The River

The Trinity River starts at over 8,000 feet high up in the Trinity Alps, and winds its way through granite peaks and dense forests to Trinity Lake. Formed by the construction of Trinity Dam in 1962, Trinity Lake is about 30 miles long and has over 300 miles of jagged fingered alpine shoreline. Trinity Lake then empties its water into Lewiston Lake, a narrow 7 mile shallow diversionary lake behind Lewiston Dam.

Today, Lewiston Dam is the new "headwater" of the Trinity River. The flows from the dams are mandated throughout the year based on a complicated formula derived from rainfall amounts (both historical and present) and agricultural needs in the far-off Central Valley. Flows can vary greatly depending on the time of year, getting as high as 11,000 cfs in the spring runoff period and as low as 300 cfs during the fall and winter fishing season.

The Trinity River continues its course from Lewiston Dam for another 112 river miles before joining the Klamath River at Wichapec and ultimately finding its way to the Pacific Ocean. Throughout its length and varied seasons, the Trinity River plays host to a variety of different fish species, including seasonal anadromous fish such as spring and fall run Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, summer, Fall, and Winter run steelhead, as well as both resident and migratory brown trout. In addition, other wildlife abounds along the Trinity River, including piscine species such as Klamath suckers, lamprey eels, frogs, turtles, and fresh water mussels, and a variety of bird life such as bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey, heron, red-tail hawks, falcons, buzzards, kingfishers, water ouzels, ducks, geese, and many others.

The salmon and steelhead of the Trinity River are perhaps its most valuable asset today, in spite of a storied history of mining valuable minerals and gold from the river over the past decade. Many of these fish are born and bred in the Lewiston Hatchery, located just downstream of the dam. Many too are wild fish native to the ecosystem, their eggs deposited through tens of thousands of years of pure genetics in this wild region.

Indeed, the Trinity River today is world-renowned for its strong returns of both salmon and steelhead, a place where anglers converge throughout the year to pursue these beautiful creatures using both conventional and fly fishing techniques. The Hoopa Indian Tribe also calls the Trinity River home, and continues to utilize gill nets for both subsistence and commercial fishing, as does the Yurok tribe situated on the Klamath River below its convergence with the Trinity.

The resources of the Trinity River are varied and valuable, as such they require dedication and support from many in order to protect and preserve them. The river's water, its fish, even its minerals and precious metals are all valuable, and require special stewardship in order to maintain the Trinity's pristine assets. The Trinity River Guide Association realizes this first hand, as we make our living on this amazing river every day of the year. We're working hard to protect the future of this fine river and its fishery.