Jan 23 ~ 31 Trinity River Report
Jan 31 - 1 pm. The river continues to clear and drop and the gauge is now reporting morning water temps below 40 degrees. It appears that we’ll see flows below 500 cfs starting today. Current weather forecasts are predicting another bright sunny day tomorrow (wed) and then we’re showing a Low pressure system moving in to deliver moisture beginning Thursday evening. Less than a half an inch of rain is predicted through till Saturday when we should see an afternoon rain tapering off through Sunday with maybe another half inch. After that it appears once again we’re moving back into sunny conditions. Anglers are reporting fish on both swing and indicators with typical patterns. This moisture could just be helpful as long as the burn scars don’t stir up too much turbidity. I would expect a little color to hit the river Friday but nothing like what we saw weeks ago. Temps are going to drop a little but we’ll be back into the mid 50’s by Tuesday of next week.
Jan 28 ~ 3:37 pm. Not much to report as conditions continue to improve with visibility. It doesn’t seem much has changed in the last 24 hours and river is flattening it’s descend, now around 550 cfs at Douglas. I’ve heard mixed reports on angling, but we are catching fish. Typical patterns and being systematic in your fishing sounds like where anglers had their success. I would not expect any significant river changes over the next 24 hours. We are seeing a wind advisory from 1pm Sunday to 1 pm Monday. 45 mph gusts expected in some regions and Northern Trinity County is on the advisory. Take precautions, good to throw a saw in your boat just in case. I have friends showing up to fish for a few days so we might be able to throw some fish photos up soon!
Jan 26 ~ 3 pm. We’re definitely in full swing on the river with most ramps showing empty trailers. It seemed the upper stretches from Lewiston were most used today. I didn’t make it down past Douglas City. The river still has some color in it from Deadwood (I’m guessing) but all the tribs look to be running clear by the lodge. Water temps are hovering in the low 40’s but on an upward path now which should be good for anglers. Water levels at Douglas are 550 cfs and we’re seeing typical flows from the dam. No important updates on the horizon for our forecast so we’re continuing into the warming trend. Today appears to be topping out around 60 degrees, bright sunshine. Visibility by the lodge remains in the 2-2.5 foot depth. I would have expected clarity to have been better by now but we’re still seeing turbid flows from upriver.
Jan 25 ~ 3:05 pm. The river continues a slow decend back to normal winter time flows, running around 550 cfs near Douglas City. Clarity continues to improve and most of the tribs are now running clear. Anglers are now on most stretches of the upper river and I’m betting the stretch below Douglas might be a good bet as well. Forecast is looking good, expecting a high of 60 degrees tomorrow with sunshine! We are showing cloudy weather on Feb 2-4 with minor rainfall, sounds like perfect conditions to me.
Jan 23 ~ 2:30 pm. Water temps and water levels continue to drop and we’re most likely to be below 600 cfs before the day is over. Clarity continue to improve but we’re still showing more turbidity than I would have expected at these flows. The river is definitely fishable, but we’re thinking it’s still pumping mud from the burn scars up on Deadwood Creek. I would guess at the lodge the visibility is around 2-3 feet. Indian creek and Weaver creek look to be running clear. Anglers are fishing on most stretches above Douglas City with decent success. We’re hearing reports of fresh and chrome fish actively moving. Water temps are near 42 degrees.
Extended forecast shows a warming trend, we’re expecting daily highs near 60 degrees tomorrow. Our next precipitation event appears to be around the 29th and extending into February for the week.