Trinity Lake 7/31 - 8/2

My Dad and I went out to Trinity lake for 3 days of Kayak fishing for smallies.  We got there on Tues afternoon and set up camp at the Minersville campground.  Since it was mid-week, there were lots of open spots at all the campgrounds.  We got a spot right on the lake . .but launching from the campsite was not an option due to the low water level which makes for really steep, muddy banks. 

In addition to it being my first time out to Trinity it was also my first time out with my brand new Hobie Revolution.  I mostly fished from my Prowler and let my Dad use the new boat but I did, of course, take it out for a few hours and it was totally awesome.  The peddle deal totally works for me ..  I can fish with both hands free and it seems like I can peddle longer and faster than I can paddle.  I can't wait to take on a more extended trip soon.

The fishing was great - we caught lots of smallies each day on crankbaits and finesse worms.  Most of the fish were small but I got a few that were decent.  I lost a major hawg but I prefer not to think about that (yeah, right!)

The best deal for me was to find rocky areas of shore that had stumps, steep drop-offs and/or points and drift the plastic worm carolina rigged.  That and trolling a rapala SR5 in silver/black seemed to work best for me.  Mud was a serious problem and I found myself paddling quite a ways looking for good, unmuddied shoreline to fish but we managed to catch fish all day long with the morning being awesome, the afternoon slow and the evening decent. 

By evening, the waves from the water-skiers had churned up the mud on the shoreline creating a thick mud ring around the lake . . it was still possible to catch fish, though .. but paddling a ways for find as clear water as possible was necessary.

Nice I have been dying to get up there. did your fish the gravel piles where the river flows in or the area around Coffee Creek?

Thats AWESOME Chris!
See...smallies fight WAY harder than largemouth! Sounds like fun!

PK

Cool report, Chris.  Way to hit it, and thanks for the info on how to do it at Trinity.   

Great report!! Way to get on those smallies.

FF

Dad,fish,camp are things you don't get back later in life.... I love them SMALLIES, they know when NOT to give up.
So do as much of it as you can and keep up the pics&ports!it gets me through the mondays-fridays!

I really wanted to get up there this week, but truck problems have kept me local,

  Thanks for the report, it looks as thought o do this lake right, you need to do a bit of traveling and would not hurt to have some pointers on hot spots,

 I've hear of the gravel piles too, but they can be off as a shore bite is on,

  seems like a dynamic lake......... Dangling

Thanks for the report, it looks as thought o do this lake right, you need to do a bit of traveling and would not hurt to have some pointers on hot spots,

True . . .it's really remote for a lake that size and there is not much fishing info that I could find.  I searched around for previous reports and didn't find much but the write-up in Guide to Fishing in Northern California was pretty helpfull.  Also we did not see anybody else fishing at all.  I think the better end is the North end and we were in the South end in the Stuart's Fork arm.  The fishing there was great, though . . . we were not disapointed at all.  I am sure the only reason I didn't get any bigguns was because I am a rookie basser . .in fact these were my first ever fish caught on plastic worms!

I do have a hot tip if you want, though . . .next time I go I am going to camp either at one of the boat-in campgrounds or at Jackass Springs on the North end.  I heard the fishing is better up there . . although, like I said, I think it's good on the whole lake.  I am going to try and go up again towards the fall.

If any of you guys are looking for info on this area, shoot me a message.  I consider the Trinity to Mt. Shasta to Eagle Lake and back to Redding to be my backyard, and have covered it all pretty good for hunting and fishing.  Trinity Lake is nice, and the rockpiles mentioned above are the hot spot for smallies. 

Tight lines,
-beenfishin

Hey Chris!
Time to change your "location" in your profile, buddy! You no longer pay 2500 a month for the priveledge of living in PG! LOL!
(-:
PK