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Steelhead Fishing on Hold as Storms Keep Coming

By Kenny Priest

fi shing@northcoastjournal.com

Relentless storms, one after the other, have steelhead anglers sitting idly by. And that’s about all there is to do at the moment, and in the near future. The only chance to throw a line into anything resembling green water has been on the Smith River. And even that has been hit and miss. Flows fi nally receded enough Tuesday, providing drift boats with one of the few days of prime conditions. Come Wednesday, the river will be back on the rise and likely too big to drift by Thursday. It will remain green, so it will likely be a plunking show through the weekend. As for the local rivers, all I can say is patience.

Weather outlook

According to Jonathan Garner of Eureka’s National Weather Service o ce, a series of storms systems are on tap for the next seven days. “We’ll see a break Tuesday night but another front is approaching Wednesday that is a little more uncertain,” said Garner. “In the Smith basin, between Tuesday and Sunday, 5 inches of rain are predicted. Here locally, we could see up to 5 inches around Humboldt Bay, with 6 to 8 inches likely in the higher elevations. In the Eel basin, we’re looking at another 5 to 7 inches through Sunday. The next seven days look to be wet, but the 10-day outlook is potentially showing a dryer pattern.”

The Rivers:

All North Coast rivers subjected to low-fl ow fi shing closures including the Mad, Smith, main stem Eel, South Fork Eel, Redwood Creek and Van Duzen were open to fi shing. The Department of Fish and Wildlife will make the information available to the public no later than 1 p.m. each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as to whether any river will be closed to fi shing. The rivers can be opened at any time. The low-fl ow closure hotline for North Coast rivers is (707) 822-3164. For more information, visit fi shingthenorthcoast. com/2021/09/22/2021-2022-low-fl ow-information-for-north-coast-rivers/.

Mad

The Mad receded to 8,550 cubic feet per second Tuesday, but with additional rain this week, the drop will be short-lived. Flows are predicted to rise throughout the week and top out 2 feet above monitor stage at 17,100 cfs (17 feet) Friday morning. It will need a couple weeks of dry weather to be fi shable, especially with Ruth Lake full and spilling.

Main stem Eel

The main Eel remains extremely high and muddy as fl ows were 70,760 cfs as of Tuesday. Additional rain in the coming days will push fl ows to nearly 130,000 cfs by early Friday morning. Fernbridge is predicted to remain at or above monitor stage through the weekend.

South Fork Eel

The South Fork was fl owing at 13,000 cfs as of Tuesday, but fl ows will be headed back up over the next few days. Flows are predicted to peak at 34,000 cfs Thursday evening before receding over the weekend. If and when the rain subsides for a few days, the South Fork would be one of the fi rst coastal rivers to come into play. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case anytime soon.

Van Duzen

The Van Duzen was down to 5,000 cfs Tuesday, but is forecast to be up and down the next few days before peaking at 15,000 cfs Thursday. Expected to drop

Crescent City resident Sebastian Holmes landed a nice Smith River winter steelhead last week while fi shing with guide Tyler Gillespie. Photo courtesy of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service through the weekend, but will remain high and o color.

Smith

Tuesday provided the best conditions to drift the Smith as fl ows dropped below 12 feet on the Jed Smith gauge. These conditions will likely be shortlived as more rain during the week will keep fl ows above 13 feet beginning Thursday. The river will likely continue to hold its green color and plunking will be the best option through the weekend.

Chetco/Elk/Sixes

“Plunkers are catching a mix of hatchery and wild steelhead on the Chetco as fl ows drop, but drift boaters are waiting for the river to drop below 4,000 cfs,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “That won’t happen any time soon, as another storm is expected by the weekend. Driving to the Elk or Sixes also isn’t an option, as U.S. Highway 101 is closed because of a major slide between Gold Beach and Port Orford. Because the slide is active, road o cials have no estimated time when repairs will begin or be complete.” Read the complete fi shing report at northcoastjournal.com. ● Kenny Priest 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 fi shingthenorthcoast.com. For upto-date fi shing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@ fi shingthenorthcoast.com.