Forging Trinity River Memories With Steve Huber   By: Cal Kellogg March 21, 2008 More Articles by Cal

So what makes for a memorable fishing trip? I suppose the answer to this question is as different as anglers are diverse. For some anglers, big fish are the stuff from which memories are forged. Others are into numbers.

Some folks like the camaraderie of a group fishing trip that allows them to spend quality time with family and friends. And there are yet others that rate the esthetic beauty of the location as being just as important as the abundance of fish or quality companionship.

I’m a writer, so I guess that sort of makes me a total picture kind of guy. For me to rate a fishing trip as being memorable the fish have to cooperate. I don’t have to catch fish to write a story, but hooking a few sure does make things easier. The camaraderie is also important to me and if I’m with a guide it is important that he posses an in depth knowledge of the location we are fishing.

Since I’ve been into hiking, hunting and exploring in the mountains and foothills for as long as I can remember the setting of a fishing trip is important for it to fall into the truly memorable category. I get especially excited when fishing a location that gives me the opportunity to see some not so common wildlife, like bears, dolphins, whales or bald eagles.

Finally, the type of fish I’m pursuing makes a difference. Pansize catfish are fun to catch, but for me they don’t really fit the definition of being memorable. For me the most memorable species of fish to catch are either fish that are known to put up an exceptional fight such as steelhead or fish that have the potential to reach epic proportions such sturgeon.

The trip I took to the Trinity River on Friday, February 8 with Fish Sniffer Publisher Allen Bonslett and Steve Huber of Steve Huber’s Guide Service is a good example of what I consider a memorable fishing trip. For starters the trip had an element of adventure since I’d only fished the Trinity River once before for trout during the middle of summer.

Allen and I left Elk Grove around 3 p.m. on February 7th. After cruising up the length of the Sacramento Valley, we grabbed dinner in Redding and then continued west on Highway 299 for another hour, arriving in Lewiston at around 8 o’clock in the evening. After checking into the Lewiston Motel, we spent the rest of the evening watching hunting and fishing shows on T.V.

The next morning Steve Huber rolled up to the hotel right on time at 6:30 and we headed for the river. After dropping me and the drift boat off at the Bucktail Hole launching area, Steve and Allen drove down river to the spot where we would pull off the river and left Steve’s truck and trailer there, returning to Bucktail Hole in Allen’s Suburban.

With the propane heater in the front of the Willie drift boat going full blast to cut the morning chill, Steve pushed us off shore, jumped in and went to work with the oars. The Trinity is not a massive, over powering river like the Sacramento. Instead it is more reminiscent of a trout stream with small pools separated by runs and riffles. The shores of the river were banked in snow that contrasted beautifully with the dark water and woods.

“We’ve been doing really well while pulling plugs,” Huber declared as he rowed. “Orange and gold Wiggle Warts smeared with Pro-Cure in the shrimp/krill scent have been the hot combination recently. We’ll be using small and medium size plugs today, depending on the depth of the water. As soon as we get to that bridge up ahead, well put out some lures.”

Just before reaching the bridge, Steve told us to let our plugs out about 30 feet and put our rods in the holders. “You don’t have to worry about setting the hook,” instructed Steve. “The steelhead are really aggressive. Most of the fish we’ll encounter today have been in the system for 2 or 3 months and they’ve got to feed to keep their strength up. They will absolutely slam the plugs. Sometimes they get hooked solidly and sometimes they don’t.”

He tipped, “When you get a hookup, take the rod out of the holder and keep the line tight. I’ll maneuver the boat out of the current so you can fight the fish. We are using barbless hooks, so the fish are pretty easy to lose if they get any slack.”

After working the hole under the bridge without results we preceded downstream a few hundred yards to a deep swirling pool dominated by a massive boulder. The river made a hard dogleg to the right as it entered the pool. We were just above the dogleg when Steve directed Allen and I to let out the plugs.

I’d barely gotten my rod in the holder and was about to comment that the pool looked like “Steelhead City”, but before I could get the words out my rod got hammered hard. The fish was solidly hooked and immediately dove into the current and shot away on a blistering run. The fish was surging so hard that it was difficult to get the rod out of the holder as the 8 pound P-Line surged off the reel.

As soon as I got the rod loose, I started working the reel and Steve rowed us into slack water. At first the steelie was determined to stay in the current, but within a minute or so it started to weaken and come our way. When the husky fish ablaze with the stunning colors of a stream rainbow materialized from the swirling current with the gleaming Wiggle Wart firmly fixed in its mouth it was a spectacle to behold.

Asserting all the pressure that I dared, I slid the battler into Steve’s net. After posing for a couple of photos with the fish, which Steve estimated to weigh between 4 and 5 pounds, I released it back into the pool unharmed.

Buoyed by our quick success, Steve rowed us back up above the dogleg and we put out the plugs for a second pass. This time we made it all the way down to the pool before my rod got slammed. The second fish put up a battle every bit as determined as the first fish had, but from the start I could tell it was a bit smaller. After netting the fish and shaking out the hooks, Steve showed off the steelie for Allen’s camera and then eased it back into the river.

When our third pass through the pool didn’t produce a strike, Steve continued down river. “The pools on this river are fairly small, so typically you can only pull a fish or two out of them before the rest of the fish get spooked,” explained Steve.

As we moved down the river we constantly alternated between medium and small plugs to match the depth of the water. After I nailed my pair of fish, Allen’s rod heated up but luck was against him. His plug got smashed at least three times, but each time the fish shook the hook within a second or two.

Between Allen’s rod getting hit, we marveled at the sight of several bald eagles, one of which sat quietly in a tree a scant 30 yards away, posing for photos as we passed. At one point we spotted a big bird standing on a gravel bar picking at a dead fish.

“That’s a golden eagle,” Steve exclaimed. I’d never seen a golden eagle before, so I was pretty excited. The golden allowed us to approach within about 100 yards before it took off revealing a wingspan that easily exceeded 6 feet!

“Okay, that hole up ahead has a bunch of fish in it. Be ready we’re going to get hit,” Steve proclaimed. Steve’s prediction proved accurate. As we entered the pool my plug got slammed, but the fish came unbuttoned before I could grab the rod.

On the next pass, a steelie set its sights on Allen’s plug and this time luck was with him. The fish was hooked firmly, but was determined to shake the plug. At first the fish made hard lightening quick runs to the left and right. When that strategy didn’t pay off the steelie ran full steam at the boat and catapulted out of the water on a wild acrobatic jump.

Now the fish was at short range, but it wasn’t ready to give up. Instead it shot back and forth under the boat and around the bow. Allen stayed cool and didn’t give the fish any slack or allow it to rub the line on the underside of the boat. Despite the steelie’s best efforts to escape, it soon found itself posing for a photo with Allen, but before Allen could release it, the fish got in the final word, wriggling free and splashing down in the pool’s dark swirling water.

The final excitement of the day came a few hundred yards before we reached the take out spot. Our plugs were working along a slot close to a brush lined bank when I hooked a strong fish. As soon as I got the rod out of the holder the fish went airborne, revealing that it wasn’t a steelhead. Instead it was a beautiful 3 or 4 pound brown.

As soon as the fish hit the water it shot under the brush. In my mind’s eye I visualized the trout making a jump beneath the brush and tangling the line, so I cranked hard to move the fish back out into open water.

The tactic worked. The brown moved toward the boat. Just about the time I figured things were going my way the trout shook its head violently and I saw the plug pull free. Ah, the agony of defeat…Yet it did little to diminish the exhilaration I felt from a successful day of steelhead fishing.

Indeed it had been a wonderfully day on the water. The companionship had been great. Steve’s knowledge of the river is unsurpassed. The snow capped surroundings were beautiful and both the bald eagles and he golden eagle had provided breathtaking spectacles. Finally, there were the steelhead.

Anglers reading this that have hooked a steelie know what I’m talking about. For those that haven’t just let me say that steelhead are at the pinnacle of the freshwater fishing world. They are challenging to hook. Their beauty is incredible and the strength and determination they display when hooked are legendary…

Steelheading on the Trinity will last until early March. If you’d like to experience some of the great action that Allen and I encountered, call up Steve Huber at (530) 623-1918 and book a trip before this winter’s run comes to an end.