EEL, MAD & MATTOLE RIVERS



March 28, 2008    Headlines
Eel Steel


The steelie action remain great and while most anglers have hung up their gear for the season a few are still out enjoying good catches. On Thursday 3-27 Kenny Armstrong drifted the main stem from the Forks to Holmes. His two clients hooked nine fish landing 7 to 14 pounds. Three of the fish were mint bright late season chromers and the other four spent but still in fighting shape. Kenny is booked this weekend but has other boats available. Wally is soaking up the sun in Mexico and Pete Sparacio has moved back over to the upper Sac for trout. This is your last chance as the season closes next Monday March 31st at sunset.

Many of the top guides have moved down to the Eel and are looking to take advantage of the great late season action this river has been known for the past several years. On Saturday 3-22 Kenny Armstrong was back on the main stem. He drifted from the Forks to Holmes and said the river was still a tad high and a hair too dirty but they did well. His two clients landed 6 fish out of 7 hooked with a solid 8 to 12 pound average. One was a chrome bright buck and the rest were headed down but in great shape. Fishing pressure was very light and there were only two other boats on this drift today.
This is the last week that the Eel will be open to fishing. The action is still great and a good excuse to get out on the rivers one last time. Kenny has most of this week available for south fork and main stem trips. He will be running trips out of the jet boat for Klamath springers beginning in May.  Wally has hung his ores up for the season and he is headed to Mexico for a little R&R and will be offering trips for Sac stripers in April and May.  Pete Sparacio is starting to run his popular upper Sac river rainbow trips where he will spend most of the summer months.

The color dropped out of the central south fork Eel on Sunday 3-16 and the bite was still red hot. Wally Johnson drifted the Garberville to Philipsville stretch today with 6 fish landed out of 8 hooked. The fish were slugs and three were bright averaging 12 to 15 pounds and had a couple of the fish been pre spawners instead of post they would have been closer to 18 to 20 pounds. We are seeing a late push of fresh fish on may rivers but the Eel has the best numbers. Wally said the river on this section was much clearer than he expected with visibility running at over 3 feet. Despite his good score he felt that if he had been down one drift he woulda coulda done even better. Wally has just a couple of spots left but Kenny Armstrong and Pete Sparacio both still have several days available for the final two weeks of the season. With fresh fish and good weather this is an excellent bet this week and next.

On Saturday 3-15 Wally Johnson was back on the Eel after spending the past two weeks on the Chetco. He said light rain Friday night had blown the lower south fork out but he found fishable water between Richardson Grove and down to the Bear Pen. On this short drift his two clients landed 4 fish to about 11 pounds and missed and lost a few others. Not a bad score for just a small area this high in the system. He said that the lower south fork should fish to Dean Creek possibly Miranda on Sunday and the entire south fork will be in on Monday. We expect to hear some big scores from him the next few days. He is running trips here (weather permitting) through March 22nd and has some spots still available.


River Levels:



For river status (low flow closure) updates from Fish and Game please call +1.707.442.4502 for the North coast and +1.707.944.5533 for Central coast streams. Be sure to check out the California Fish and Game regulations before you go. Regulations vary on every river and you need to pay attention to bait and hook restrictions. Due to winter closures on HWYs 5, 101 & 299 we recommend you check Caltrans road conditions as well.

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