Jan 4 - 8 Trinity River Updates
Jan 4 - 3:30pm We had good rain in the last 24 hours and we’re expecting rain to continue for the foreseable future. Thursday 1/5 appears to be less than a .5” and the river above Indian Creek is in good shape. Flow and clarity are both very good. Friday through Monday appear to have rains over an inch per day so we’ll keep up to date on visitbility and flow. Today we saw a number of boats out and anglers on the water. The river temps and visibility should have made for a good day to be on the water.
Jan 5 - 9 am. Currently pushing 1800 cfs at Douglas and color and visibility at the lodge is off. The river is on a descent but most likely for the afternoon only. The updated forecast is showing over an inch of rain for the next few days and we’re likely going to see higher water flows over the next week with small windows of fishing opportunity, except for the upper most stretches of river.
Jan 5 - 12 pm. Flows are holding steady around 1750 cfs. Color is off. We’re seeing a little more rain today and a new wave moving in on Friday above 1” of moisture and it continuing until after Tuesday next week. Limekiln around 1000 cfs. Most likely, only the very upper stretch near Lewiston will remain fishable through the weekend. There are a few spots that will fish with conventional gear but for the fly anglers it’ll be the most difficult conditions. Will update again this afternoon.
Jan 5 - 3:30 pm. Flows are flattening around 1650 cfs and water tems have moved up. Little to no rain is expected until the next bad is to move into the area around early morning with an expected 1” of rain for Friday. We’re not expecting the river to conditions to improve much and stay near where it’s at.
Jan 5 - 9 pm. Flows are descending tonight. We may get some clarity in the upper river tomorrow above Limekiln. Still seeing 1” of rain tomorrow (Fri) starting slow and ramping up to a wet Saturday.
Jan 6 -3:30 pm. No significant change has occurred in the river, however the cfs is down below 1000 at Douglas City. We are expecting the next wave of rain to begin this evening and currently, forecast show it continuing to bring ample moisture until Tues 1/10 when it appears we have a small break in the over 1” of rain per day. Saturday (tomorrow) appears to be the heaviest precipitation day. At the lodge, we’re not expecting evening freezing and highs near 49 degrees. Radar continues to show bands of moisture coming in from the coast. Clarity did improve minimally today, the upper stretches above the lodge were most likely the best bet for flies. If you are fishing, please keep an eye on flows throughout the day as river levels can change rapidly.
Jan 7 - 11:30 am. We had the river ramp up again last night and visibility at the lodge is less than a foot, currently at 1350 and trending up steeply. We are forecasted for 1.5” of rain today and a little less than an inch of rain the next two days. 1 - 2 feet of snow above 4500 feet are forecasted until this afternoon so we’re not expecting to see any kind of freeze to hold water back since the ground is saturated. For the next few days the upper river near Lewiston is the best bet. The dam is currently at 300 cfs, temps around 45 degrees.
Jan 7 - 4:50 pm. Douglas City gauge is reporting flows at 2000 cfs and trending higher. Rush Creek above limkiln is blowing silt. Anglers today were able to catch some bright fish before the flows got too high and cloudy. We’re considering the river non-fishable tomorrow as forecast is calling for an inch of rain overnight and another inch tomorrow. Current forecast is calling for over an inch of rain each day through the week and a possible slow down of precipitation in a week.
Jan 8 - 10:15 am. Flows from the dam are doubled to 700 cfs. Current flows at Douglas City are 4290 cfs.
Jan 8 - 2:00 pm, It appears the river has crested from the last front moving through the basin, current at 3750 cfs and trending down. We’re showing storm warnings for the northern part of the county with significant snowfall above 5000 feet and a strong wind warning, both ending this evening. Radar shows one more cell to move through this evening with Mon and Tues precip around 1/2” of rain. Wed - Fri we’re expecting another system to move through. Each time a system moved through in the last few weeks we would spike and then it comes back down. It appears the flows from the dam that jumped today are heading back down to their previous levels - But keep watch on the Lewiston flows now to see if it changes. Just be prepared. The flow from the Lewiston Dam changed at 8 am and in 10 minutes they doubled the flows to just over 700 cfs. Currently the flows are trending lower and at 385 cfs.