Smith River Salmon & Steelhead Fishing Report

Smith river reports will resume in October 2010

After a week plus of unusually warm and dry weather the rains have returned to the North Coast. Over the past 24 hours ending at 6:PM on Thursday 3-25 the rain gauges at Gasquet have recorded 2.16 inches and the river is on the rise. Fishing pressure has been very light the past few days but guides are still seeing 2 to 4 fish per day. This rise will do two things to improve the scores. First is that the fish that have already come in will start to work their way back into the main stem where they will be both hungry and aggressive. Two, it's late March and we should see an influx of late "blue back" steelies or two to three year old fish making their usual late push into the river. The Smith is open through April and while the best and biggest fish are behind us the river is seeing little pressure and a go time for anglers to explore with little other competition. The river is still rising this afternoon and is up to 9.2 feet and looks to crest under 10 feet tonight. It has great color and flow at this level and should fish the next few days. The longer range forecast calls for very wet weather next week so this may be your last chance for steelies this season.
Beginning in April we will be focusing more on the Upper Klamath and Trinity river spring steelhead fisheries and Sac river striper action. The fat lady is starting to sing.

The Smith river is unusually quiet, not fish wise quiet but unusually light pressure. We saw 13 teams or 26 guides out for the 2nd Rowdy Creekbenefit derby this past weekend. Wally Johnson (past winner including three wins in 2007) reports that most boats saw catches of 1 to 2 fish per day with some of the highliners having catches 3 to 5. Top honors went to the guide team of John Klar and Gary Early a formidable team at that with something like 50 years of experience between the two. Wally said they had rising conditions on Friday but much better and a dropping river on Saturday. Wally says they are still seeing bright fish and ever increasing numbers of downers.
Here on Monday 3-16 the river is holding steady at 10 feet and should fish for a few more days. With the dry forecast the Smith will drop out and become a bit too clear and better options will be had on the Eel, Klamath and Trinity rivers. Even the Mattole looks to be back in late this week.

New Rules for the Smith River
New rules have been adopted by the Cal F&G commission for the Smith River. Only barbless hooks will be allowed in all reaches of the Smith River. The Klamath-Trinity Salmon Report Card has been renamed North Coast Salmon Report card and will now be required on the Smith River also. The annual bag limit for wild trout or steelhead was reduced to zero and no more than five wild Chinook may be kept per year.

BOYS TRIP!
For you readers looking for adventure on a "boys" or family trip that includes world class salmon, halibut, trout action we still have one prime week available in our Alaska vacation cabin.
Our full equipped coastal home sits on three acres (sleeps 6+) overlooking Cook Inlet and is within 30 minutes of five rivers including the Kenai, Kasilof and Anchor. Most of our guests do a combo package of self guided and guided river and saltwater trips. Shop around and you will see that this is one of the most affordable packages available.
We have three weeks still available in 2010:
Give us a call and we will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about fishing on the Kenai peninsula. 707 762-9776
Pictured above: A family shot of the morning sockeye catch from our annual family trip in July 2009.

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.
Prime steelhead flows on the Smith river are between 12 and 9 feet. Fish are caught in higher flows by those plucking and even in the low and clear waters below 8.5 feet but prime fishing is always found with a dropping river in the 9 to 12 foot range. No one can predict the best day or conditions but put in a few days in and you will be rewarded. All of our sponsors have room available for the prime January - mid March period. Please call the DFG flow information hotline at 707 822-3164 for additional information.