ready to hit the river again. We started out fishing the water in front of the parking area, which was surprisingly empty. The last couple of times I fished here there were always people fishing this good water, but today there was nobody around. After about ten minutes Dan latched onto a strong fish that took him 50 yards downstream (pictured below). He caught this fish on a big red rubber leg copper john style nymph he tied himself.
Nice work Dan
The rest of the afternoon yielded no more fish, so we quit at about 3 pm to go check into our room at the motel. I had only slept for about 30 minutes the night before, then drove for 6 hours and fished all day, so I was pretty exhausted. We stayed at the Indian Creek Lodge, which is located only 5 minutes down the road from where we fish. For $85 dollars we get two rooms, three beds and a kitchen; what a deal.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
