Water levels have been dropping fast, likely in prep for the projected wet winter. Surface temps are holding around 73 degrees, and the lake is a few weeks away from turning over. Kings are still holding deep... 85 to 120 feet. But the action has been good on pink or white hoochies tipped with anchovy, running behind an 8-inch chartreuse dodger. As water temps dip into the 60s, look for salmon to move up the water column, continuing to chase smelt schools.

The spotted bass bite remains excellent as they glue to rock piles, steep walls, and hard structure, eating crawdads mostly... or swarming on smelt. Early mornings, small swimbaits and drop-shots have been crushing numbers. Once the sun hits, crawdad imitations really take over... small jigs, creature baits, or even craw-pattern crankbaits are all getting bit deeper, for better quality fish.

The Trinity is holding both salmon and steelhead right now. Summer steelhead have been building over the past couple weeks, with good numbers of half-pounders in the middle river... some fish up to 22 inches. Fresh fall kings are moving up behind the tail end of the spring run, but there haven't been many reports, as fishing pressure is quite thin. Salmon season reopened September 1 from 250 feet below Trinity River Hatchery down to the Klamath confluence and runs through December 31. Expect the bite to keep improving as the fall steelhead push builds through October..