The Best Places to Fish on Trinity Lake

Looking for a great spot to fish this summer in the Lewiston, CA region? There are a few lakes nearby that we frequently recommend, one of which is Trinity Lake.

Trinity Lake is located right in the middle of Trinity County. We’re big fans of fishing here because it doesn’t tend to get quite as crowded as some of the other lakes in the area, particularly Shasta Lake. While there will always be water skiing, fishing and other activity on the lake, it’s not to the same degree as other area lakes, likely because Trinity is a little farther off the main roads and requires visitors to traverse some winding mountain roads. But if you make it there, you’re in for a treat!

About Trinity Lake

Trinity Lake, a manmade lake like Shasta Lake and Whiskeytown Lake, has existed since 1963. It measures about 19 miles long and has 145 miles of shoreline, and is arguably the most scenic and beautiful of the three aforementioned manmade lakes. It’s at 2,370 feet elevation, so you can expect to get some gorgeous views of the mountain forests. When the water levels are high, you truly feel as though you’re in a hidden wilderness reserve.

Fishing on Trinity Lake has been popular for decades, especially since the previous state record for smallmouth bass was caught on the lake (in 1976, a 9 lb, 1 oz specimen). Bass remains a popular type of fish to angle for—the spring sees bass anglers come out to the lake to try to catch some larger smallmouths and some decent-sized largemouths. Trinity also has great fishing for other cold-water species like trout, landlocked chinook (king) salmon and kokanee.

Fishing spots and tactics

Trolling is quite popular on Trinity Lake. You can launch your boat and troll the waters for hours and have pretty good success as you slowly maneuver throughout the lake. You’ll just need to make sure you choose the right tackle, keep the proper trolling speed and have a small amount of luck on your side with putting the lure in the right place.

We suggest using a lead core line to get your trolling line more than just a few feet down. If you want real control over the depth of your line, you can use downriggers. This way, if you do get a fish on your line, you will be able to tell exactly how far down it was when you hooked it.

Maintain a speed of about one and a half miles per hour when you’re trolling. You may slightly increase or decrease speed if you want to play around with some of the variables. In some cases, less than one mile per hour may be sufficient.

There are a few places where both trolling and stationary fishing will yield success. The Stuart Fork Arm and the Papoose Arm are both reported for being areas where you can get good numbers of fish. You can access these areas from the Fairview ramp, a little bit north of Trinity Dam. While you can explore other parts of the lake, you might find you don’t need to.

For more information about fishing on Trinity Lake and elsewhere in Lewiston, CA, contact Trinity Alps Marina today.

Categorised in: Trinity Lake

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