The Trinity River: A Former Ghost River Becomes a Drift Boat Parking Lot

It wasn’t long ago that the Trinity’s Rivers Steelhead runs seemingly numbered in the hundreds — the result of debilitating water diversions (most of which headed south to Trout Underground whipping boys Westlands Irrigation District).

After decades of legal wrangling by groups like the Friends of the Trinity and CalTrout, a little water got put back into the river, and viola — a steelhead fishery was reborn.

Now the fishing’s good enough that the Trinity’s become a mob scene. Witness this report from Denis Pierce:

The biggest news in Northern California fishing has been the phenomenal run of steelhead that has returned to the Trinity River. This year’s run is headed toward eclipsing last year’s record return of these sea-run rainbow trout. The weir counts at Willow Creek on the lower end of the river have been consistently over 1,000 fish per week.

In contrast, I can remember years when the entire run was counted in hundreds for an entire season. The combination of an excellent run on the Trinity and a dismal salmon run in the Sacramento Valley has put tremendous fishing pressure on the Trinity.

The bulk of the Trinity steelhead have been holding, up and down river from Junction City. The anglers figured this out and have been hammering the fish. The local boat shuttle service have been moving trailers for up to 32 boats per day in this area. In addition to the boat-based anglers there are plenty of shore-based fishermen pounding these same fish.

The Trinity used to be a largely empty river, and now it’s a parking lot for drift boats. That’s a great example of the value of healthy, sustainable fisheries in rural areas (paying attention Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors?).

Let’s hope the fishermen currently whipping the Trinity’s waters to a froth appreciate what they have, and the considerable efforts from groups like Friends of the Trinity and CalTrout to get it back.

(In fact, go to Friends of the Trinity site and join their petition drive to stop Axis of Evil member Westlands Irrigation District from doing to you what porn stars do to each other. Take you fifteen seconds.)

For an engrossing read about the near-death of the Trinity River at the hands of politicos and water interests, dive into this little document by Friends of the Trinity, which lays out a trail of greed, corruption, lies and sex (well, fish sex) that would make Danielle Steele blush.

You probably won’t find me over there fighting the crowds. But I’m damned glad to see ‘em there.

Welcome back, Trinity River. We missed you.

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