11.27.2008

Fishing Report

Sorry for the lack of reports the last few weeks. The season is winding down on the Trinity with very few fresh fish showing which has made for some tough fishing. Last week Rob Elam was able to hook three adults landing two in two days of fishing along with a few half pounders. Rain might help the fishing a bit but it looks like just an average year for steelhead on the Trinity. The good news is that we are still seeing good numbers of wild fish which bodes well for the future of the Trinity River. If we get a good push of fresh fish on the Trinity in the next week or two I will keep you posted.

On the other hand, I have spent a considerable amount of time on the Klamath in the last few weeks. The fishing has been pretty good with most days seeing one or two adults to hand along with some nice half pounders. Most fish have been caught on floating lines and small wet flies but with the air and water temps cooling I would look at fishing a sink tip from now on. The upper Klamath near Iron Gate is seeing good numbers of steelhead in the 16-22" range and are very aggressive towards a swung fly. For those looking to get a late fall fix, this is the place to be until mid December.

Next on tap is coastal winter steelhead. My favorite time of year! As soon as we get some more rain we will see fresh steelhead enter our North Coast rivers. These early season fish are extremely aggressive and are a blast on the swing. For those interested in winter steelhead trips please send me an email so I can put you on the winter steelheading list of those interested in trips when the rivers drop into shape. I will send an email out to those interested about the details of those trips around the first of December. Until then, Go for the grab!

Jason Hartwick

Steelhead Bailout



I had the pleasure of fishing with Rob Elam of Propel Biofuels last week. I knew it was going to be a couple great days of fishing with Rob when we meet Wednesday morning and he was wearing a Vote Steelhead Bailout hat! In Rob's words...."With Congress bailing out so many companies, why not bailout steelhead? Think of all the things we could do to improve wild steelhead runs throughout the Pacific Northwest with a Billion dollars." I think your on to something Rob. I couldn't agree with you more! VOTE STEELHEAD BAILOUT.

11.03.2008

Johnson's Steakhouse, a great place to dine while fishing on the Trinity!

When you are up in Weaverville or just passing through on your way to fish the Trinity River, make sure you stop by Johnson's Steakhouse for dinner. Johnson's Steakhouse is in their second year of business and in my opinion has the best food in town and has a great sports bar with two flat screen TV's to watch your favorite game. They are well known for their steaks that include top sirloin, rib eye, Fillet Mignon, and their prime rib. Two of my other favorite dishes have to be the Bourbon seared pork chop and the Chicken Tetrazini. If you are looking to just grab a burger, I recommend the Barbecue bacon burger.

The restaurant is open Tuesday thru Saturday for dinner. Mondays, the bar is open for Monday Night Football and has homemade chili to go along with your favorite beer. The bar is a great place to have a beer and talk fishing. Will Johnson, one of the owners, is a great steelhead fisherman and spey caster who loves to talk steelheading with anyone who comes into the bar.

Johnson's Steakhouse is located just off the main street on Glen Rd. at the Trinity Alps golf course. This is a great place to have dinner or just hang out at the bar and BS with a few other fisherman.

Jason Hartwick

Finally...rain!

November is here are so are the storms we have been waiting for here on the Trinity River. This has been a welcome change from the warm sunny chamber of commerce weather we have had. Not that I am complaining about bluebird skies and warm days but the river has been so low and clear the fishing has been really tough the past week. That has all changed now as river has gone from 400 cfs to over 2000 cfs and blown out in the lower reaches. The river has now started to drop and is in good condition on the Junction City area. This should pull in some fresh steelhead and salmon.


This past week I was fortunate to fish with Keith Kaneko of Angling on the Fly. Keith is an excellent spey caster and was bombing out some tight loops and long casts, covering the water extremely well. Despite the tough fishing, Keith had a couple of good solid pulls and also landed a couple of nice half pounders. Keith also had the chance to try out a Beulah Elixir Switch 7/8 line for the first time and was very impressed with it. He paired this line with a Sage Z-Axis 7110-4 switch rod and it was a fantastic combination. Beulah's Elixir lines are extremely easy to cast and can help one speed up the learning curve when beginning to spey cast. The added bonus is the fact that these lines can cast heavy poly leaders and bigger flies as opposed to many other Scandi style lines on the market.

This next week we should see some excellent fishing after the water drops and clears a bit. Water temperatures are still great and we should see many more fish on floating lines and even a few come to the skated dry. Go for the grab!

Jason Hartwick