Last night, I attended the second of two albacore tuna seminars given by Capt. Gary Blassi (707-498-7473; www.fullthrottlesportfishing.com) at Redwood Marine.

The presentation started off with a safety talk given by a member of the Eureka Fire Department on transferring fuel and fuel safety. Then, Gary gave a very informative presentation on methods other than trolling to take albacore, like live bait and swim bait fishing.

The talk covered topics like swim bait and casting techniques and terminal tackle, pros and cons of hook styles, jigging, and live bait methods. His presentation was bolstered by discussion and information from the dozens of anglers in the audience.

He also stressed the importance of traveling with buddy boats when fishing far offshore for safety reasons.

He is a dynamic speaker and kept the crowd engaged with frequent and friendly jabs at some of the fishermen in the audience. Gary is currently running halibut trips and will start booking tuna trips as soon as the fish come in closer.

The big fishing news this week comes from the Trinity River where monster hatchery steelhead and chrome bright spring Chinook salmon are making their way upriver. Yesterday, a good friend of mine brought home a nine pound hatchery steelhead that he caught while fishing with roe just upstream of Willow Creek.

Steve Huber of Steve Huber Guide Service (530-623-1918; www.stevehuberguideservice.com) reports that most boats on the Trinity River are coming up with zero to three Chinook salmon per day. Even though the numbers of fish are not off the charts, he says that the fish are averaging 14 pounds — bigger than normal. This is probably because of the strong cohort of 4-year-old fish, and the fact that there was no commercial or recreational harvest in the ocean this year.

Steve said that with river flows now at 700 cubic feet per second, the fishing should start to pick up. His favorite terminal tackle is roe with a fish pill, although several bank fishermen have been successful using tuna balls. He has also been pulling sardine wrapped K-15 and K-14 Kwikfish in order to bring big salmon to the boat.

He said that the best area for bank anglers is from Del Loma all the way up to Lewiston — which means the fish are spread out throughout the river. With that in mind, it is probably a good idea to hit as many places as possible, instead of focusing time and energy on one or two holes.

Steve is still booking trips for Chinook salmon and steelhead. Make your reservations soon because his fall fishing dates are nearly full with the empty dates filling quickly.

Matt Solbos of Dragonfly Outfitters in Weaverville (530-623-4999; www.dragonflyoutfitters.net) reported that several anglers have come in with reports of catching hatchery steelhead in the 14- to 15-pound range! Those are exceptional steelhead for the upper Trinity River, where most fish that I have caught, and most that I have seen captured, averaged a more modest 6 pounds.

This run of hatchery steelhead is also coming into the river much earlier than usual. Although a few hatchery steelhead may show up in the summer, most do not arrive until later in the fall.

Matt also mentioned that the hot bass action at the north end of Trinity Reservoir continues. But, he said, most of the bigger fish are down in 20 or 30 feet of water, while a smaller grade of fish remains in the shallows.

He said that trout fishing in Lewiston Reservoir has been good for bank fishermen using night crawlers under a bobber at the north end of the reservoir near the outflow of Trinity Reservoir. Boat anglers are having success trolling F-7 size Rapalas, small spoons, and dodgers followed by a half a nightcrawler.

With the wind blowing on the ocean, this weekend might be a good time to roll the dice with the smoke and find some big fish on the Trinity River.

(Opinions expressed in columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Eureka Reporter or its staff.)