Green Water Fishing Adventures

After a couple weeks of wet weather we've begun to dry out and all our rivers are dropping into prime shape. After a month of great fishing up north on the Smith and Chetco the bite started to get a little tough so I headed south looking for greener pastures. There's really a ton of good options at this point with everything running steelhead green and full of fish. I spent the past few days on the South Fork Eel River and ran into some big pods of fish. With perfect weather, beautiful scenery and great fishing it's hard to ask for anything more. We've been sidedrifting roe and a fish pill for lots of shots each day at 6 to 12 pound adults and good numbers of "halfpounders" thrown in as a bonus. It looks like the rain's going to hold off for a while and the bite should continue to be good.

I've spent the last week on the Smith and Chetco Rivers. The water has continued to drop due to the dry weather but bright fish have kept pouring in. While not wide open fishing, the bite has been solid with most days producing 4 to 6 hookups. Today we had our first real weather arrive after what seems like an eternity and it seemed like the shift turned the fish on. John Sellers of Fortuna joined the 20 pound club with me today on a low, clear Chetco River. He hooked the fish drifting roe and a fish pill along a shallow break. When he swung on the bite it erupted in 18" of water and went burning off the flat with it's back out of the water like a spooked bonefish. Congratulations to John on a fantastic fish and most impressive part is the fact that he opted to release it. John's a relative newcomer to steelhead fishing, catching his first on the Eel with me last winter. With his big fish resting in the net we talked about the importance of keeping those genetics in the gene pool. John was immediately on board. We took a few pictures and sent him on his way. We ended the day by 1:00 pm with 6 landed out of 10 hooked, a 20 pounder and a double hookup. Not a bad day.

After the heavy rains that pelted the Northcoast a couple weeks ago we've been back to dry weather. Rivers are falling but fish are still entering and there are plenty of good fishing days to be had. For the most part, I feel like steelhead fisherman put way too big an emphasis on rain. Unlike the salmon that really do shut down in low water, steelies continue to enter the river and can still be caught by fishing long fluorocarbon leaders, small hooks and presenting your bait far from the boat with a natural drift. While the fish tend to be a little spookier in these conditions, you have the potential to run into huge pods of fish due to the fact that there's fewer areas for them to spread out in and they move upriver far slower than they would in high water. In short, don't be scared of low, conditions.

For the past week I've been bouncing around and for the most part the fishing has been pretty good. The Trinity was a little disappointing only turning up one adult to go with about a dozen halfpounders but the rivers to the north have ranged from solid to red hot. Both the Smith and Chetco are producing and if your in the right place at the right time there's the potential to run into huge pods of fish. A boat working the Smith for me a few days ago came back with stories of a hundred steelhead stacked in a run that was only 2 feet deep. Needless to say, they had a lot of fun that day.

It looks like we've got some wet weather coming in towards the end of next week which should bring all our rivers up and shuffle the deck. Until then, I'll be sticking it out up north and hopefully the good fishing continues. The picture is of Wayne Terry posing with a flawless Smith River winter steelhead. While she wasn't the biggest fish we caught this week, she embodies perfection.

Rain! After almost six weeks of dry weather the first big winter storm of the season brought the water we've been waiting for. The Smith and the Chetco both got high and dirty bringing in loads of steelhead that had been building up in the salt. The first day the Smith dropped back into fishable shape scores were huge. As the rivers have cleared the bite has come back down to earth a bit but fishing is still solid. I was on the Chetco today where action wasn't wide open but we picked away at nice, bright hatchery fish all day ending up with 4 in the box going 6 to 10 pounds.

We're still waiting for rain to bring on the first big wave of winter steelhead but in the meantime I've been finding ways to stay busy. I spent a few days on the Trinity and while the fishing wasn't red hot, there were enough fish around to make it fun. The "halfpouder" steelhead are around in good numbers and there are also some adults mixed in and even an occasional salmon though most of them are pretty colored up now.

I just got back from Oregon where I bought a new jet boat for the lower Klamath River in late summer and maybe even a couple weeks a year of Sacramento River striped bass trips in the spring. We took it for her first run today and though fishing was slow we released a nice, bright king but more importantly the boat ran great. The picture is of my buddy and fellow guide Mike Stratman with his son Jackson, showing off the fish we christened her with.

The lack of rain over the past couple weeks has essentially brought an end to what was one of the best salmon seasons in recent memory. The ocean fishing through our sister company on our Trinidad based charter boat "Fishy Business" was nothing short of spectacular for most of July and August. Most days I had limits of fat kings in the box by 11 am and we were moving on to look for halibut. The Trinity and Klamath had big numbers of salmon pushing in by the end of August and fishing was red hot through the middle of November. Double digit days became the norm and the jacks were so thick on the Klamath I found myself trying to get away from them at times to get through to the bigger fish. The Smith River didn't fish as well as it did last year but I think that was more a function of the dry weather making conditions tough. Sonar counts in the lower river showed very similar numbers to the year before but with the low water they were a bit tougher to entice. Regardless, there were still some great days and the size of the fish on this river is really what makes this place so special.

With all the negative press regarding salmon runs in recent years it's nice to see such a positive trend. The numbers of juvenile fish in the ocean this year and the number of jacks on the Klamath and Trinity both point towards next year being another fantastic season. While I know it seems really early to start thinking about fall dates, September and October are selling out faster and faster each year as people quickly become regulars after getting a taste of these great rivers. About half my dates are already locked down so if you'd like to get a prime slot it doesn't hurt to book well in advance. Last year the bookings caught me off guard and I felt bad when so many of my regulars couldn't get the dates they wanted.

While a few more salmon may trickle into our rivers on the next rain, it's doubtful the numbers will be significant. I'm breaking down my kwickfish and back-bounce rods and getting ready for the first big push of winter steelhead that will surely be riding in on the next rain. There are already scattered reports from the Eel, Trinity and Smith with the peak of the season being January and February. I've still got some available dates for both months so let me know if you'd like to break the winter doldrums by getting out on the river. We'll be fishing the Smith, Chetco, Elk, Sixes, Trinity, Mad, Eel and Van Duzen rivers.

In closing I'd like to thank all the familiar faces and new friends that continue to make each year busier than the one before. I hope the holidays are great to you all and I'm looking forward to fishing with you all again in the new year.

With the last few storm systems the salmon fishing on the Smith River has come to life. So far we haven't seen the big numbers and easy limits we were spoiled with last year but as long as there's water in the river the bite has been solid. Most days I've been able to get each of my guys their fish and as we expect from this river, most have been big. The average fish has been running in the low 30 pound range with fish in the 40s not uncommon. The picture is of Jeremy Baker from Santa Cruz who fished with me last week and nailed this beautiful 35 pounder along with one that was it's twin that he released.

Lack of significant rainfall has kept me away from the Smith River for another week but it looks like that's supposed to change with a the storm scheduled to roll through towards the end of the week. Reports from up there are that there are good numbers of fish in the estuary with a few being caught early each morning before the fishing pressure puts them down. In the meantime I've been fishing the Trinity and the numbers have stayed the same while the size of the fish just keeps getting bigger. The picture is of Sarah, who's finishing up here last year at HSU, with one of 3 fish over 30 pounds she landed with me last week.

Just a quick update from my phone. The dry weather has kept me off the Smith other than for a few days this week after the 3 inches that fell over the weekend. There were good fish caught all 3 days I was on it but the bite was never wide open and got progressively tougher each day as the river dropped and cleared. Until the next rain comes I'll be heading back over to the Trinity which has still been fishing fantastic with some of the biggest fish of the season showing up.

Fishing is still great on the Trinity and Klamath Rivers but bright fish are getting more and more scarce each day. The jacks have been relentless and making for lots of bites and bent rods. On Monday we boated close to 40 of the little guys with a few nicer fish in the mix to 25 pounds. I'm starting to turn my attention to Smith River trophy king salmon in November and it looks like we may get the rain we need to get things started around the 5th of the month. Until then I'm going to do a few more days on the middle Klamath.

The pictures are a little end of the season roundup from the past few weeks

While the rain last week seems to have flushed a lot of the fish through the lower river the bite is still holding up strong. I'm not seeing fish everywhere like I was a week ago but there are a few key spots on each section of river I fish where salmon have set up and don't seem to be leaving. While a lot of the fish aren't as bright as they were when they first entered, the action has been great. Over on the Klamath I've been running into huge numbers of smaller, 3 to 6 pound kings which are either a blessing of curse depending on how you want to look at it. Most days it's been easy to hook 20, 30 even 40 of them but their sheer numbers and aggressive nature have made it hard to get through to the bigger fish that are mixed in with them. Most days we've still been managing a couple in the 20 to 30 pound range and there have been a few adult steelhead mixed in and a decent numbers of halfpounders.

Soon I'll be starting to turn my attention to trophy kings on the Smith River. The peak of the run is normally in November and I'll be moving my operation up there as soon as we get enough rain to get it going. I've still got 5 open dates for the month.

The picture is Wayne Terry with pair of Klamath Kings he caught with me last week.

We've had our second significant weather system role through now and river levels have been jumping up and down. A few days have offered less than ideal conditions but we've still been able to catch our fish each time out. Last week saw some of the biggest numbers of the season for me after the Klamath River dropped back down from a couple inches of rain. A lot of the fish are starting to color up a bit but there are definitely still some bright ones in the mix. The jacks have been so thick the past few days that it's actually made it a little difficult to get through to the bigger fish. I never thought I'd be complaining about too many bites but I guess it's happened. Despite the hordes of aggressive 3 to 6 pounders I've been able to get through to some bigger fish in the 25 to 35 pound range. We're also seeing good steelhead numbers on the Trinity River when I put the time into fishing them but with so many salmon around they've been where I'm directing most of my effort.

Sorry guys. No picture this week but it's not for lack of having some to choose from. Life's busy, busy being on the river everyday and I'm just throwing up a quick update on the run. At this point it's safe to say it's been a lot of years since I can remember seeing this many salmon coming up the Trinity and Klamath Rivers. Yesterday I sat and watched a pool while we were relaxing with our limits in the boat and there were literally between 3 and 6 salmon rolling on the surface at any given moment. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a thousand fish in the hole.

Last night we got our first big blast of rain for the season which arrived a good bit earlier than normal. Today the river was a little high, unsettled and on the rise making the bite tough. Despite the fish being a little difficult to entice today, we saw hundred rolling and did manage to coax enough into bitting to get our limits. The river will drop out within a day or two and the fishing should be right back to fantastic.

These reports are starting to sound like a broken record but the bite on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers has still been fantastic. For the most part, any drift you choose is loaded with fish. I did have one day last week where I ended up in a little gap in the run and we only ended up with 3 fish but they were all nice ones going 15 to 18 pounds. It also may not have been a completely fair representation since my guys wanted to pack it in by noon since they're coolers were already full from the day before when we landed 15 salmon and 4 beautiful steelhead. While the quota is now full for the lower Klamath River we're still allowed to keep fish up in my area. Despite the closure to adults down near the mouth, there are still guys out fishing and it sounds like there are lots more fish on the way.

The picture is of Kip Johnson with a 32 pound king he caught with me this week on the Trinity River. While fish like that are far more common in November when I start fishing the Smith River, there's always a few of these big boys around in September and October.

It's been another week with more of the same great fishing on the Trinity and Klamath Rivers. The salmon numbers are absolutely staggering this year with more and more piling into the river each day. While the average fish has still been in the 6 to 10 pound range, there are some big ones starting to show up as well. The other change has been the addition of a few more steelhead. The picture is of Wayne Terry of Fresno with one of 4 steelhead he landed in the first hole of the morning. Not a bad way to get things started.

The fish are still entering the Klamath river in huge waves and while they could be biting better, the sheer volume of fish makes it hard to miss. Limits of salmon have been easy to come by every day and it really doesn't seem to matter what stretch I fish. While the grade hasn't been huge, they're nice solid fish going 6 to 10 pounds with a few bigger models up to 25. I've been back-bouncing bait and running lures with plenty of success on both. While I really can't complain about the fishing the last couple years, this one is really special. The picture is of Diane Neal who just moved to San Francisco, with a typical salmon. She fished two days with me, one on the Trinity and one on the Klamath River, bringing home a cooler full of fillets and releasing a bunch more.

Salmon continue pouring through the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in numbers we haven't seen in quite a few seasons. The past few days the bite got a little tougher but we still ended up with good numbers on every trip. Yesterday I saw tons of fish moving upriver through shallow tailouts and those fish are next to impossible to catch. Despite the fickle bite, we ended up with six nice salmon and an 8 pound steelhead.

The good old days are back on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers. For the past week wave after wave of salmon have been flooding through the mouth and snapping up baits on their trek upriver. Limits have been the rule and some of the best days have bordered on ridiculous with scores pushing 40 fish to the net. The tribe has already reached its commercial quota so the net pressure has backed off and more fish continue to show up each day. While the past few years have given up good fishing for me on my remote stretches of the middle Klamath and lower Trinity, this year is shaping up to something special.

We're in the middle of one of the best salmon bites in years with the numbers and size growing by the day. It's been early limits for over a week now fishing 4 to 10 miles south of Trinidad depending on the day. I put 14 kings to 26 pounds on our 26 foot Parker "Fishy Business" by 11:00 this morning and then we rounded off the day with 3 nice pacific halibut with the biggest going 60 pounds. A flat ocean and wide open fishing. It doesn't get much better.

The picture is of a tiger rockfish caught north of Trinidad. While they aren't terribly common anywhere, we had 3 others the same day to go with our limits of blacks, quillbacks, blues, reds, chinas and lingcod.

For the past week the fishing has been all across the board with things changing on a daily basis. The salmon bite has ranged from red hot, to a steady pick depending on the day. There are still some 20 to 30 pound fish around but the average has gotten smaller and we've had hoards of shakers attacking anything that hits the water. There have been days that I've gone through over 40 of the little guys which is a great sign for next year. The halibut bite has improved and while it's rarely a wide open affair, it has been really consistent. I've been hooking them every time I've tried and there are some real good ones in the mix.