WINTER IS COMING!

by Mario Guel December 06, 2024

The rain is gone and the river is clear again. Flows are higher down river but that should change a bit and come back down until we get this next bout of rain. Looking like it shows up December 13th and is around for a few days. I don’t know how much rain we are getting as I am not a weather man but any front is good for fishing. If we do get a substantial amount of rain, it will be nice to push more fish up from down river. Middle of December can be tough as it’s sometimes a transition period during a drought month but it can also be great if the weather cooperates. Fishing is fishing. There are still steelhead in the system all winter but sometimes, those bluebird skies with very cold cold mornings and days can make for a tough day if you are out for numbers. Weather is good. We are guides, not gods, we don’t make the weather.

This last stint started off with Ashley. One of my favorite humans. She brought her buddy Jesse out to join us on a float and some solid fish made it to the net. Bite was slow in the morning with half pounders on the sticks but we finally kicked things off with a beautiful wild hen. To me, this is a fish of a lifetime. Maybe 26″ but I mean a perfect specimen. Awesome fish and much needed. Inside lane!! Great work Ashley.

And then the bite picked up and we picked up a few more. Things were slow for a bit as we had a boat pounding water in front of us but the we found em’ again.

  These fish were podded up in the same hole. Landed 2, had another grab and then Robert came through with his clients and landed the buck! So rad. It’s nice to work with other guides and promote the stoke. We had landed two hens and I knew there had to be a buck in the hole and BOOM! He got the 28″ beast out of there. Great river vibes with friends. Even Jesse was stoked to see us guides stoke out each other and that makes for a great day. Plenty of fun to be had.

Got a few more fish on after these ones and wow, what a great float with my good homie Ashley. Love ya sis. I really do appreciate all the support and your love for fly fishing.

Opted to try higher up the next day and it was a bit slower but we still managed to get a few adults to the net. And some half pounders as well. Had Daniel and Bryan on board and Daniel had never fly fished before. Guess what, his first fish was a spry wild hen that gave us an epic battle and he did it. Landed his first fish and first steelhead on the fly rod.

Congrats buddy! We fished hard but couldn’t find any other adults until towards the end of the float and Bryan was stoked. Amazing what a fish will do to the energy in the boat. Thank you Bryan for letting me be the first one to take you down the beautiful Trinity River and congrats on your first steelie.

Met up with another group the next day to do a 4 boat float for 2 days with the Kyncy’s. I love the Kyncy’s. Thanks for the trip buddies!

Went downriver the next day for a slower day with bright sun, crystal clear water, and not enough adults. We managed a handful of good size half pounders but no big guys made it to the net. I hardly saw any fish too so we decided to meet them upstream for the next float. And yeah, the were up there.

 Even landed this big ole’ brown too. Having clients like these is rad because they aren’t my clients. What I mean is Taco brings a specific crew to my boat. And I am grateful. These boys were just a different crew and I enjoyed them a lot. It’s culture you know. Certain culture is drawn to certain guides and it’s nice to mix it up. It’s like when I was guiding in AK for sockeye. I never knew what I was going to get. But through Taco, I always know who I am going to get. RAD PEOPLE. I am so blessed to get the clients I get. Amazing people. Again, these guys were fun and Tony ripped em’ up!

Then I finished the stint with my good friend Julia. She brought her homegirl out for a rip and I was glad to meet Gwynne. I had hard time remembering how to say her name because I mix up names a lot. But she said that her nickname is “Cuando” which is “When” in Spanish. Guh-when. I GOT IT! Julia got her brown again and Gwynne was ripping from the back of the boat! Got the biggest buck of the season and wow, WHAT AN EPIC BATTLE! Had to fight it down a very skinny run. We were even floating backwards! But we did it. And as soon as it got to the net, boom, hooks came out. So rad.

 What a fish.

 And Julia with her second brown ever on the Trinitiy! So sick. What a rad looking brown too. Congrats homie!

 All in all, a very awesome week with great people and some big fish in the net. Little ones too. Big, small, we love em all. It’s been cold in the mornings and so beautiful midday. A lot of sun. not many clouds. We need a storm. Make the most of it, cast as best you can and “Fish it Whatever”.

-Mario