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Trinity Lake and Reports

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Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished yesterday afternoon with clients. A couple of good fish but not what I'd expect this time of year. Got out early this AM and things had improved. Reaction bite was good early then slowed. About 10 AM the bite got pretty good on plastics. Ended up with approx 25 fish with a 4 lb smallie leading the way, several others over 3 gave them around a 17lb 5 fish limit. After yesterday it was a big relief for this guide. Same crew out tomorrow, will keep you posted.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: The fish were caught in 8-10 on a variety of plastics. No sign of spawning yet. Won't be long.

Monday, May 8th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: This is not a fishing report. It's a cheating report. A buddy of mine called a few minutes ago to ask about the fishing on Trinity. During the conversation he related to me that while fishing with his son on the 22nd of April ( the day before my tournament, and the Shasta Cascade club) his son got hung up next to a willow. When they went in to retrieve his lure they found a 4.5 lb smallie securely anchored to the willow with a trout stringer. I guess from now on when someone brings a good fish to the scales we'll have to look real hard to see if there is any stringer damage. This fish was hooked through both gills with a green trout stringer about 6 feet long, sound familiar? I sure would like to catch this low-life. Do we have to have a lie-dector for $40.00 entry fee tournies? If someone would like his stringer back, give me a call.
    City: Weaverville

Sunday, May 7th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The results of the last (for now, I may have a couple more this fall) Jason Fisher Tournaments. 11 boats showed up for some pretty tough fishing. High releases have the lake fishing more like a river than the lake we're used to. Consequently the fish just aren't where they're supposed to be. Although it may have taken a while several teams figured out enough to bring in respectable limits. Jeff Wiberg and Mike Thompson weighed 11.99 lbs for third place. Second place to Terry Sexton and Tim Coyle with 14.04. They also had smallmouth lunker at 4.30. The winners were Rob Milovic and Dave Richards with 17.16. They performed some last minutes heroics by catching a 6.23 LM with about 15 minutes left and thereby capturing the LM Lunker pool. Over the course of 4 tournaments, Dave and Rob weighed in 16 fish that weighed 81.59 lbs, just over a five lb. avg. Way to go guys.
    We also had a kids tournament yesterday where they could weigh a single fish. It couldn't have been any closer with Mr. Oosterhout weighing in a 2.95 smallie while my backseater, Tyler Price weighed a 2.92 smallie. Great job guys. The boys both received nice tackle packs for their efforts.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: I've said it before, but it's worth saying again. An open mind is the best lure in the box right now.

Thursday, May 4th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Just a reminder that this Sat. the 6th is the last (for now) Jason Fisher tournament. Once again it's bring a kid day. This time we are even having a separate weigh-in for the kids. They'll be weighing in their biggest single fish. Prizes will be awarded. The fish the kid's weigh can also be part of the teams' bag. We'll weigh all of the kids fish before the team weigh in, so when you come in gather round and give these kids some support. Hope to see a bunch of you there. To date we've raised $850.00 for the fund.
    City: Weaverville

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

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    Water Temp: 46-59

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Yeah, I know you think I must have messed up on the temps but I didn't. I fished with clients today from Redding and the fishing was still a little slow but the quality was still there. They caught several nice smallies in the ballpark area (where the temp is 56+) but the best fish, a 5.20 smallie came out of the rockpiles in the north end where the temp topped out at 46. All fish were caught on crankbaits. Everything you read tells you to throw cranks in 46 degree water,Right?
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Trinity is different. Leave your Bassmaster articles at home and come up here with an open mind. Trinity bass are a little backward, I've seen 10 year old fish that still could'nt read. Consequently, they just don't know how to act.

Saturday, April 29th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 57

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished for a few hours this AM and although I wouldn't call it on fire, it is smoldering nicely.Only caught 5 fish in 4 hrs, but they were dandies. With the exception of 1- 3 lb smallie, the others were all between 4.91 and 4.97. My kind of cookie cutters. Only one Black in the mix. All were taken on crankbaits in the rocks on the North end, and in Squirrel Flat. Wish I could have stayed to try the afternoon bite.
    City: Weaverville

Thursday, April 27th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: If you havent heard already, this lake is on fire right now, big ones are being caught,and i think it hasen't been posted because people dont want more people to go over there. so if you can get a chance and go over there. Throw topwater, swimbaits, and senkos
    City: Anderson

    Tips: Make the trip over there ASAP

Sunday, April 23rd, 2006

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    Water Temp: 50

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Here are the results of the 3rd Jason Fisher Memorial Scholarship Tournament. 1st- Mr. and Mrs. Noga: 24.33 lbs with LM Lunker of 7.61. 2nd Dave Richards and Rob Milovic: 19.85 lbs. 3rd-Randy McDaniel and Jim Boitano 15 lbs (all smallies) 4th-Shawn Maples and Jim Bartlett: 11.92 lbs with smallmouth lunker of 5.02. Total number of fish weighed- 27, for a total weight of 101.64 lbs-a 3.76 avg.
    As too how I did, My clients and I enjoyed a beautiful day on a beautiful lake and thanks to their generosity, we were able to raise almost $500.00 for the fund. In 3 tourneys with very poor turnouts we have raised almost $900.00. My heartfelt thanks to those of you who have supported this good cause. The next tourney is May 6th. The sign-ups will be at The Yellow Jacket where there will be breakfast available. Ask someone who has tried it and they'll tell you the breakfast is worth the trip.
    .
    City: Weaverville

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006

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    Water Temp: Wow! it got up

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The last couple of trips have been a little(a lot) tough. The fish are definately shallow. The days are getting longer and they know it's time to start doing that sex thing except that it's way too cold. Imagine takin your sweety out on the lawn with only a sheet in the pouring rain. You might be ready, but she ain't havin no part of that. That's what's happening on Trinity right now. The fish moved off the deep rock piles into the shallows right on schedule based on the length of the day, but the lake is still way too cold. Right now they are munching bugs off the newly flooded terrain just waiting for a little sunshine to heat that sheet up. Unlike most natural lakes where the warmest water is found in the Northwest part of the lake, The South end of Trinity warms up quicker than the the North end because of less influx of snowmelt. I'll be fishing the south end for the next few days, and I'll let you know if there's a significant improvement in the water temp.
    By the way, the next Jason Fisher Memorial Tournament is this coming Sunday, the 23rd. I have had a lot of requests by Dads to bring their kids as well as their partners, so for this tourny I am allowing 3 members per team as long as the third member is under 15. Let's get those kids hooked on fishing. Sign-ups are at the Yellow Jacket starting at 4:00AM and I expect to start Blast-off shortly after 6:00. The Yellow Jacket is offering a super Breakfast Buffet so get there early enough to give it a try. Any questions about the tourny, give me a call @ 530-623-4352.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: O.K. The last couple of trips have produced Trinity Dinks but they were Shasta Hogs!

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 45-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: It's still RAINING!!!!!
    City: Weaverville

Saturday, April 8th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 46-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Thurs and Friday with clients. Fortunately, I had folks that were very enjoyable to spend the day with. I always look for something positive to report and I guess the highlight of both days was that it didn't RAIN!!!
    The dozen or so fish that were caught over the course of 2 days of hard fishin were all caught suprisingly shallow. Almost all in 3-5'. After spending the winter chasing those critters in 30-50' it's a little hard to get used to. 90% of the time on Trinity, if you get in a good spot, you need to turn around and cast out toward the middle of the lake to be really successful. Right now is a good time for the "shore pounders" to hit this lake. The lake is rising rapidly, and as near as I can figure, the fish are munching on the newly submerged terrestrials and are shallower than I have ever seen them in 48 degree water. A couple of days of sunshine should really invigorate the fish (as well as myself) and the lake should be real hot.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Rip.

Friday, March 31st, 2006

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    Water Temp: 46

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Took 3 gents from Sac out today and I'll have to say they were some of the toughest clients in terms of sticking with it on a nasty day I've ever had in my boat. The wind blew, it rained cats and dogs, and the rain occasionally had lumps in it. Fortunately they were rewarded with a pretty good day of fishing. First cast of the day yielded a 5.40 Black and about the last cast of the day a 5.0 Smallie. In between were about 15 other fish which under the conditions is a pretty good day. Most fish were taken on Gitzits fished real slow,but the smallie came on a rip-bait. It was the first shallow reaction bite we've had this year, just the beginning of great times to come.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: The bigger fish appear to have moved off the deep tailings into much shallower water but I'll have to continue to try them for another few trips. All the fish were caught in less than 20' and some, including the 2 best ones were in 10' or less. Now if the weather will only cooperate a little, (they're predicting 2-4" of snow tonite) we can really have some fun.

Saturday, March 18th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 45-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Here are the results of the second Jason Fisher Memorial Vocational Scholarship Fund Tournament.
    4th Place- Tim Brady Sr.(state record smallmouth holder) and Dave Nelson 13.8lbs with a 6.8 LM kicker.
    3rd Place- Johnny Mac and Dare Stolba 16.87 (all smallies) with Smallmouth Lunker of 5.58 lbs.
    2nd Place Rob Milovic and Dave Richards 19.66lbs.
    1st Place- Tim Brady Jr. and Uncle Scott Brady 25.16 lbs with a 7.3 LM Lunker. (Ya think those Bradys' can fish?)
    The temp at blast-off was 28. By 8 o'clock the wind was blowing approx 25-30 out of the North and stayed that way all day. Brutal conditions!
    Oh, did I mention that there was a FOUR FISH LIMIT!
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Follow those Bradys!!
    There was a sharp drop in the average weight of fish weighed today. Only 4.72 as compared to 5.58 in the last tournament. I'll be curious to compare this to the avg. caught by the Pros on the Delta today, one of the premier fisheries in the country.

Wednesday, March 15th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Just an update on the tourney the 18th. I took a look at the ramp today and it's clear. Although the weather for the next couple of days doesn't look good, the snow levels seem to above the problem level, so for now the tourney is on. If we get significant snow, and launching is a problem I will post as soon as possible, and will e-mail or call every one who has been in touch. Pray for rain.
    City: Weaverville

Thursday, March 9th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 44

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Will this damn winter weather ever quit? I moved 3000 miles to be shed of this sh*t.
    City: Weaverville

Tuesday, February 28th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Sorry it's been so long since I posted. Work commitments, along with getting ready for the Benefit tourny have kept me pretty busy. The fishing on Trinity has been pretty incredible as witnessed by last Sat's Tournament. Sure wish I had been able to get out and sample it more. I took a day off Fri and fished for a few hours with pretty good success. Sat we had only 11 teams turn out for the Jason Fisher Memorial Vocational Scholarship Tournament. Jason was an avid fisherman who died in a auto accident this winter, when he went off a snowy road. As soon as I heard that his family had set up a vocational scholarship fund I figured it was time to help out, as I feel that with the computer age upon us , it will become more and more important to teach people to work with their hands and not their fingers. Anyway, the first of 4 tournament that I pulled permits for was last Sat. I was worried that all the interest that was generated would create a problem of too many boats. Not to worry. Only 11 teams showed up, and sadly, teams from the coast and valley nearly outnumbered the locals. Apparently the locals have been under the impression that you can't catch fish until later on in the spring. They didn't know what they were missing. Of the 11 teams, 9 weighed fish and 8 weighed 4 fish limits. Milovich and Richards won with 24.9 lbs, and they didn't have lunker. Foster and Menne 2nd with 22.9 lbs and a smallmouth lunker of 6.17 lbs. 3rd was Thompson and Brady Jr. with 22.74 lbs and LM lunker of 7.69 lbs. I had 4 smallies that weighed 16.37 and I finished 6th. Imagine weighing a 4 lb avg of smallies and being 3 places out of the money. Tim Brady Sr. ( the State record smallmouth holder) and Dave Nelson finished 4th with 19.34. 5th was Jim Bruno and Hans Tolk. They had 17.76 with a 4.99 smallie and a 6.49 LM. You might remember the Trinity reports when Jim and I had some incredible days in November. I guess he learned his lessons well. I also figure he's on his own from now on. Teach him to kick the guides butt.
    33 fish were weighed in for a total of 151.11 lbs. That's over a 4.5 lb avg/fish. It's obvious that I need to be fishing more and banging nails less, so give me a call.
    City: Weaverville

Saturday, February 11th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 45-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Got out for a while with a buddy from Redding. Usually when Terry comes over the hill special things happen. Last year about this time we ended up with a 8-7 LM and a 5-12 smallie along with several other quality fish. A really special day. This time was not quite the same. We ended up with what would have been a great on Shasta, but was a little disappointing for Trinity. Best LM just over 5 and the best smallie over 3 with the 5 best around 15 lbs. We caught about a dozen fish.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Duh Team Spoons were working as well as anything but the Gitzits and ball jig worms worked also. I expect as the moon phase darkens the fishing should improve.

Monday, February 6th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 44

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Yep, just like I said, I got out again today. Spent a most enjoyable day with a writer from the Fish Sniffer. As usual, however, get someone with a camera and a pen in the boat and the fish head for the other end of the lake. I just don't know what makes fish so camera shy. Maybe we need to figure out how to hook them up on-line so they can see themselves on a screen and they'll be a little more co-operative. Geez, maybe we should just offer them a sponsorship, that ought to do it. Anyway fishing was fishing today not catching. We did end up with a half dozen fish, all smallies, with a 4 lber leading the way. Saw plenty of fish where I expected to find them, but it was tough to get them to go...... I just realized after browsing through reports from other Nor-Cal lakes, maybe I shouldn't be apologizing for for a 6 fish day or for a 4 lb smallie as top dog. D#@m, this lake can sure distort one's values. Thanks Richard for a fun day. Next time, we'll tell the fish you're a bird watcher. Maybe that'll help.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: After the day we had I'm not sure what tips I have to offer except, if you want to do well on Trinity, leave the press on the dock.

Sunday, February 5th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 43-45

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Ah! The ramp has melted clear of snow, it isn't raining, and I've got some time off. What a beautiful day on the Lake. A little chilly to start but after all the crap we've been experiencing for weather, it sure was a treat to get out there. The lake has been up and down like a yoyo for the last few weeks. They've been dumping water into the river like crazy for quite a while now but the lake has stayed above 30' and still is. It's been a long time since the courtesy dock has been usable this time of year. Today I launched about 8 and the first hour I struggled. As near as I can tell the bass are still using the deep tailings as ambush points but as the water moves up and down they change locations. Apparently they find better spots to ambush the Kokanee at different depths. As I said I couldn't find a thing for an hour or so, but finaly hit paydirt. One pile was holding a ton of fish. I dropped a Duh team spoon and the first bite was a 5-4 smallie. 10 min later a 4-14 smallie. Left those fish to see if piles in a similar depth also held fish. Spent the next hour locating productive piles for trips later in the week. I'm finally going to have the chance to get out quite a bit and it will be interesting to track these fish and see just how much they move around. I'm out again tomorrow. I'll let you know.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: I'm sure there are other baits that are productive now, but those spoons get down in a hurry and will attract a bite from agressive fish right now. Also from looking at my notes from past years the next 2 months are when the BIG DOGS come out an play.

Sunday, December 25th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 51

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I went for a while Sat AM. Imagine having a wife that will let you go fishing Christmas Eve. (I'll let you know when I get the bill.) The lake was as fogged in as I've ever seen it, and it took a while to find my spots, but find them I did. After giving directions to a couple of seagulls I found that things had changed a little. The lake has come 4-5 feet and I guess the bass thought that spring has arrived. I found fish much shallower than previous trips, and unfortunately a little smaller, nothing over 4 lbs. The Duh Team spoons are still the ticket but I did catch fish on worms and my old standby, the Gitzit. I didn't try any shore related structure,( I couldn't find it in the fog) but 12 fish in 4.5 hrs on the deep rockpiles isn't bad.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Apparently both Swift Creek and the Main Stem blew out with all the rain. The North end above Wintoon was wall to wall debris. Todays' wind (Monday) hopefully sent most of it to shore but watch out.