Fishing the North Coast

from North Coast Journal 01-14-2021 Edition

by North Coast Journal

News

Steelhead Fishing on Hold as Storm Blows Through

341 West Harris St., Eureka 707 445-3138 poletskis.com

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

Apowerful yet quick storm blew through the area on Tuesday and Wednesday, forcing winter steelhead anglers to hit the pause button. The bad news is it dumped a bunch of water quickly, turning coastal rivers brown. The good news is it didn’t stick around long. As quickly as the rivers rose, they are forecast to drop nearly as fast. The rivers to our north, the Smith and Chetco, took the brunt of the storm. Both will reach their highest fl ows this season but, miraculously, will be ready for fi shing by the weekend. Same goes for the South Fork Eel. The Mad should round into fi shing shape by early next week and the main Eel will be right behind it. With drier weather on the horizon, expect to see some prime steelhead conditions next week.

Weather outlook

A fairly sizeable storm moved its way across the North Coast Tuesday and Wednesday, taking with it the rivers that were on the verge of turning steelhead green. “Over the course of the two days, the Smith basin will see 3 to 6 inches, with the higher amounts falling in the mountains. Locally, we’re looking at 1 to 2 inches,” said Kathleen Zontos of Eureka’s National Weather Service. “We’ll begin to dry out on Thursday and the rest of the week through the weekend is looking dry as well. There is another chance of rain mid next week but there’s quite a bit of uncertainty in the models. It’s looking more like it will move well to our north. Through Jan. 25, the climate center is calling for below normal precipitation

The Rivers: Smith River

The Smith blew out Tuesday as fl ows were predicted to hit 74,500 cubic feet per second on Wednesday morning. It could be plunkable Thursday, but it will be big. Conditions are looking good for Friday through the weekend for drifting. Overall, the fi shing has Ryan Parhaniemi, of Maple Valley, Washington, holds an 18-pound been tough. hatchery steelhead caught Jan. 9 on the Chetco River while fishing with Scores are guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. He was using a 3.5 MagLip plug. ranging from Photo courtesy of Wild Rivers Fishing zero to two per boat, with a lot more zeros than the Benbow area, but it was not red hot. twos. Hopefully, the big rise will bring in It’s predicted to peak at Miranda at 4,200 more fi sh. cfs Wednesday night, and should fi sh by the weekend.

Chetco River/Lower Rogue

“Steelhead fi shing was improving on Van Duzen the Chetco before this week’s big storm The Duzen was down to 500 cfs and arrived,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers was fi shable Tuesday. Unfortunately, Fishing. “During high water conditions fl ows were headed back up as of Tuesday late last week and on Monday, fi shing was afternoon. It’s predicted to peak at 3,800 fair, with most boats getting a fi sh or two, cfs Wednesday night and could be fi shand plunkers catching steelhead on the able again early next week. lower river gravel bars. Side-drifting roe or beads, or running plugs in the softer Mad River water close to shore produced steelhead The Mad was just turning green on to 18 pounds over the weekend. Depend- Tuesday morning, according to Justin ing on how much rain falls mid-week, Kelly of Eureka’s RMI Outdoors. He said, the Chetco could fi sh again by Saturday, “The river was bait fi shable on Tuesday, but also could be blown out through but it was starting to get dirty in the the weekend. Expect peak season type afternoon. Fishing has been a little slow, fi shing as the Chetco drops.” most of the action has been right at the

According to Martin, the Sixes has hatchery. There have been some caught been blown out for more than a week, below, but not as many. Looks like it will while the Elk fi shed slowly for steelhead be brown through Saturday but it might on Sunday, with lots of boats and only a start to drop back in on Sunday. Next few fi sh caught. “The lower Rogue was a week should be prime.” Flows are pregood bet before Monday night’s storm, dicted to reach 4,400 cfs on Wednesday with plunkers and jet boaters getting fi sh evening, but will drop quickly the rest of over the weekend.” the week.

Eel River (main stem)

The main stem was days away from fi shable water, but the storms will push back any chance of green water for a few days. Flows were down to 3,500 cfs Tuesday but the rains have it hitting 11,000 cfs mid-day Thursday. It’s predicted to drop quickly and could fi sh early next week.

Eel River (South Fork)

The South Fork dropped into fi shable shape Monday, but was back on the rise as of Tuesday afternoon. There were a few fi sh caught Sunday and Monday in Read the complete fi shing roundup at www.northcoastjournal.com.

Kenny Priest (he/him) operates Fishing the North Coast, a fi shing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and www.fi shingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fi shing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@ fi shingthenorthcoast.com