Streams of the Trinity Alps Reprinted from CALIFORNIA FLY FISHER by Joe Mercier Among anglers, those who live in California are truly blessed with an abundance of opportunity. The geographical location of our state has the most diverse geology on the North American continent, ranging from the high Sierras to Death Valley, from fertile inland valleys to a 1000 mile long coast line. Because of this fact, our aquatic environments offer, perhaps, the most varied sport fisheries in the country, and in some cases, some of the most highly publicized. Therein lie the rub. In a state with nearly 30 million people popular fishing spots can easily become over-crowded and suffer adverse environmental impact from the use. Can you go fishing, have a reasonable chance of success and still find solitude amidst natural beauty? The Lakes, streams and river within the Trinity National Forest answer, yes. The Shasta-Trinity National Forests are located in the central part of northern California between the interior coast Range on the west and the Cascade Range to the east. Elevations range from 1000 feet along the southern and eastern edges to 14,162 feet at the summit of Mt. Shasta. With The Forest lie the watersheds of all the major rivers in northern California as well as 114 named lakes and 11 giant reservoirs. These watershed also offer 1,269 miles of streams. While a few individual drainage's like the Sacramento, Klamath, and Trinity River are well known a great majority of their smaller tributaries are not. I've fished the streams of the Trinity Alps extensively for the past 10 years and have always been able to find solitude. Water near resorts and campground will occasional have fellow fishermen nearby but if you must fish near on of these areas, a five minute walk is all it takes to leave company behind. Last year, during the latter part of August, I fished with 200 yards from on of the largest resorts in the Trinity Alps yet had to break brush and make a trail to a particularly good stretch of water. In this fifty yard beat I caught a 19 inch rainbow followed by a 17 inch brown and several smaller trout on the same dry fly. The lesson here is that these streams just don't get used by most of the visitors to the area. Nearly all of the trails into the Trinity Alps parallel major streams I have seen hikers carrying fishing rods, but seldom do they actually fish. Hikers are destination oriented and most destinations are lakes, so rods stay packed until arrival. Snow-melt and run-off usually occurs earlier in the Trinity Alps than in corresponding altitudes in the Sierra Nevada. The mountain range itself has lower altitudes and has more of a coastal influence. Streams in this region drop into shape by June and fish well through the summer and into the fall. All the water from these streams flow into Trinity Lake and offers a wide variety of fishing milieu and species. These free stone waterways see spawning rainbows to 3 lbs., occasional brown trout to 3-4 lbs. and brook trout to 15 inches. Last fall, a whopping brown trout of over 10 lbs. was taken by a youngster fishing a nymph on his new 50 dollar fly fishing outfit. His dad was stupefied but also gratified as this fish would assure him a fly fishing partner for life. In truth, the process of identifying good holding waters is simplified by the roadside proximity. What you see is what you get. Keep in mind that free stone streams are characterized by poor habitat for aquatic life forms so any piece of water capable of holding a fish probably has one in it. The streams that flow from the Trinity Alps are perhaps the most under utilized fisheries in California. Water courses like Coffee Creek, Swift Creek, the Upper Trinity River. the Little Trinity River, the East Fork and Stuart's Fork are easily accessible by road yet offer splendid fisheries. These small streams are a haven for those fond of rock hoping and thigh deep wading in pursuit of trout and solitude. They are places of cascading waterfalls, shallow pools and riffles over hung by ferns and surrounded by a gentle wilderness. Preparation for an angling experience in the Trinity Alps is fairly simple. Any California State road map is the basic tool as access to the Trinity streams are by way of state highway. These maps also indicate side roads and public campgrounds. After you have selected the general location you want to explore you should acquire a U.S.Forest Service map of the region. Information on trail and stream conditions, and locations of campsites are available at Forest Service offices in Weaverville, Coffee Creek and Big Bar. If you plan to hike or fish in the Wilderness Area a wilderness permit is required. Once in the Trinity Alps one of the best sources of detailed information comes from local businesses. It is their best interest to assist you and are generally happy to offer you local expertise. Being informed can make the difference between a good experience and a bad one. Visitors to the Trinity Alps usually enter via California's State Highway 299 West which spans from Redding on the I-5 corridor west to Arcata/Eureka on coastal Highway 101. The gateway to the Trinity Alps is the historic gold rush town of Weaverville, the county seat of Trinity county. Here Highway 3 junctures with Highway 299 and heads north. Good trout fishing starts 15 minutes up Highway 3 at the Stuart's Fork arm of Trinity Lake. The Stuart's Fork of the Trinity river descends from the mountains through a narrow and spectacular canyon. A stream of modes size it is easily waded throughout the summer. Good fishing water exists from the mouth upstream for over 12 miles with many intersecting tributaries, all of which contain nice populations of fat rainbows. Higher up the Stuart's Fork brook trout become the dominant species. A road parallels the stream for the first five miles ending at a U.S.Forest Service campground, Bridge Camp, and a trail head into the Alps. Up the trail are many beautiful alpine lakes all offering exquisite early season trout fisheries. Ice-out occurs at different times on these lakes depending on altitude but when it does the brookies feed with abandon. A novel concept, kamikaze brook trout. North of the Stuart's Fork on Highway 3, near the town of Trinity Center, anglers will encounter several other fine streams that flow either into the top of Trinity Lake or into the Upper Trinity River. Swift Creek, and the East Fork of the Trinity River, flow into the lake while coffee Creek flows into the Upper Trinity River before it enters the lake. All these waterways support trout but the Upper Trinity and Coffee Creek have, by far, the largest populations. Coffee Creek contributes as much as one half of the water volume of the Upper Trinity and is a wild trout fishery. Coffee Creek road parallels the creek and is one of the few paved roads which enters a wilderness area. As such Coffee Creek road provides an unrivaled portal to dozens of trails which lead to several alpine lakes. This area of the Trinity National Forest has many stream side campgrounds. My favorite is a U.S.Forest Service campground 4 miles north of Coffee Creek, the Trinity River camp. It is located right on the Upper Trinity and within easy reach of all the above mentioned waters. At the Trinity River camp you can fish while your morning coffee is brewing, just steps away from your campsite. Where water enters the Trinity Lake, populations of trout sit at the mouths of streams to intercept food materials swept down in the current. Also to be found where the streams enter the lake are good munbers of small mouth bass. The California State record small mouth weighing 9 lbs. 1 oz. was taken from these water in 1976 and many weighing 4 to 5 lbs. have been taken since that time. For the fly fisher equipment needs are simple. Wading wet is a pleasure during summer days but wading boots are advantageous for moving about the streams. Rods throwing 2-5 wt. floating lines are ideal for trout fishing. Most casts are short because the dimensions of the stream beds are the limiting factor. Leaders don't need to be any longer than the rod length and fished with tippets to correspond to fly size. An upstream approach has proved the best presentation. It's very important in small streams that the fish sees your offering before they see you. The freestone streams flowing from the Alps have populations of caddis and stone fly so flies that imitate or suggest these aquatics work best. However, during the summer terrestrial insects are also available to trout. In terms of fly selection your options are wide open. These are not generally selective fish and in many cases may never have been fished over. An angler can get away with an Elk Hair Caddis dry in 12 through 16 and a Gold Ribbed Hares Ear nymph in the same sizes. Terrestrial patterns for black or red ant, beetles and grass hoppers also work well during those dog days of late August. I prefer fishing a dry fly because it works and watching it is a source of endless entertainment. Often I have left a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis on until the dubbing has been chewed off. Sometimes it seems the more tattered my fly gets the more effective it is. The small streams of the Trinity Alps are special place to me. There the world shrinks to an understandable scale and I can finally feel in the world instead of just on it. These waters are not "people places", and they generally attract no crowds. No carnival atmosphere detracts from the connections that I want to make with the stream environment. All the best attributes of flowing waters are what epitomize the character of streams and creeks, microcosms within which one can learn to not just be a visitor but a participant.
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