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Hello, Everyone. I am back on the river. I was in Alaska doing my Taco Tour after my last post and didn’t really follow up with a report about it…yet. I took some time off before getting back to the Trinity River, but I am here.
10/11 – Trinity River – Well, I heard a lot about the salmon and saw the salmon counts. There are a lot of them. I had put a post on Instagram saying “It’s shaping up to be a good year.” This was following what I had heard about the steelhead counts from this summer as well. Simply put, it’s not shaping. At least for me and the adult steelhead. Also, I had teenagers on the boat who lost dedication midway through the day, but we had a blast anyway catching half pounders and landing a big ass chinook on a 10mm soft bead. We also hooked a couple more salmon in the mouth on nymphs, which was crazy. Jacob may have lost a big steelhead, but also these half pounders are ripping hard right now. Whatever it was, it broke off. And yep, they are on the salmon redds down in Junction City. The Dads were following us, and we got to watch one of them hook an insane adult steelhead on one of the expected runs behind a million boats, so that was rad. It burned a bunch of line and then broke off. Other than that, halfies, and I did not see any adult steelhead. Last year at this time, the adult steelhead were everywhere behind the salmon. Not so much this year. Yet? Thanks for coming, guys. I had a great time getting back on the river. That salmon was rad.
10/12 & 10/14 – Trinity River – I had a great client who I enjoy a lot. He wasn’t wanting to fish every single run but the best ones, and we hooked a few half pounders. Then we fought a MASSIVE chinook for probably 30 minutes. It ate a nymph. And yes, they are eating nymphs. So crazy. Well, maybe not this week, who knows, but they were last week. That chinook was crazy. Insane battle, but it took off down a channel we could not row down, and boom, it was gone. This was JC. Then we did the canyon on the 14th. It was so beautiful. No fish eating up top, but we got them down at the bottom. Half pounders and a smaller adult. I used beads and nymphs. We got the hen on a quillback, and she was a ripper.
10/15 – Did a trip downriver on the raft with Brandon and his pops. I love you guys. Thank you. We got a bunch of halfies and maybe one shot at an adult, but we lost it. Might have been another one of those 20-24″ fish, but can’t say for sure. Beads and bugs. We swung. Brandon got one small halfie on the swing, which was rad. Swung other runs that have produced in the past, but nada. We tried hard and had fun. Opted to reschedule the 2nd day. I didn’t see any adult steelhead rowing.
10/16 – Lower Sac – Had a Dad and his 9 year old son. We got into fish right away and broke off 4. 4 for 9 were the numbers at the end of the day. I was behind a shit ton of boats. Weiss and beads. Glow Roe in 8mm worked. We broke off most of the fish we lost. Learning curve with those Lower Sac fish. They rip! Teaching the nine year-old how to throw a bobber rod was the highlight. He was doing it all by himself while Dad was ripping up front. The rainbows are on redds behind the salmon, and there are a lot of them. Maybe I’ll get out earlier next time.
It’s good to be back. I am feeling good and hopeful. Seems that there aren’t a lot of adult steelhead on the Trinity right now. They are here, but in very limited numbers, and I think they are laying in different spots that we aren’t used to due to all of the salmon. There were fish here earlier this fall, I guess, and the word is that they are mostly not around. Perhaps we will get more shots at them with some change in the weather. Again, it’s great to be back.
I am making this report free for my subscribers on Patreon. There aren’t many. I am hoping to get more people on the paid plan and provide more juicy information as the season goes on. I give locations, water conditions, and flies I use. Costs only $5 a month!
If I were you, I’d still get up here. Scandi lines. Get away from crowds. Set your expectations for conditions as described above. If you get one, be grateful! If you make it up here, be grateful! I’d hit the lower sac for fun with some homies if I were to do a fishing day for myself. But again, I would love to swing one up on a small fly up here with a scandi line. If you’re nymphing, beads around redds, then try to fish deep in holes because I think the steelhead are hiding from the numerous amounts of salmon. But I am not completely sure. It’s been super warm too during the days. Water temps were 49 degrees out of the dam, 55 degrees down in Junction City. We’ll find them.
Thank you for your continued support. I am hoping I get through 2027 and keep these lights on. But time will tell. So far, if I don’t get more trips booked, I am done next year. The trajectory was upwards; economy is shit and gas is expensive…but getting trips in the Spring and Summer is what I need to keep Taco alive. I also have dates for steelhead in December, January, and February. Check my availability here: tacoflyco.com/calendar
Cheers,
Mario
