Steelhead Season ~ 2012
Daily Reports
Fishing for the past several days has been pretty good for the most part. That's not to say that it's been easy. I have been working extremely hard for the fish that we are catching. Most days, we are getting five to eight; although, I have had a couple of slower days where we landed one and two.
The weather is going to be a bit unsettled for the next few days with showers predicted about every other day. I still have a hand full of days available right around the end of March. Don't be afraid of these dates - a lot of people put their fishing rods away at the end of February thinking that the best steelhead fishing is over. However, we still have some really good steelhead fishing in the late season.
Included with this post are a few photos of clients and their catches from the past several days as well as a picture of the view from my office window.
Good Fishing,
John
The Smith has slowed down from the feverish pace that we were experiencing to this point. A typical day is now two to four fish. I'm still not seeing a lot of big fish despite my recent positing of George Lovelace's big steelhead. I don't think I've landed three fish over ten pounds to date. On a positive note, the southern rivers are either in shape or coming into shape. I've heard pretty good reports from the Eel and the Mad as well.
Included with this posting are a couple of pictures from recent trips.
Good Fishing,
John
After more couch time then I really wanted thanks to these big storms, I was back on the water today. I have to say that there are more fish in the Smith River this year than I have seen in some time. Even with the water being a little higher than perfect, there were a lot of fish caught. The guys in my boat hooked eight and landed seven of them including a beautiful buck which we did not weigh before releasing. We did ballpark it in the 17 - 18 pound class. This big steelie was caught by George Lovelace who was fishing with his friend Justin DeGarmo, a client of mine for about 20 years.
Although the forecast calls for half an inc of rain tonight, I think we've received that in the last hour. At this point, it's anybody's guess as to what the water conditions will be in the morning. However, I think it will be ok.
Included is a picture of George's big steelhead today as well as a couple of others.
Good Fishing,
John
Big Water Coming
We've been begging for rain for weeks now. It looks like we are going to get it in heavy, heavy doses beginning Tuesday night. All the northcoast rivers are projected to get near to or above warning stages. I've already cancelled my Wednesday & Thursday trips; it looks Friday is in question; Saturday is also up in the air.
Included with this post are two photographs from yesterday's action.
Good Fishing,
John
Steelhead action continues to remain solid. Today, I had three boats on the water, and each boat hooked five, landing a total of ten. Despite the low water conditions, the river has an awful lot of steelhead in it. There is some significant rainfall in our future. The guidance plots show all northcoast rivers on a steep rise on Wednesday ~ possibly to unfishable levels. We will have to wait and see if this all materializes, but in the end the rain will be a good thing for our rivers.
Pictured is Victor Brown holding the steelhead he landed today.
Good Fishing,
John
Yesterday, I pulled the jetboat out of the garage and went up the Klamath. The guys were here for three days and did well on the Smith the first day; we tried to hit a home run while fishing the Klamath the second day ~ what we found were half pounders and cutthroat trout ~ lots and lots of both, but no adults. So, I put the jetboat back into the garage and went back to the Smith today. We ended up hooking eight and landing three. Poor Parker hooked four fish and wasn't lucky enough to land any of them, while his partner Ron went three for four. A picture of Ron with one of his fish is included with this post.
Rumors of rain next week are beginning to circulate. It would be a welcome change in weather.
Good Fishing,
John
Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day. Whoever coined that phrase should be tarred and feathered. We are hurting for rain right now. The river I had been fishing finally ran out of water. After rowing with a disc out of place in my back for a week, I spent the day with the chiropractor yesterday. What a difference an adjustment makes.
Today, I changed locations and found more fish even though the water was low. Our tally was four for six including a double on our final casts of the day. I'm going to try something different yet again tomorrow ~ I'll report back and let you know how it goes.
Pictured are Ross Allen and his steelhead from day before yesterday as well Parker Profitt and Ron Huett with their double from today.
Good Fishing
John
Nothing special to report today. We had two bites and two fish. Greg Gaines and Josh Harris are the lucky guys holding their fish.
Good Fishing,
John
I'm gonna share with you a picture of Josh Harris's first fish of the day ~ it's a nice one. I'm also going to share a picture of Gregg Gaines's beautiful buck. I've also got a picture of Josh's second fish ~ it's also a beauty. What I'd like to share with you, but don't have a picture of, is the look on Josh's face when a fourth fish hit his plug and subsequently pulled the rod from under his leg and out of the boat... like a dart! We managed to recover the rod, minus the fish, after searching for five minutes or so but the look on Josh's face was priceless.
We managed five grabs today, landing three of the four fish we hooked. That's about all you can hope for in the low and clear water we're currently dealing with. There are fish out there, but you won't catch them fishing fast. Right now I'm fishing every nook and cranny, every spot with any flow and a little depth. With no rain in the immediate future we'll be earning every fish we catch.
Good fishing,
John
The bottom fell out of the river today, and we will be making a change tomorrow morning. We had a pretty tough show losing the first fish we hooked and then landing both fish from a double - our only three bites of the day. If you are coming this way to go fishing, do yourself a favor and check to see that your river of choice is open; the Fish & Game's river closure telephone number is 707-822-3164. The picture included with this post is of a husband and wife double ~ Jeff and Diana Hitchcock who landed these fish today.
Good Fishing,
John
