And now steelhead seaon is here...Trinity River January 13-22, 2025
Two days off! YEAH! I am in bed. Sorta warm-ish. I had some quail show up on the property this morning and I tried to put my new pellet gun to work, I failed but my feet got really cold! It’s been in the 20’s the past few days every morning. Popped the pipe in my outdoor shower unit because the drain actually doesn’t drain the unit. Learned that the hard way. Thank God for Rescue Tape! Thanks for the suggestion Zac.
Early morning fog, and then blue skies. Not a weather front in sight. COLD, CLEAR, HIGH WATER….SICK!!! Haha. Not really. It is what it is and these are the times you have to set the expectations to be about “Eh”. Of course with a little positivity, just don’t expect it to be a fish farm when you come up. That’s in fall. I am getting texts from clients asking how the fishing is, and I reply, “it’s real steel heading”. We are just lucky that we have a tailwater fishery because we can actually fish it when there is no weather. On the coast, you have to wait for the right time, and make it happen. Here, we can just wake up any day of the year and maybe catch a steelhead or a brown. Honestly, if the water wasn’t 1500, it’d be stellar right now. Reason is that the tribs aren’t going so high so there’d be more wild fish in the main stem chillen’ waiting for a storm. Last time we had a January like this was maybe 4 years ago and the main stem was stacked with winter run fish. BUT, that was when it was at 300 cfs, not 1500 cfs. My guess, these fish are moving in and out because of the fast water. Again, educated guess. I am not a scientist or a biologist. I just go down the river, a lot. We are just hoping and wishing we touch one during its quick journey. BUT! I have found a great collection of radical half pounders with some adults. Which has been really fun. Keeping us spoiled Trinity River fisherman busy.
So the week before, we proved there were fish around. There are still fish around. But you have to fish good to catch one. The water is clear, high, and cold. I said that already but I have to reiterate. Your chances at this time of the year are slim. That’s winter steel heading. So when you’re looking the other way, and the bobber goes down, and you don’t set, well, that could have been your chance. Make it count if you care. If you want to enjoy the sights, I am cool with that too. Just don’t go telling your friends you didn’t catch fish on my boat…cuz ya blew it. Hahah! Just kidding. But not really. I really am only half as good as my clients. Serious! If you want to guide, expect this. You can get people in the right spot all day, but if they don’t set, aren’t paying attention, and the river is like a damn tsunami, that was your chance. See, but I am chill, I just go, “Oh well. Look at the bird pooping over there.” It’s a team effort ya’ll. And I love my teams.
Last week ended with Matt and Ziggy for a double weekday shred. DUDE! These guys are funny. We caught some nice small adults and fished 2 parts of the river. The Lewiston Hotel was closed so we made our own fiesta on the river. What a fun couple of days with these dudes. They have a genuine stoke that I love to have on the river. We laughed, we smiled, we landed some fish, and we had couple of special beers. With Chicharones. And man, we were busy with half pounders. So sick! Thanks gentlemen! Ziggy did it again too. Two years ago he landed a big ole’ hen at the take out. This year, a smaller hen but again, it was the last 30 yards of the run on the last day. I mean C’mon. What are the chances the dude does it again? HAHA! RAD! And look at his smile. Big, small, we love em’ all.
I had one day off and went right back at it. If you want to call it a day off. It was running errands from 9am to 9pm. Maybe I got a little grumpy.
Then The Amayas showed up. I have mentioned Luis on my podcast before. He has been supporting me for some years now and I know his family very well. He IS family. Not by blood. But by trucha. We love fishing together and I freaking love his family. His daughter Iliana asked for a fishing trip with Uncle Mario for her birthday. How sick is that!? So we tried our hand at some steel heading and boy did we have fun. Sick size half pounders all day with a big ass fish lost because of me. I screwed up. Yep Iliana, that one was on me. She hooked this big ass fish and I thought she was snagged so I grabbed the rod and pinched the line immediately realizing that the rod was bobbing up and down…it was not a snag. Wow…yep, I said it. I made a mistake. SHIT! DAMNIT!!!!!!!! I’m over it. She was over it immediately too but it was definitely the one we were looking for. I’m not over it. I have literally thought about that fish every day since then. Eh, but didn’t we have fun. Dude, these are the people who help me learn to enjoy the winter suffering. They make my job worth it. LOVE YOU GUYS AND THANK YOU! Happy birthday home girl.
And then Jimbo and Greg. MY MAN! Jimmy was my second client when I started this thing. How he came to find me was also sort of a blessing. Another guide service sort of blew it and so he had to find another guide and then he found me. We’ve been love ever since. We also have a lot of things in common. Also, Jimmy just had a big operation to help move past something that was pretty gnarly, but shit, is he even more bad ass than before? HELL YEAH! Jimmy 2.0! Love you dog and so stoked we get to enjoy the river together. And he brings his good buddy Greg. Greg farted in my face all last year so he got the back of the boat. Jimmy is the kind of guy who always gives the front to his buddies so it was actually nice to have an excuse to put his homie in the back! Hahaha! Mad love Greg. Again, super fun day. These dudes fished GOOD. And what do you know, they were rewarded with a tank! Greg got a real one. I have no idea how long she was but man, she was so rad, and chrome, and fat. AWESOME! And we had bananas in the boat. On purpose. Ended the day with a nice fish for Jimmy we caught in slow water under a tree. Dude, it’s technical right now and if you get the good drift in the right spot, you’ll get rewarded.
Man this is a long report. Have you read this far? Or has your ADD or ADHD taken over and you’re doom scrolling on that stupid app. Hope you’re enjoying this.
And then Emiliano came up with his homie Noah. SUP FOOS! Emiliano es Mexicano! AYE! Viva la raza vatoooo!!! And what is sick, this is only Noah’s second time fly fishing. Emiliano has chosen to punish his homie with steelhead trips to get him into fly fishing. HAHA! No, really, this is tough fishing and you got to be on point, make good casts, mend the line good, and I kept telling Noah how good he was fishing for only doing it once before. It was the first night of the real winter too. SUPER COLD. So it was slow in the morning and then turned on as soon as the sun came out. Again, halfies galore for the first half and then we got Mind Hazed. Yep. Noah did his best to get the tank but we just didn’t find her/him/they. Yeah I believe and honor the THEY that some people want to be labeled as, and I think some fish want that too. What business is it of yours if they don’t want to be labeled a man or woman you fucking asshole? And also, why the hell you do you care if they want to be in love with the same sex as theirs, or both or all sexes you fucking bigot!? Oops, sorry no politics in the boat. But yeah, we got Mind Hazed. More so Emiliano than me. SOOOO FUNNY! We stopped for a beer refill midway on the float. Yep, we have that option on this river sometimes. And that beer was strong. Maybe too strong. But you know what, it means people are having fun. Enjoying the float. I am all about that.
So then I ended this week with Ashley and Kayden while Josh followed us in his pontoon. Dude, this is my family bruh. Straight up. Ashley is like a sister to me and Josh is my dog! This was my first time fishing with her son Kayden who is 7 years old. Yep, mama and son and Charlie, my dog, (like real dog) in the front of my boat all day. Amazing. I am blessed to have the opportunity to show this river to her little guy and to watch mama share her love for fishing with her baby boy. Shit makes my damn heart sing. We had a BLAST. Kayden was such a rad dude to have in the boat and he even helped me make soup! When we were parked up, he caught his own steel head drifting a bobber! Small one but hey, the kid was STOKED. And mom was happy too. Thank you Ashley. I had so much fun with you guys and can’t express how grateful I am to have your support and to be a part of your family. Again, we caught a lot of fish, laughed and smiled our way all the way to the golf course. (Because it’s the only place serving food only Monday’s out here).
Well, one more week and I am going to take some time off to chill. We’ll see how it goes. I see cold weather on the horizon. Lot of it. No clouds. No rain. So when you come out, fish good enough, enjoy the sites, and bring some warm clothes with a bit 50 spf sunblock. Good luck out there and no, I don’t give a shit if other guides are catching fish. They’re probably using scent and yelling at their clients not to blow it. I don’t do that…all of the time….
Check the Juicy Report here but it’s costs you $5 a month.
-Love, Mario