Lewiston Salmon, Steelies & More

Okay, so most serious salmon and steelhead anglers have heard of Lewiston, Idaho, which is located at the confluence of two famous fishing rivers — the Snake and the Clearwater. But, a serious case for the California version of Lewiston as well.

Lewiston, CA is located smack dab in the epicenter of some of the Golden State’s most epic fishing. Atop the list is the nearby Trinity River which hosts some of the best salmon and steelhead fishing you’ll find anywhere. Additionally, Lewiston Lake harbors some very large trout and neighboring Trinity Lake is home to the West’s best smallmouth fishery.

Let’s take a closer look at this area and what it has to offer…

Salmon & Steelhead

The Trinity River is Lewiston’s marquee destination — and it’s easy to see why. Every spring (May-July), the river gets a nice push of spring salmon and some of the best fishing on the entire river occurs in the pools just downstream from town at places like the Cemetery Hole and Bucktail.

The river also gets a run of fall Chinook — in good years, the fishing here can rival Alaska!

Of course, it’s the river’s steelhead population that has really put the Trinity on the map in recent years. Fall-run steelies start returning to the upper river in September and then the fishing between Junction City and Lewiston can get so good that it borders on ridiculous in October and November. While the fishing was a bit off in the autumn of 2008, the season prior was a barn burner!

Come winter, the fall steelhead taper off and are replaced by fresh winter fish — giving anglers several solid months of steelhead action.

Trout & Other Cool Stuff

Okay, so let’s just imagine you get tired of catching salmon and steelhead on the upper Trinity (it does happen!), maybe you’d like to switch gears and try for some trout. Well, your best bet is Lewiston Lake, which is just a few miles upstream of the town of Lewiston.

The lake is unique in that the upper end more closely resembles a river due to power generation releases from the Trinity Power House at the upper end of the reservoir. The cold, clear water coming out of Trinity Dam is spiked with ground-up fish that get sucked though the turbines…and what you end up with is a very fertile trout fishery.

Just beyond Lewiston Lake is Trinity Lake, which houses it’s own good trout fishing — but it’s the smallmouth bass here that really makes the place impressive. The state record bronzeback came from here as did the state record for a 5-Fish Limit of smallies, which weighed 27 pounds and change. See the story HERE

Lodging

Okay, so there’s no denying that Lewiston is a first-rate fishing destination. But it’s a tiny speck of a town with few amenities. Where the heck’s a visiting angler supposed to stay? Well, luckily there are some campgrounds, RV parks and small hotels in the general area.

The one we love to hang out at is the Old Lewiston Bridge RV Park, which has everything you’d need for a weekend or extended fishin’ mission: A general store with groceries and tackle, immaculate grounds, RV & tent sites, clean showers, a rec room with a big screen TV (good for watching playoff baseball in the fall), fishing cleaning station and a whole heck of a lot more.

One of the cooler features for anglers is the new trailers you can rent on site that have stuff like kitchens, toilets, TV ‘s and decks. They’ll sleep 2-4 anglers and run a bit over $60 a night, which turns out to be a super sweet deal. The trailers are actually better than a hotel because you can save money by cooking your own meals, plus you’ve got room to cure bait and freeze fish that you’ve caught.

And if you get lazy like we did one morning and don’t feel like putting the boat in, you can always walk down to the Cemetery Hole, which is about a ten minute walk from the park…

So, there you have it — the Upper Trinity River near Lewiston is definitely worth the trip this fall or winter!

Tagged as: lewiston, Salmon, Steelhead, trinity lake, trinity river