Trinity Lake is a reservoir in California, near Trinity County.
Trinity Lake is a reservoir in Trinity County, California and covers about 15,587.5 acres, reaches about 416 feet at its deepest point and holds roughly 2,760,870 acre-feet.
Trinity Lake is big water, and a useful pattern in one arm may not carry to the far end of the lake. Deep water at Trinity Lake gives fish room to move away from shore as summer heat and bright light build.
This water is a deep mountain reservoir on the Trinity River with long arms, steep points, timber, trout, landlocked salmon, and black bass; fish the windy and calm sides differently.
Troll or cast for trout and Chinook in cool open water, then work rock and wood with soft plastics for smallmouth or largemouth bass; move only after checking the nearby drop.
Trinity Dam stores water for the Central Valley Project and sends part of the Trinity River flow toward the Sacramento system; test a point before fishing a featureless bank. Drawdowns can expose large bands of old shoreline.
The practical fishing clue is to use changing reservoir levels, timber, and steep Trinity River points for salmon, trout, and bass. Write down the exact water and cover that make that approach work; match lure size to the fish.
Food should set lure depth whenever fish roam away from shore; fish the edge from top to bottom. A school above deep water is not a reason to drop automatically to the bottom; keep line light around small clear-water fish.
A nearby inflow or channel turn can change temperature without looking dramatic from shore; let a light jig fall beside the break. Check it with the same lure before assuming the whole area fishes alike; use one moving lure and one slow bait.
Fish listed for Trinity Lake include Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Chinook Salmon, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, and Channel Catfish.
For black crappie, fish a small jig or minnow around wood, weeds, and sharp little drops; fish the first useful drop, then fish the edge from top to bottom.
For smallmouth bass, drag a tube or Ned rig across rock and the hard edge of a point; return to productive water when light changes.
For largemouth bass, work a soft plastic, jig, or spinnerbait around weeds and protected cover; test the clearest edge, then look for a second bite before leaving.
For channel catfish, fish cut bait or a nightcrawler on the bottom along a channel edge or warm flat; keep the bait near useful cover.
Other targets listed here include Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, and Chinook Salmon; give each one its own bait and depth instead of trying to catch everything with the same rig; make the next cast parallel to the edge.
Start where two things meet: weeds and open water, rock and mud, a point and a drop, or clear water and dirty water; fish that edge at more than one depth before leaving it; start beside the first useful break, then watch water color during the day.
Shallow water is worth a careful look in spring and again during fall; bright summer days favor shade, weeds, or deeper breaks; under ice, a small depth change can be more useful than a long move; let wind choose the first bank, then give low-light water a slower bottom pass.
Here, a light spinning rod, thin line, a few small spoons, inline spinners, and jigs cover the listed trout; carry one slightly heavier setup when other fish or windy water call for more control; fish the edge from top to bottom.
Here, record the wind, water color, depth of the first good pass, and cover after a bite; those four notes are more useful on the next trip than a long list of spots that did not produce.
Here, keep the first hour simple: use one moving bait to find active fish, slow down with a jig or natural bait on the best edge, and repeat the same setup when two bites come from matching depth and bottom during that part of the trip; follow the outside weed line, then use stronger line beside wood and sharp rock.
This water is a deep mountain reservoir on the Trinity River with long arms, steep points, timber, trout, landlocked salmon, and black bass.
Troll or cast for trout and Chinook in cool open water, then work rock and wood with soft plastics for smallmouth or largemouth bass.
Trinity Dam stores water for the Central Valley Project and sends part of the Trinity River flow toward the Sacramento system.
Explore nearby waters, including local Featured destinations. Check each page for access and fishing restrictions.
Distances are straight-line estimates between mapped water locations.