I was lucky enough to spend a few days fishing at Trinity Lake in Northern California. Until this trip I had never been to the lake before. Not knowing what exactly I was getting in to I knew I had to do a little homework.
The first thing I do when heading to a new fishery is peruse the lake on google earth. I like to look at the lay of the lake. Understanding a general overview of what the lake looks like and maybe find some obvious areas that could hold fish. Some things I would look for are incoming water, marinas, boat ramps, long points and spawn areas. After assessing the lake on google earth I start to look at my lakemaster mapping. I use the lakemaster mapping to see contour lines. I like to compare what I found on google earth to the lakemaster mapping card and really dial in what I am looking at.
The first day of fishing was thursday August 1st. I got on the water just after safelight and ran up to the old gold dredger tailings at the north end of the lake. I started at the begining of the 5mph and threw topwater for a majority of the morning. We covered a water quickly and efficiently and had a few solid bites on an Ima Little Stick. We had a boat load of short fish eat but had to sort through the shorts to get a few 1.5-3lb bites. We fished up the river channel adjacent to the tailings then continued up the river arm until I couldnt get my boat past the little rapids. The water level of the lake is high and there is some very pretty flooded timber up the river but it did not seem to hold many quality fish. However, myself and my brother were able to get a hold of a solid largemouth dragging a splitshot over a large rock outcropping up the river in about 10ft of water.
After fishing the river we made a run down the lake a little to some main body primary points and fished some deeper water in hopes to find some better quality. With the water being extremely clear (about 15ft visibility) I chose to do some finesse fishing in about 20-35ft of water. I threw a drop shot as my brother dragged an X-Zone Lures tube behind me. We fished of the end of long point and caught 2 solid fish on back to back casts the first was a 3.89 and the second was a 3.43. We fished until lunch targeting points adjacent to spawn areas near the river. This little pattern contributed and hand full of solid fish from 2lbs-3lbs.
We went back out fishing in the evening and found some windy conditions and mudlines from skiboat traffic. We continued to run points and found the fish were moving slightly shollower in the mud and were able to catch them fishing Spider Jigs on a Dobyns Football Jig Head. We caught some more solid fish in the evening on jigs, dropshots, tubes, and shakey heads.
The next morning I decided to make a long run towards the south end of the lake and did some more exploring. We found the point pattern was still working down on this end of the lake. I did notice the lake seemed to be a little flatter here. The points extended out a little further than they did up north. I used my Humminbird unit to find the long points with deep water access to be more efficient. Here my brother caught a stud 4lb 2oz smallmouth on a “Green Neon” colored X-Zone Lures X-Tube.
Later in the evening we fished near the campground on the north end again. Wanting to find some “bigger” fish I went looking for largemouth. I started checking small pockets and guts with some timber in the back. I picked up a shakey head with the new Gamakatsu G-Finesse Tricky Head. I was able to drag the bait through the fallen timber without getting hung up and picked of a hand full of solid largemouth ranging from 2-3lbs. We worked back in to an area where I had seen some shad and suspending bass earlier that day I looked at my Humminbirds and found that the fish now had the shad pushed into the gut and were set up in a more catchable position. We dropped down on these fish and set into a 4.5lber on a dropshot. After catching a few of the fish we backed off the school and threw at them from a distance. This rewarded us with another 4.5lber and another couple solids.
The final day provided us with more of the same running points and the adjacent pockets. We caught a handfull of solid fish and grinded out a solid limit. Later that evening the bite finially clicked and we were able to get two of the schools I had marked firing. We pulled in to the gut we found the night before and pounded on a 4.5lber, a 5lber, and some other solids. After we exhausted this school we moved to another chunk rock point and found a mixed school of largemouth and smallmouth choking on our spider jigs. We caught fish on 6 consecutive casts with fish ranging from 2.5-4lbs.
In conclusion it was a great trip and I was thoroughly impressed with Trinity Lake. The Lake was beautiful and full of fish. I can only imagine how well this lake would fish in the fall and spring. I will place the links to the products I used below. If you have any questions about any of my reports please feel free to contact me via e-mail or any of my social media. Thanks for visiting RB Bass and make sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. (@ryanhallfishing)
– Ryan Hall
@ryanhallfishing
ryanhallfishing@gmail.com
Dobyns Rods: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/searchresults.asp?Search=dobyns+rods&Submit=
X-Zone Lures X-Tube: https://www.xzonelures.com/site/shop/detail/x-tube-375-inch-8-pack
Gamakatsu G-Finesse Tricky Head: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Gamakatsu-G-Finesse-Tricky-Head-p/gamakatsu-gf-tricky.htm
Yamamoto Hula Grub: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Yamamoto-Hula-Grub-5in-p/yamamoto-hulagrub.htm
Ima Little Stik: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Ima-Lures-Little-Stik-135-p/ima-lstik135.htm
Gamakatsu G-Finesse Drop Shot: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Gamakatsu-AM-G-Finesse-Drop-Shot-Hook-p/gamakatsu-amgfinds.htm
Gamakatsu G-Finesse Treble Hook: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Gamakatsu-AM-G-Finesse-Treble-Hooks-p/gamakatsu-amgfinth.htm
Diawa Tatula 100: https://www.outdoorproshop.com/Daiwa-Tatula-100-TWS-Baitcasting-Reels-p/daiwa-tat-100tws.htm
X-Zone Lures Ned Zone: https://www.xzonelures.com/site/shop/detail/pro-series-ned-zone-fishing-lures
X-Zone Lures Finesse Slammer: https://www.xzonelures.com/site/shop/detail/pro-series-finesse-slammer-fishing-lures
X-Zone Lures Deception Worm: https://www.xzonelures.com/site/shop/detail/pro-series-deception-worm-15-pack
Dobyns Rods Football Head Jigs: http://dobynsrods.com/baits/football-heads/
