Humboldt trip (update) - Not Kayak Related

[alanw]

A quick update on my Humboldt trip:

We caught fish everywhere we went, making this one of the best fishing areas I have been to. In one area you can fish a freshwater lake, then walk across the road to surf fish the beach, simply amazing.

On top of the excellent fishing, I spent some quality time with my son. Five straight days of fishing and hiking.



Releasing a Rainbow Trout at Freshwater Lagoon. This one was about 14". It's so peaceful here that even the quiet sounds your reel makes seem loud and annoying.






Fishing the Mad River estuary. It seems very peaceful here but although this is fresh water, you have to be mindful of the quick rising water level leaving you no exit due to the tide.






The surf at Patrick's Point was a bit heavy for shore fishing, but we had an awesome hike through the area and we did manage to catch Rockfish at the Trinidad Pier later that day






Not all the rivers were flowing good enough for solid fishing this time of year. The Mad River was no exception as shown from the lower Mad River bridge. We did however manage a half dozen nice Rainbows here






Up in the mountains at sunrise on the Trinity River, things were looking pretty good. The flow level was still low but there were some very nice Brown Trout to be had






While hiking and fishing around the mountain rivers it's probably wise to keep an eye out for the owner of this fresh pile






With our Steelhead cards in hand, somewhere in our new undisclosed secret location up the mountain 80 miles or so along the Trinity River, my son hooked up to this 36" King Salmon (CPR) while Steelhead fishing. I wanted to rinse it off for the photo but he wanted to get her back in the river asap. A very nice catch using barbless hooks on a silver Kastmaster.






Of course some good refreshments to end the day!