Fly Fishing the Trinity River. Jeff Parker

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      Trinity River (Northern California)

       Location: Northern California, about a 3½-hour drive from Sacramento International Airport; about 1 hour west of Redding, and minutes from historic Weaverville, the place to stay and dine while fishing the Trinity River.

      The Trinity River is the longest tributary of the Klamath River, approximately 165 miles from its source to its mouth. The Trinity begins its journey to the sea high in the remote

      Scott Mountains, flows southwest into Trinity Lake, and immediately into Lewiston Lake. From the Lewiston Dam, the river flows west-northwest past Weaverville to the south of the Trinity Alps, one of the highest points on the entire coastal range. After the Trinity River’s confluence with the South Fork, she flows north-northwest and joins the Klamath River about 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

      The upper stretches are primarily encompassed by Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, and private holdings, while the lower stretches flow through Yurok and Hoopa Native American lands. In 1981, Congress designated the entire Trinity River from the Lewiston dam to her confluence with the Klamath River as The Trinity Wild and Scenic River. The Trinity Rivers upper reaches (Lewiston dam to Burnt Ranch)

      would be considered small by most standards; after her confluence with the South Fork, the river almost doubles in volume. The Trinity, being dam-controlled, has more than 20 small tributaries, and five very significant ones, which can turn the main stem into a torrent after a few hours of hard rain. That is the “wild” part of “wild and scenic.”