Fishing the North Coast

Storms and Steelhead in the Forecast

By Kenny Priest

fi shing@northcoastjournal.com

Amber Bray of Brookings, Oregon, landed an early-arriving hatchery steelhead while fi shing the Chetco River Monday.

Photo courtesy of Michael Poly

With the late-fall king season all but wrapped up on the coast, it’s time to turn our attention to winter steelhead, the crown jewel of the North Coast. With plenty of water in the rivers and more on the way, the excitement for the impending run-start is palpable. There’s been a smattering of steelhead caught on most coastal rivers but the incoming storms should really get the party started.

A couple decent storms are headed our way later in the week and should put all of the coastal rivers on the rise, with most seeing peak fl ows Saturday evening. According to the National Weather Service, more rain is in store next week, which should really open the door. Steady rain and pulse fl ows are just what we need to entice some steelhead from the salt. If the rains come as predicted, the Smith and Chetco should be in prime shape early next week.

Weather ahead

Following a couple dry and cold days, rain is back in the forecast starting Thursday. According to James White of Eureka’s National Weather Service o ce, rain is forecast to begin early Thursday and we could see anywhere from three-quarters to one inch of rain. “The next system is predicted to begin Friday afternoon, and we may not see much dry weather in between the two systems,” said White. “Friday’s storm will stick around through Saturday and could bring an additional one to one and a half inches of rain to the area. There’s lots of uncertainty about next week, but the models are starting to agree that we could be in for another wet one.”

The Rivers:

As of Tuesday, 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 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

Forecast to peak at 4,150 cubic feet per second Saturday evening. Will likely be o color next week. A few steelhead were caught last weekend.

Main stem Eel

Flows were right around 3,500 and rising slightly Tuesday. Forecast to reach 16,000 cfs Sunday and will likely be o color all week. There have been a few adult steelhead caught.

South Fork Eel

Finally opened to fi shing Monday and fl ows were 600 cfs and dropping. Predicted for a big rise Saturday night, hitting 4,200 cfs. Don’t expect green water until it comes down under 2,000 cfs.

Van Duzen

Flows are predicted to drop to 240 cfs by Thursday night. Rain beginning late Thursday will put it back on the rise through Saturday where it’s predicated to peak above 2,000 cfs. It will likely by o color next week, depending on how much rain we get.

Smith

The Smith is low and clear, but that is about to change. With rain in the forecast beginning Thursday, the Smith will see a couple fl ow increases. The fi rst will be Friday morning, with fl ows predicted to reach 4,700 cfs. The second, bigger rise is forecast for Saturday evening. If the rain falls as planned, fl ows could hit 9,800 cfs. Conditions could be about perfect the beginning of next week. As of Tuesday, fl ows were 1,900 cfs on the Jed Smith gauge.

Chetco/Elk/Sixes

Drift boat anglers got another shot at fall kings on the Chetco, Elk and Sixes late last week, with attention now turning to steelhead reports Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. He said, “Adult steelhead have been confi rmed in the catches on all three rivers, along with late kings. The Elk was wide open for salmon on Thursday and Friday, with big numbers for the few guides on the river. The Sixes fi shed well Friday and Saturday. Salmon fi shing also was good on the Chetco, but a handful of early steelhead to 12 pounds grabbed most of the attention. High fl ows are expected over the weekend and early next week, and as the rivers drop, expect decent catches of steelhead. Early spawning surveys also revealed above-average salmon runs in the Chetco, with big numbers of kings still spawning in the tail outs.”

Read the complete fi shing report at 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 fi shingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fi shing reports and North

Coast river information, email kenny@ fi shingthenorthcoast.com.

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