Trinity River Adventures
Steelhead Fishing

There is nothing like the grab of a wild Trinity Steelhead.
They are considered by many as the holy grail of all anadromous fish. Fly-fisherman come to the Trinity River from all over the world to test their skills against this allusive fish. Steelhead are not fair weather fish, they arrive in the fall and winter, the coldest part of the year. Even the most seasoned fly-fisherman can be challenged by these large fish. Steelhead always seem to be in the most inaccessible stretches of the river, and your rod guides seem to freeze solid before you can get a cast off. Once you do hook up you best be stripping line because he is heading straight for you, if you are lucky enough to keep up with him and he doesn't spit the barb-less hook, he will probably decide to turn and run back down stream or maybe just burry himself in to the closest submerged bush or fallen tree. Steelheading, once it is in your blood you can't think of anything else once they arrive.

Trinity Steelhead average from 5-7 lbs with an occasional 8-12 lb. They are a mixture of wild and hatchery fish. My favorite weight rod for the Trinity is a 7wt, but a 6wt rod with backbone will work fine. We mostly use weight forward floating lines or sinking tips and Slime lines for swinging.

We start fishing for these guys down river at the end of September. The nights are starting to get cool and the kids are back in school, the river is more peaceful. The fall run Salmon are usually on their redds by this time, and the Steelhead are often holding right below them. We either dead drift nymphs with indicators, or we fish more traditional techniques, swinging flies below the surface or skating them on the surface. I prefer this method as it's at a slower more thorough pace, and we get out of the boat and wade more. With indicators we tend to cover more water in the boat or raft. With the warm afternoons of late winter we often get hatches of stoneflies and we catch Steelhead on the surface, for some this is the ultimate fly-fishing experience!! We usually have a nice little push of winter run steelies that show up in late Jan-Feb., and we fish for down runners into March.

We have heaters in our boats and we generally cook up a warm lunch on those cold days. Dress warm, Come and fish the Trinity for Steelhead in the fall or winter.

You will have a fishing adventure you will never forget!