Weekend looks prime for steelhead on Fishing the North Coast:

Weekend looks prime for steelhead on Fishing the North Coast:

One of the many challenges that face coastal steelhead anglers is trying to predict the weather, and in turn the river conditions. Last week was the perfect example. After doing all the research and talking to all the right people, I echoed the national forecast by stating the region was only going to receive roughly a half-inch of rain - keeping the majority of the rivers at fishable levels. As it turned out, that couldn't have been further from the truth. Every river - including the Chetco and Smith - were blown out by Friday. After that debacle, I told myself I was done trying to predict the weather. Oh, but if were only that easy. Trying to predict the weather and river conditions has become like a drug that I can't get enough of. I spend much of my free time on the internet trying to gather as much data as possible to give the readers a good idea on what the conditions will be like when they hit the rivers. No matter how many times I guess wrong, I find myself coming back for more.

This week's weather looks to be a little easier to predict. The forecast is calling for no rain through early next week, and perhaps longer. So, that puts us in the same scenario we were in two weeks ago. All of our rivers have had five or six days of dry weather, allowing them to drop back into shape. Except for the main stem Eel, all of the rivers to the south are fishing now or will be by the weekend. To our north, the Chetco and Smith both got hammered hard over the weekend, but are now in prime condition. With no rain forecasted in the next few days, we should see some of the best steelhead action of the year on all of our North Coast Rivers in the coming week.

Sport crab update
According to John Corbett of Eureka's Pro Sport Center, the sport crab bite has really dropped off as of late. "The season never did get started out at Crab Park at the mouth of the Eel. I think the amount of early rain we had this year kept the crabs out, but as flows decrease, they could come back in. It could be worth a try later in the season. The action in Trinidad has slowed down as well, possibly due to some of the commercial boats fishing the area," Corbett said.



The Rivers:
Chetco River
The river is currently dropping and clearing according to Guide Val Early of Early Fishing Guide Service. "Hopefully there's still some fresh fishing coming into the system, but the plunkers didn't do fabulous during last weeks high water. That could be an indication there may be a bit of a lull, but it's really hard to say until we get back out there. The February fish usually don't come for a little bit since this is just mid-January. I do expect to see some down runners after all this high water though, and I'd expect the boat traffic will be heavy," Early said.

The Smith, Eel, Mad, Van Duzen, and Mattole Rivers are regulated by low flow closures. Call the DFG's low flow closure hotline at (707) 822-3164 to determine the condition of the rivers.

Smith River
After a big rise on Monday, the Smith is now back down to around 10 ft. on the Jed Smith gauge, which is just about ideal. There were a few fish caught on Tuesday, but overall it was a tough day for most. The river will be in prime shape heading into the weekend.

Eel River (main stem)
The main stem is still a week away from fishable conditions according to Steve Kelley of Rio Dell's Grundmans Sporting Goods. "The river is still pretty high and muddy, but hopefully with a week of dry weather, the main stem will drop back in," said Kelley

Eel River (South Fork)
According to Darren Brown of Brown's Sporting Goods in Garberville, the south fork is fishing from top to bottom. There were quite a few boat trailers at Sylvandale on Wednesday, so we should see a pretty good crowd this weekend. The steelhead action has been good the last couple days with boats landing three to five fish per trip," Brown added. "The fishing should continue to improve as the main stem of the Eel is high enough for the fish to keep making their way into the South Fork.

Van Duzen
According to Kelley, the river was still a little on the high side and off color on Wednesday. Currently flowing at around 900 cfs and should get down to 600 cfs by the weekend. Barring any slides upriver, the weekend looks good.

Mad River
The Mad just started to turn green on Wednesday according to Gary Blasi of Arcata's Mad River Bait, Tackle & Guide Service. "Wednesday was borderline for the guys throwing bait, but the weekend is shaping up nicely, with flows hovering around eight feet." Blasi added. "The river is still loaded with steelhead, and there's lots of bright fish being caught. We haven't seen a lull in the run yet, and with the good water color this weekend, it should be about as good as it gets."

Trinity
Upper
According to Steve Huber of Steve Huber's Guide Service the top of the Trinity, around the Douglas City area, could use some substantial rain. "A week of steady rain would really do wonders for this section of the river. We're currently battling low and clear conditions - and there aren't a lot of fish around. With last week's high water, a lot of the steelhead made their way up to the hatchery and some rain would push some new fish our way. I'm still catching most of my fish on plugs in the deeper holes as the fish aren't holding in the riffles with the current conditions," Huber added.

Middle
Rick Frederick of Hawkins Bar Mini Mart reports the water is big and still slightly off-color all the way up to the Big Bar area. The river should clear fast and I'd expect it'll be green by the weekend. The section below the South Fork is still dirty and will need some time to clear. Hopefully with the extended dry pattern, the whole river will come back in," Frederick added. "Fishing pressure has been extremely light."Read More ...

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