Fishing Report February 5th & 6th…better ever than never…..or something like that
Fishing Report February 5&6…better ever than never…..or something like that
Is this the final Trinity report of the 24’/25’ season? Hard to say but as I type this, a storm is crashing into Lewiston and the river is blasting at 3500 CFS. We had a storm hit the weekend of February 1-3, and I was worried I might have to call off the trip with my big brother and his best homie Joel. These dudes are awesome enough to come up and spend some valuable time away from the chaos in the Bay Area and allow me to be the leader in all things “too much fun”. But, the way the storm rolled out, we were able to get a couple of good short days on the water before all hell broke loose.
The boys arrived on Tuesday the 4th to the AirBnB and boy was that river pumping. It had previously got to 3300 CFS a few days before down in Limeklin Gulch. The AirBnB was in Poker Bar on the water so we were able to see the gnarly flows coming down. I assured the dudes that we would have fishable water up top the next day as the rain had subsided for at least a day before their arrival. That usually means you can get a float up top depending on what Deadwood Creek and Rush Creek are doing. Don’t use that as gospel though, if Deadwood Creek is blown, then you’re screwed. It’s a gamble usually when there is a blowout but I always try to fish it up top a day after the rain stops and the flows start to come down.
Sure enough, Joel was hooked up right away! A beautiful halfie in a rad looking riffle almost at the put in. And that fish was bright and FIRED up! See kooks who hate on halfies, we don’t give a shit what we catch in our boat. We love em’ all. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, big, small, we love em’ all….kooks. My bro was struggling a bit to get his casts going in the back as he doesn’t fly fish but two times a year. I yelled at him just enough for him to get his shit together and he was able to tangle with a few that popped off. Fishing those big ole’ soft beads is tough for novice fly fishers. Oops, did I reveal my secret fly? Is a bead a fly? Who cares! Joel got another nice haflie towards the take out and it was the end of our first half day. We had fun though, a bit of rain, but enough clarity to make it possible to maybe say Hi to a big ole’ steely. My hopes were high for day 2.
Then we blasted off at the Lewiston Hotel for a solid Wednesday night banger! Thank you Lindsay for being our Uber driver. Amazing to have such a rad community up in Lewiston. It was a great excuse to have waaaaay too much fun at the hotel. Thank you Katie and Kyle for making such a rad place for us to lose some brain cells. The pool table was our arena for the night and boy were we laser focused. Maybe a “breakfast shot” might have helped us out a bit and some little Mibblers too! Jukebox ripping, people laughing, and solid cheer on a weekday night. I love it. Almost too much I think.
So we woke up hurting a bit Thursday but we were excited to wake up to snow on the ground! Yep, it was going to be a snowy day on the water. No boats, no people, and stained water. My favorite. Actually I think every time I go fishing and every condition I encounter is my favorite on the Trinity River. Mucho simple recipe for a good life; Homies, Fly Rods, Drift Boat, and a river. You just need to come prepared with the right gear to last as long as you can without dying due to getting hypothermia. Yeah Joel, time to upgrade the outer layer.
The water was a bit dirtier when we arrived to the put in and like I said above, don’t take my advice as gospel because I could be wrong. I had thought that with the cold night, it’d snow up top and we’d get clearer water than the day before. That was not the case. She was a bit dirtier than I expected her to be. I wasn’t worried though because I’ll fish that water when it’s 1 foot of visibility. They are there, you just have to get that big ole’ ball in front of their face. And Joel did. In the same run we landed a big fish last year in dirty water, his bobber went down and that rod was bent. Big time bent. I knew we had what we have been looking for, a big ass wild steelhead. Her first jump blasted off the side of the boat but I didn’t see it, I just heard it. BIG FISH. My brother saw the jump and basically said some very explicit stuff about its size I can’t repeat hear. Then she started running up river, PEELING LINE! The run you hope for everyday you get out on the water when chasing steelhead. Amazing run. Thank god we had gotten that line to the reel before she decided to put on the jets. Amazing battle…and a rapid coming up. Oh shit. This battle was testing line knots, angler skills, boat rowing skills, nunchuck skills, all of it…awesome. I had to do what you’re not supposed to do to get her in the net before we went down the small rapid. I had to grab the line to lead her into the net…..GOT HER! HOLD ON BOYS! WHOOOOHOOOOOO!!!
What a fish. I mean it’s the fish we dream about. She was sooo fat and wild. Congrats Joel. The fish of a lifetime.
Then I got a text almost immediately after we got photos of the beast, “Flows coming up to 3500 CFS tomorrow”…damn it. I was hoping I could keep this going as the fishing was good. I wouldn’t say lights out but good. If you had the right anglers, the right vibes, the river would provide. I love winter steel heading.
So we kept on rolling with spirits high in the boat and we got to touch a couple of other ripper halfies. Man, it’s crazy how strong they get when the water gets high. So awesome. Joel might have lost another big one because he thought he was caught on a rock, ends up that rock moved. And we called it an early day because that snow was coming down and we were cold, tired, and happy.
Then I napped for two hours…
What a great trip and I can’t wait to get back out there with the boys next year. Thank you pinches and so stoked we got to have a good time in the rain and snow.
I heard the flows might come down Sunday but I don’t have my hopes up. I had to cancel 12 trips due to the increased flows and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) will not publish a date of when it will come down. So is this the last Trinity Trip for the 24/25 season? I hope not. Only time will tell.
-Love
Mario