Reddit mentions of Gulp! Saltwater Sandworm

If you are willing to drive to the Lost Coast, then I feel comfortable recommending the Trinity Alps Wilderness. You would take 5 to Redding, then 299 west for about 1.5 hours to get there.

The Lost Coast is great, but unless you have ocean tackle, I wouldn't recommend it for fishing. All of the creeks there are closed to fishing year round. I had fun fishing the ocean, but your luck will greatly depend on the beach you select. If you decide on the Lost Coast, get some Berkley Sandworms (I recommend 2" Camo), and rig it up carolina style with a 1/2oz weight and a size 1 offset worm hook for perch. You can also dig for sand crabs on the beach to use as bait, but I did not find them consistently enough. You would be fine with 6-10# test line, just make sure to rinse your reel with fresh water after use. Ideally, you would use a sealed reel like a penn battle.

I did the entire trip in 2 days on the northern stretch, but it was definitely taxing due to walking on the sand/rocks. If you hit the tides right the trip becomes much better since you can walk on packed sand.

Now about the Trinity Alps. The coffee fire is 95% contained (as of last Friday) and most trails are back open. Smoke isn't too bad unless you are on the Northern half of the wilderness. Trinity Alps Wilderness is the second largest in CA, so you have lots of options. The Stuart Fork trail is know for its very gentle grade and something you could consider:

Day 1: If you start late afternoon, hike to Oak flat and camp for the night (6 miles). You could also hike to Morris Meadow (8 miles), but this place is heavily used (for Trinity Alps) and sometimes has a poo smell about it.

Day 2: Hike to Emerald Lake 8 miles. If you feel up to it, you can hike the 1 mile to Sapphire (no covered spots to camp so be careful in the heat), or keep going 2ish miles off trail to Mirror Lake. All of these lakes are amazing for fishing. I caught many, many 8-10" trout with reverse hackle flies and nymphs. Someone caught a 24" trout when I was there as well with a kastmaster.

Day 3: Hike to Alpine Lake, or Caribou Lake. Both of these are some pretty decent ascents (1-1.5k feet in ~4miles) but are some great places to camp. The turnoff to Alpine is at Oak Flat and the turnoff to Caribou is nearby Emerald Lake. Caribou would be something like 6-7 miles and Alpine closer to 12.

Day 4: From Caribou you could do the loop around browns meadow. From Alpine, your only option is to leave or offtrail to Smith Lake.

Day 5: Long hike out!

There is also the trail to Grizzly Lake which is 37 miles and ends with an amazing lake and a beautiful waterfall. I have not personally done this hike, but the recent trail reports say that it is open.

Alternatively, you could go do the Foster Lake loop near Coffee Creek Road. My buddy and I are planning on doing it in 2 nights next weekend. It is 22 miles and has amazing views of Shasta almost the entire trip. You will get to go through a valley filled with flesh eating pitcher plants (they just eat bugs!) and fish at some beautiful lakes. You could definitely stretch this trip out by spending a night at Boulder lakes, or you could drive out to the coast to checkout Arcata, spend some time in Weaverville, or car camp along the Trinity River and spend time fishing (~1 month ago the campsites were EMPTY).

If you decide to pick any trail in the Alps, please make sure to call the Weaverville Ranger station, (530) 623-2121, to find out current trail conditions and make sure to ask about smoke in areas you are considering. There are no open fires allowed, so plan on bringing a gas or alcohol stove. Bear Canisters are also not required, so you can lighten your load by using a bear bag!

For both areas, be very careful of Rattlesnakes, especially in the driftwood piles on the lost coast!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, my wife and I just now got some permits for the desolation wilderness in Tahoe. There are still permits available, but as I have never been here, I can't really recommend any trips.