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.
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