SMITH RIVER






February 24, 2008    Headlines
Smith Steelies Still Slow

The second Cal Ore derby of the season was held this past Friday and Saturday 2-23. The 1st place team was Willie Plunkett and Ron DeNardi. Second place went to John Klar and Daryl Knowles and Kenny Armstrong and Matt Dertsch took third out of field of nearly 30 boats. The best action was on the Chetco but several nice steelhead were taken on the Smith. Overall most guides saw 1 to 3 and up to5 fish scores on the Chetco and 0 to 2 fish per boat on the Smith. On the North Coast most rivers are up several feet while those north of Eureka barely budged. The highest rainfall totals were concentrated from Eureka south and both the Smith and Chetco rivers have actually dropped. The Smith is at 9 feet and is fairly low and clear and the Chetco could still use some rain to color the flows as well.
The most unusual catch of the entire season was on Val Early's boat. They landed a chrome bright 50 pound salmon on the Chetco and the word was she got a special award for her wayward trophy. Val deserves it. She puts in countless hours organizing and promoting the Cal Ore derbies every year and as is often the case, the people putting in the most time and effort often get overlooked. We here at USAFishing would like to say "THANKS Val!" for all she has done for so many years to promote and protect the Chetco and Smith river fisheries. Val along with her husband Gary also run a very popular Kenai river fishing lodge operation (earlyfishing.com) and they are both very involved with fishery enhancement issues both here and in Alaska. 


Side Drifting for Steelhead 101
Here are a few tips to help improve your steelhead scores when side drifting on a guided trip. Side drifting is an art (as opposed to boondoggling where the baits are just dragged behind the boat) where the guide and his clients in the front seats must fish together. The guide sets the boat up off of the fish and adjusts the speed of the drift (and your baits) with his ores to work the baits into where the fish are holding without snagging bottom. Sounds simple enough but it takes 100s of trips to prefect this technique and it's even tougher when you have clients with limited experience.
The first trick for the clients in the front seat  to master is "matching" their casts. Typically your guide will tell you exactly, down to a few feet or sometimes inches where he wants you to put your casts. The top guides with their years of knowledge know exactly where fish will be holding depending on a rivers flow level and color. They already have a game plan in place before the boat is off trailer and know which areas of the river they will want to concentrate on that day. It's the clients responsibility to be ready and follow instructions. Typical instructions are "Cast in the foam line behind that boulder pile" or "on the soft side (slower current) of that seam"  or "in as tight to the bank as you can without going in the trees". If anglers make accurate casts of the same distance this makes it easy on the guide to get that "perfect drift". When one angler casts too short or long it's impossible for your guide to get both lines to work properly through the run. The result of mismatched casts is often times one line getting snagged on the bottom and more fishing time is lost. Anglers who remain alert and make those typical 4 to 8 average bites count come off the river with a memorable day. Those day dreaming or not placing their casts where directed are lucky to hook a fish or two. Crossed lines, backlashes, snags or those flung into the trees are "score killers" and will result in fewer fish hooked at the end of the day.
If you are not a proficient caster then I have three words, practice, practice, practice before your trip. From a forward sitting position practice making casts to your right and left at app. 9 to 10 o'clock and 2 to 3 o'clock.  Keep practicing until you can consistently place a cast within a five foot radius without back-lashing and be sure your fishing partner does the same.  No professional guide that I know will ever blame his clients for a bad day but often times it is the lack of experience that does result in a low fish count. Scores do markey improve when there is some talent or "hotsticks" on board. The reason is the clients are matching their casts, making good baits on their own and this leaves the guide to concentrate on his top priority, putting you on the fish.
What to bring: Save time by purchasing  your fishing license and appropriate stamps ahead of time. Dress warmly in layers (don't forget the hat and gloves) and be prepared for rainy weather. Bring a lunch and snacks that has be easily eaten while fishing and don't forget the sunglasses and a camera with extra batteries.
We are proud to have some of the top guides feeding us reports from all north coast rivers throughout the year. Our sponsors are all full time guides and have the experience and the know how to consistently put you on the fish. Please support these guides that make this site possible. All offer professional trips with the best of boats and equipment. During the peak runs they also book trips for other quality guides that are often mentioned within our reports. On their websites you will also find additional fishing reports, trips dates and booking information.


USAFishing's Kenai Peninsula Vacation Cabin
Our Alaska vacation rental is located right in the heart of the Kenai peninsula. This fully outfitted 3 bedroom, 2 bath coastal cabin sleeps 7 plus and sits on over 2 wilderness acres and is just a short drive to all five of the Kenai peninsula's salmon filled rivers. Looking for an affordable Alaska vacation and unreal fishing on your schedule and your own private home to stay? Please give us a call and we will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the house, the area or fishing in general. We still have several prime weeks available in 2008. All of our guests receive a full 2 to 3 hour seminar that focuses on the fisheries that are available during your stay. Pictured above Mike Aughney with his 14 year old son Jake with the afternoon's catch of Kenai river sockeyes. 707 762-9776


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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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