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Thursday, March 17th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47-49

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Had clients out for the last 2 days and encountered some of the toughest fishing I have ever seen this time of year. Sunday, when we came off the lake the water temp was almost 55. When we launched Tues it was under 47. 2 days of high winds and a cold front really put the chill back in the lake and the fish were not happy. Although we were able to watch quality fish cruising the shallows, getting them to bite was another matter. Beleive me, we gave them every opportunity. Fortunately we were able to do some serious wildlife watching and I beleive the clients went home happy campers. We had 9 or 10 fish for the 2 days with a 4 lb LM topping the list.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: No clue!

Monday, March 14th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I would suggest moving to Hoopa the weather really is not to bad here, kind of like Mexico if you drink enough whiskey.
    City: Hoopa

    Tips: Drink whiskey to stay warm

Sunday, March 13th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Had clients from Redding out today and I'd have to rate the bite as fair at best. Picked up a 4 lb Black right off before the wind blew us off all of my better spots. The AM wind made it very difficult to fish and the PM wind made it about impossible. Went into the East fork and anchored up and picked up several smallies the best at 3.75. No fish on soft plastics. All fish caught were on rip baits fished with a long pause or the fish would hit immediatly after bouncing off cover. Ended up with approx 15 lbs for best 5 which is not bad but certainly not what Trinity is capable of this time of year. Hopefully the wind will create a little color in the water which should help the bite.
    City: W

    Tips: I don't think it's possible to pause a suspending jerk bait too long.

Wednesday, March 9th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 50+

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Today I fished with a Trophy Hunter from Burney. He called and said he wanted a big smallie to put on his wall along with his 14 lb Rainbow, 11 lb. Brown, 70 lb. King etc. I told him that chances were good but we'd have to take pics and measurements and he'd have to have a replica made. That was fine with him.
    We met at the ramp and headed for my very best " Hot Spot". NADA! Next best hot spot, NADA. Well, pretty quick it was lunch time and nothing to show but a few dinks. Now comes the moral to the story, " Good things come to those who wait." We head back to spot #1 and a 3.25 smallie lands in the boat. First good keeper of the day. Shortly another smallie near 3 comes to the net. Guides nightmare turns to an OK day. An hour or so later client says my 2 favorite words. " FISH ON " This time it's a 4.60 smallie! Mission accomplished! Thanks Mike for not giving up and being so patient. I have no idea what makes Trinity so tough occasionally, when the weather is consistent, conditions are the same as yesterday, but they just won't go. We saw a lot of fish cruising the shallows where we were fishing so we knew they were there. It just took serious patience to get them to bite. Best thing about today is that I'm on the lake tomorrow and seldom have I seen this tough a bite 2 days in a row. Stay tuned.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: A lot of the locals give me grief about fishing my Gitzits so much, Ask Mike what he thinks.

Saturday, March 5th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Launched at faireview at 5:30 nobody their.
    boated to the north end foggie up their.
    stoped at first tailing piles by the ball park.
    first cast a big black 5lbs 14ozs on a old rebel
    rip type bait 8"long in a rainbow trout color fished down that set of pileing catching 8 more fish up to 3lbs.
    Change to a smaller rebel same color but 6" long
    2nd pass 6 more fish nothing big 12" to 16" fish
    Moved to the next set of piles with 2 other boates. Caugh one more fish a 4lbs 3oz black.
    All the fish i caugh at the talling piles were blacks on rip type baits. Ran back to the south end of the lake fishing points with spider jigs
    4 more fish only 2 smallies and small ones.
    2 more blacks a 2lbs 7ozs and a 12"fish.off the lake at 2:30 only 3 boat trailers in the parking
    lot.Good day at the lake back soon to hunt that big smallie.
    City: Redding

    Tips: I caugh my fish fishing fast then stopping the bait and letting it float back to the surface
    then the fish would hit.The other boats I saw were fishing slow and catching fish also.

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    Water Temp: 46-51

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Out with the Maine Guide, John Gray, once again. I've decided to make this a monthly habit - life is too short. This was actually a delayed Christmas gift for my 67 year old Pop, and my brother. All in all there were 4 of us fishing in two boats with John on Sat. and the first half of Sunday. You think he had to work hard? The bight was tougher on Saturday as we ended up with 20 fish over about 10 hours on brown tubes and smoke colored 4 and 6 inch worms. No reaction bites. The fish were caught in 5 to 25 feet of water on rock piles and rocky flats and banks.

    Sunday was a different story. The reaction bite was on. The two of us in my boat landed 13 nice fish from 6:45 AM to 8 AM. Almost all on reaction bites, rips and cranks. The largest was a 4.15 Smallie. The other boat had a bit of a slower day , landing about 6 fish in 3 hours of fishing. The bite was considerably more shallow on Sunday. The fish are moving up. We got them in 2 to 10 feet of water.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: Take a trip to Trinity, you won't regret it. It is funny to watch the crowds follow John around and mimic his patterns. Most folks were out on the deeper tailing piles and there is no doubt the fish are there too ... but they are moving more shallow by the day now. THANKS JOHN!

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Took my dad and brother out on Trinity for the day. Weather was cold and rainy but the fish did not mind. We trolled hula spins over the top of the rock piles on the north end. Together we landed 27 fish ranging from 1lb. to 4.5lbs. which dad caught they have the way of doing that. Alot of other fisherman out 13 boats all fishing the same area. I talked to one of the fisherman named John he was using crickets on the tree island break and he had a stringer of nice bass but only 1 smallmouth the rest were largemouth. We only caught three largemouth and the rest were smallies. The only thing we could figure is the smallies were more agressive for the reaction baits and the largemouth were a little more lathargic.
    City: Etna

    Tips: Go early to get a spot in the parking lot!!!!

Saturday, February 26th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 42-46

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: FINALLY...FINALLY...FINALLY!!!!! I went fishing today for the first time since early Dec. After shoveling snow for the last month and a half it was sure a treat. Trinity is always a beautiful lake, but with the snow right to the waters' edge, it gives beauty a whole new meaning. Got there just as the fog was starting to clear, and spent several minutes with a camera in my hand instead of a fish pole. WOW The fishing was a little slow and I really had to do some searching. The bass on Trinity this time of year are really tightly schooled and easy to miss. I finally found a good school and dropped a DUH Team spoon on em and watched a fish come up and meet it. First fish of the year, a solid 5 lb smallie. Well worth waiting for! I was afraid it might be a jinx but the next cast was a nice black so maybe not.
    City: Trinity Center

    Tips: It's hard to do on such a beautiful lake as Trinity, but you have to keep your eyes glued to the meter. The fish I caught today were in a school about the size of a pick-up in 32 feet of water on the corner of a rockpile that topped out at 24' and bottomed at 50'. If I'd have gone by 30' on either side I'd have missed them completely.

Friday, February 25th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47-50

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Me and my brother fished all day on the 24th and caught about 17 fish with the biggest one being a 4.0 pound sm. We only caught one lm all day. Everything bit the dropshot and dragging tubes the best. Oxblood seemed to be the best color dropshot worm and salt and pepper seemed to be the best tube color to drag. The bite was a bit slow. The bite seemed to be around 40-55 feet. We acctually found a pretty good bite right at dark with a norman lure crankbait and a rapala jerkbait. On the morning of the 25th the first half-hour produced 10 sm. We picked up 5 more sm before noon and then hung it up. Nothing over 3.3 lbs. Spotted 8-10 lm on tops of shallow rock piles. Maybe they are finally moving in!
    City: Eureka

Wednesday, February 16th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Out today with good friend and awesome guide John Gray. First stop caught 4 smallies, up to 4lbs. The rest of the day going to different spots catching a mix of largemouth(5lbs) and smallmouth and one largemouth at 8.7 lbs. By far my best trip to Trinity! If you are looking for a guided fishing trip on Trinity talk to John Gray (The Maine Guide). That man knows fishing and his way around Trinity Lake.

    Thanks again for the awesome day! You were the cure for what I needed.
    Terry
    City: Redding

Saturday, February 12th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Yeah, I'm totally hooked. Went out on Trinity for another trip with The "Maine" Guide, John F. Gray. I didn't think it could be better than my January experience. I was wrong. Fished from 11:30 AM to 4PM. Together we caught 29 fish. The best was a 4 LB., 12 OZ. Smallie that John caught. John and I each caught 4 & 1/2 LB Largies and numerous 3+ LB Smallies. I'll post a pic. of John's 4-11 and two of my best fish in the Pics section. We caught 'em in 25 to 40 feet of water, out of Trinity Center on submerged rock piles. The closer we got to shore, the less fish we caught. Watch your depth finder and look for 30-35 feet of water smack-dab-in the middle of the lake. We used Pro Worms, brown tubes, and brown and orange jigs. 29 fish in 4.5 hours. At one point we had a fish on 6-straight combined casts.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: Call John Gray. I've never seen anyone know a lake like he knows Trinity.

Wednesday, February 9th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 46-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Just got back from 4 hrs on thr Lake. This lake never ceases to amaze me, or perhaps it's the fish that are amazing. In 4 hrs in Feb I caught 14 fish, the best 5 near 18 lbs led by a 5-14 LM. The fish are still on mid lake tailing piles in 30' of water. Still waiting to get the first 6 lber, maybe next trip.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Thanks Dave for taking the pics.

Sunday, January 30th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 46

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: It was a special treat for me as I fished with my friend John Gray the other guide on Trinity Lake, We both had a good day launching at 0715 on a cold foggy morning, went stright to the ball park and started with a MGM HDI in green on a 3/4 football jig,on my 1st cast I got a 1.5 lm next I switched to a MGM Eel in the same color got a 2.0 sm. now that I had tried the two baits and saw that they worked I went to my go to bait for Trinity a MGM black hooktail again on the 1st cast 3.5 lm about this time I notice that John was starting to look worried but not to worry he hooked up with a nice 2.0 sm then a 4.5 lm we proceeded to catch appox. 30 fish, John with a proworm and small tube bait and myself with my black hooktail. Our best five 15.5 lbs. pretty good for 46 degree water this time of the year. The fog lifted about 1030 and the sun finnally started to warm our cold hands
    the lake was flat and as beautiful as ever, fished until 1300 John is an excellant and pleasure to fish with.
    It isn't often I get to fish with another guide on the same lake I really enjoyed it'
    City: Redding

    Tips: no fish in the shollow water or on the bank all 15'to 30'of water

Monday, January 24th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 40-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Last Sat I took out a client from Sac who had whined to me about 10 fishless trips on Folsom. I took pity on him and invited him up for a day on Trinity. I explained to him that in Jan the only thing happening on Trinity is trolling for trout, and that at 40 degree water temp, bass are hibernating and won't bite. He wanted to come up anyway. After making a few trial circles in dense fog we found the East shore near the East Fork and proceded North to the deep tailings off the Ballpark. 20 minutes later I was taking pics of a 5-14 and a 5. Both LM. 6 hrs later we called it a day after catching 20 fish with our best 5 over 21 lbs. I sure hope nobody ever teaches those Trinity bass to read, because everyone who can read knows that you can't catch bass in 40 deg water. By the way Craig, if you want any more freebies, don't be kicking the Guides' butt.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: This stable weather and the fact that the launch ramp is snow free, has allowed me to get up to the lake more this winter than ever before. I've been able to keep track of the fish and know where they are hanging out. I had no clue winter fishing could be so much fun on Trinity. After a 14 fish day and 2 20 fish days in Jan I can't wait until the fishing gets good in Mar.

Saturday, January 22nd, 2005

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    Water Temp: 40-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Well, John told me that I'd be called a liar if I didn't post a picture, so I posted it on this sight. I'm Craig G. and it is the Trinity Lake photo. That is a photo of John's 5 pounder and my 5-14. We hooked em up at the same time. I'm not much of a fishermen, but I caught a 5-14, 3-8, and 3-7 with John on Saturday, in January, in 40 degree water. I'm not really sure I believe it happened. All fish were caught on 4 and 6 inch smoke colored Pro Worms and Root Beer colored Gitzits. Johny sure has those rock piles dialed in. Thanks for the trip John, I burned in memories that will never go away. I hope you can keep up with me next time!
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: Call, email, or send a singing telegram, but get ahold of John Gray, book your trip to Trinity and be ready for the time of your life.

Monday, January 17th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Just wanted to invite those of you headed to the Sacramento ISE Show to stop by and say Hi. I've got booth # 3336 in the pavillion. Hope to see you there.
    City: Weaverville

Sunday, January 16th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 46

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Heard that the launch ramp at Trinity Center had been plowed so went for a while this AM. Headed for some rockpiles off the ballpark and started picking up fish right off. Nothing big at first but as the water warmed slightly action on bigger fish picked up. Ended up with 14 fish with 3 in the 4 lb class including 1 smallie right at 4. The fish didn't seem to be as tightly schooled as they were the last time I went out. Maybe this means that they are getting ready to move up a little. Most fish today were caught at 25' with some smaller ones a little shallower.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: The Gitzit was working real good for me today. There are probably other baits that will work as good or better than the Gitzit, but when I can catch 14 fish in 4 hrs in the middle of Jan, it's hard for me to experiment much. I had a great day: Smallmouth at 4 lbs. and the Patriots kicked Butt. Who could ask for anything more.

Thursday, November 25th, 2004

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Haven't been out to the lake lately but will definately get there before the weekend is over.
    My best lake in Maine has been frozen over for approx. 2 weeks now. If I was still back there I would have already gone through the first 2 cords of firewood (out of 10). Back there it is still 5 weeks away from ice fishing season, and I would be suffering severe withdrawal.
    Last weekend I fished The Fall Classic on Shasta with a friend and finished a very respectable (for me) 33rd. This weekend is the Cottonwood Clubs' $100/lb Tourney, which is a hoot, but unfortunately I won't be able to enter.
    In a couple of weeks I'm headed to Oroville for a tournament. At the end of the month my Daughter and 5 year old Grandson are headed here from Maine and are both avid fishermen (they live on the coast and chase stripers all summer) and are expecting Grandpa to put them on fish. (and you thought there was pressure in a tournament).
    The point of all of this is.... Do I feel blessed this Thanksgiving Day? You bet I do! I have a wonderful wife who tried her best to kill me with a fork by serving a wonderful dinner today, I live next to a great fishery,(Trinity). I live within driving distance of Shasta, Oroville, Clear Lake, the Delta. I own a boat, I have rods and reels, I have some tackle.... What's not to be thankful for.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004

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    Water Temp: cool

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hard fishing today. Some fish, but of little quality. Think they might of been short biting or something. Gray told me today to work topwater but I had no luck with. Buggers!
    City: Junction City, California

    Tips: Take warm clothes. It is very cold!!

Monday, November 8th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Got up to the lake yesterday AM for a few hours not having a clue what to expect. Went to some deep tailings first thing and basically never left. Launched about 7;40 and had a 16 lb limit by 8;30. Started with my old stand-by, the Pro-Gold red flake worm, and when I finally broke that jig-head off, switched to a Gitzit. It made no difference. The bite was on! Caught approx. 30 fish before I left @ 11 AM. Mostly smallies, several in the 3 lb range with an occasional LM. Best LM almost 4. Haven't fished a lot this time of year but after what happened Sun. I may have to rethink that tactic. There was one other Bass boat on the lake and a couple of trout trollers. Wind was calm, the sun was warm, the fish were biting. Gee, I wonder why I ever moved here from Maine.
    City: Weaverville

    Tips: Move to Trinity County.