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Trinity River (CA) Fishing Report

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

The Trinity River below Lewiston Dam: hatchery-supported steelhead and Chinook water in Trinity County, under barbless-hook Klamath Basin rules and a fly-only reach at the top.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
339 cfs
Air / High
60 / 64 F
Wind
NNE 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 11525655, 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 River (CA) feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The river is running 339 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 64. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:51 AM-11:51 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Chinook salmonSlow

Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 73 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

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 →

Chasing steelhead 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 R BL LIMEKILN GULCH NR DOUGLAS CITY CA.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 11525655.

351417483339 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 34 years of October 23

At 339 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 11525655 (TRINITY R BL LIMEKILN GULCH NR DOUGLAS CITY CA) is at the 68th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 34 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 310 cfs; the highest was 621 cfs and the lowest 262 cfs.

p10 273median 310p90 369

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 11525655; 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 temp60 F
High / Low64 / 48 F
WindNNE 4-4 mph
Pressure1019.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:31 / 18:19
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 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 River (CA) this week

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

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

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:51 AM-11:51 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM
Minor period
4:16 AM-5:16 AM
Sun
07:31 to 18:19
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Chinook salmon illustration

Chinook salmon

Seasons follow the runs: spring, summer and fall runs on the West Coast, and late summer into fall in Great Lakes rivers

The largest Pacific salmon, caught by trolling and mooching at sea and by drifting and plunking in rivers as adults return to spawn; also stocked in the Great Lakes. Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

When to come: the Trinity River (CA) 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
Steelhead
Brown trout
Chinook salmon
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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 River (CA) 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. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 4 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 76 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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

California license plus a Steelhead Report Card when fishing for steelhead. 2026 Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations (updated 2026-07-10), §7.40(b)(50): barbless hooks only; 2 hatchery trout or steelhead (adipose clipped); 10 brown trout outside the fly-only reach; fly-only reach Apr 1–Sep 15; Cedar Flat to Hawkins Bar closed Sep 1–Dec 31. Fall Chinook quotas apply from Sep 1: call the Klamath-Trinity hotline, 1-800-564-6479, for quota status.

Access

Trinity River Hatchery, 1000 Hatchery Road, Lewiston, reached from Highway 299 via Trinity Dam Blvd (CDFW directions); the hatchery has an underwater viewing window.

About this water

The Trinity River below Lewiston Dam, a Klamath River tributary, Trinity County, California.

Fishing Trinity River (CA): the full guide

Lewiston Dam and the hatchery

Trinity and Lewiston dams divert much of the river's flow to the Central Valley. CDFW notes that Lewiston Dam, completed in 1963, is the upstream limit for salmon and steelhead and cut off 109 miles of spawning and rearing habitat. Trinity River Hatchery, at river mile 110 at the base of the dam near Lewiston, raises steelhead, coho and spring- and fall-run Chinook to make up for that loss, and has an underwater viewing window.

When the fish arrive

According to CDFW, spring Chinook reach the upper river from mid-May to early July and hold in the deep pool below Lewiston Dam until spawning in September. Fall Chinook enter the Klamath estuary in mid- to late August and reach the hatchery in early October. Steelhead arrive at the hatchery from about November through March. Coho show up in mid-October; angling for coho is prohibited in California.

Rules by reach

Every anadromous water in the Klamath Basin, including the Trinity below Lewiston Dam, is barbless-hook only. From 250 feet below Lewiston Dam to the Old Lewiston Bridge, the river is open April 1 to September 15 to artificial flies only. Only hatchery trout and steelhead, with a healed adipose-fin clip, may be kept; wild fish go back. From the Highway 299 West bridge at Cedar Flat down to the Denny Road bridge at Hawkins Bar, the river is closed to all fishing from September 1 to December 31.

Flows

Releases from Lewiston Dam set the river's flow. USGS gauge 11525655, on the Trinity below Limekiln Gulch near Douglas City, reports it in real time.

Common questions

Can I keep a wild steelhead?

No. Only hatchery trout and steelhead, identified by a healed adipose-fin clip, may be kept in the Trinity; all others must be released immediately. The limit is 2.

When do Trinity steelhead arrive?

CDFW reports steelhead reaching Trinity River Hatchery from about November through March; they are spawned and returned to the river.

Is any of the river closed in fall?

Yes. From the Highway 299 West bridge at Cedar Flat to the Denny Road bridge at Hawkins Bar, all fishing is closed from September 1 to December 31 under the 2026 regulations.

Is fishing good at Trinity River (CA) 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 Lake12 miWhiskeytown Lake20 miShasta Lake30 miMad River62 miLake Almanor97 miSmith River98 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 11525655 — TRINITY R BL LIMEKILN GULCH NR DOUGLAS CITY CA
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 40.6726, -122.9205 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 6, 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 6, 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.