Fishing the North Coast

Smith River Only Option for Green Water

By Kenny Priest

fi shing@northcoastjournal.com Bill Maple, of Sonoma, holds a nice winter steelhead caught while drifting

the Smith River Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Andy Martin/Wild Rivers Fishing

As the rain continues to fall along the already saturated North Coast, the number of fi shable rivers has dwindled to one. And if you’re from here or spent any time here, it comes as no surprise it’s the Smith. While all the other coastal rivers are raging and muddy, the Smith has remained emerald green since blowing out briefl y last Saturday. For now, and in the immediate future, it will be the only option if you’re looking for steelhead-green water. To date, the fi shing has started out slow. Only a handful of adult winter steelhead have been caught this past week but look for that to change very soon.

Weather ahead

The next major storm system is slated to begin Wednesday into Thursday with heavy rainfall, fl ooding and high winds. “The storm door is defi nitely wide open and we’re in the midst of an active weather pattern,” said Josh Wood of Eureka’s National Weather Service o ce. “Starting Wednesday, the Smith basin will see up to two inches through Thursday, with lighter rain Friday. Higher totals are predicted for the mountains. Another stronger system is lining up for Saturday afternoon into Sunday. In the Humboldt area, we’ll see somewhere around two to four inches between Wednesday and Friday with up to six inches in the higher elevations. A stronger system coming in Saturday afternoon has the potential to bring quite a bit of rain and increased river levels Sunday and into next week.”

Mad

The Mad is still o color, but fl ows were down to 4,000 cubic feet per second (10.5 feet) Tuesday. Another big rise is predicted for late Wednesday with fl ows once again nearing monitor stage at 15 feet late Thursday night. With more rain coming over the weekend, it won’t be fi shable any time soon.

Main stem Eel

The main Eel was down to 18,000 cfs Tuesday, but the few inches of rain coming Wednesday will push fl ows back to over 100,000 cfs at Scotia by Friday morning. Fernbridge is again forecast to surpass monitor stage (14 feet) by Thursday evening, topping out at 17 feet.

South Fork Eel

Once 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. Following a good soaking Wednesday, fl ows are forecast to reach 22,000 cfs Thursday morning. Another wet system arrives Saturday that will likely push fl ows over 30,000 cfs. The Miranda area will start to fi sh once fl ows reach 2,000 cfs, which looks to be a way away.

Van Duzen

After peaking at over 18,000 cfs Friday night, fl ows were down to 1,300 cfs Tuesday. Wednesday’s rain is forecast to push fl ows back up to 15,000 cfs Thursday morning. After a brief reprieve Friday, fl ows will be back on the way up Saturday. It will need a solid week of dry weather before it’s close to fi shable.

Smith

Boats were back to drifting the Smith Monday following a pretty big rise late last week. Conditions were just about perfect Tuesday and Wednesday, but that will likely change. The next rise is forecast to begin Thursday morning, but only peaking at 13 feet at the Jed Smith gauge. There is another system predicted to hit the Smith area Saturday afternoon that has the potential to be a much stronger system. As for fi shing, it’s been a little slow. Just a handful of boats were out Monday and only a couple adults were landed.

Chetco

The Chetco reached 27,000 cfs last week, and was down below 4,500 cfs late Monday, putting it in shape for drift boats reports Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “A few steelhead were caught over the weekend and on Monday by plunkers,” said Martin. “Another rise is expected Thursday, but the river should remain fi shable for anglers anchoring with plugs or casting Spin-N-Glos from shore. Side-drifting is best when fl ows are below 4,000 cfs.”

Elk/Sixes

According to Martin, a few steelhead were caught Monday on the Elk River, while the Sixes remained blown out. “More high water is expected this week. The best steelhead fi shing usually takes places in February and early March on the Elk and Sixes.”

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 up-to-date fi shing reports and North

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

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