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Trinity Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Trinity Lake: Reclamation's 2,448,000-acre-foot reservoir on the Trinity River, a state trophy black bass water with its own kokanee limit.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
315 cfs
Air / High
58 / 62 F
Wind
NNE 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 11525500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Trinity Lake is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The release below the dam is running 315 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 10 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 62. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:50 AM-11:50 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Landlocked salmonGood

Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 71 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

California requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $64.54 for residents. What a California licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing landlocked salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with CDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for California, read off the agency, are on the California seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Trinity River at Lewiston (below dam).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 11525500.

332384435315 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 115 years of October 23

At 315 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 11525500 (Trinity River at Lewiston (below dam)) is at the 81st percentile for the date: above normal. In half of the 115 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 261 cfs; the highest was 2,260 cfs and the lowest 94 cfs.

p10 146median 261p90 329

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 11525500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp58 F
High / Low62 / 45 F
WindNNE 10-20 mph
Pressure1019.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:18
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)50 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~62 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Trinity Lake this week

The best day on Trinity Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:50 AM-11:50 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM
Minor period
4:15 AM-5:15 AM
Sun
07:31 to 18:18
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Trinity Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Spring and fall near the surface, deep in summer, and under the ice in winter

Landlocked salmon are Atlantic salmon that complete their whole life in fresh water, feeding mainly on rainbow smelt in cold lakes of Maine and the Northeast. Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

When to come: the Trinity Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Landlocked salmon
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Trinity Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Landlocked salmon led the card at good. High of 57 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Landlocked salmon led the card at good. High of 74 F, wind to 11 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Landlocked salmon led the card at good. High of 72 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

California requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

A California fishing license is required. Black bass: Trinity Lake is not on CDFW's 2026 list of special black bass waters, so the statewide lake rule applies (12-inch minimum, 5 a day, open all year). Landlocked salmon (kokanee): 10 a day, 20 in possession. CDFW booklet updated July 10, 2026.

Access

Ramp and campground status was not verified for this guide (the Forest Service site blocked our checks). Check the Shasta-Trinity National Forest before towing, especially when the lake is low.

About this water

Reclamation reservoir on the Trinity River, Trinity County, California; Trinity Dam completed in 1962, capacity 2,448,000 acre-feet.

Fishing Trinity Lake: the full guide

Trinity Dam and the lake

Reclamation completed Trinity Dam in 1962, an earthfill structure 538 feet high, and Trinity Lake can store 2,448,000 acre-feet. Reclamation says the lake offers camping, boating, water skiing, swimming, fishing and hunting. Lewiston Dam, about 8 miles downstream, regulates releases into the Trinity River.

Current level

Reclamation's report for October 6, 2026 put the lake at elevation 2,317.10 feet, holding 1,673,665 acre-feet and 68.4% full, about a foot lower than the week before, with 463 cfs released to the Trinity River below Lewiston Dam.

Bass and kokanee

In February 1994 the Fish and Game Commission named Trinity one of five trophy black bass waters, with Oroville, Clear, Isabella and Castaic lakes. Trinity is also one of four waters where CDFW allows 10 landlocked salmon, including kokanee, a day and 20 in possession instead of the statewide 5.

Trout plants

CDFW's planting schedule lists trout plants at Trinity Lake (Clair Engle Lake) in October and December 2025 and in February and late July 2026.

Common questions

Is Trinity a trophy bass lake?

The Fish and Game Commission designated it one of California's five trophy black bass waters in February 1994. Bass limits follow the statewide lake rule: 12 inches, 5 a day.

What is the kokanee limit?

Ten landlocked salmon (kokanee) a day and 20 in possession, one of four California waters with that higher limit.

What about the river below the dams?

Reclamation notes that the CDFW-run Trinity River Hatchery sits just below Lewiston Dam, with capacity for roughly 40 million salmonid eggs, to make up for spawning habitat the dams blocked.

Is fishing good at Trinity Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Trinity River (CA)12 miWhiskeytown Lake17 miShasta Lake22 miMad River68 miLake Almanor92 miSmith River97 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 11525500 β€” Trinity River at Lewiston (below dam)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 40.8025, -122.7625 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.