WINTER STEELHEAD

Date: Feb.3, 2009
Current Report: Smith and Chetco Rivers

 The last couple of days the fishing has still been good.  I was fishing the Chetco River. It felt like the river was getting good pushes of fresh fish every day. We got more rain last night than expected and with more on the way it is going to be a Smith River show for a while.

Brice

Date: Jan. 31, 2009
Current Report: Smith and Chetco Rivers

The last week has seen both the Smith and Chetco Rivers dropping into ideal shape.  I have spent most of my days on the Chetco lately, I have been having good days of fishing there and don't want to change it up. It isn't wide open fishing but consistent.  We have rain in the forecast which hopefully is enough to keep the rivers at the levels that they are at.  I have been having fun days on the river, the guys I have been fishing the last week make it enjoyable.  Two of them,  Jim and Floyd (pictures above), take pride in keeping me at full alert the entire time they are in my boat!

Brice

  Date: Jan. 23, 2009
Current Report: Smith and Chetco Rivers

I have been fishing the Smith River and it has been good.  We dealt with high and fluctuating water conditions early in the week but the river never did blow out.  The river has been on the drop the last few days.  The river is a lot clearer for the level that it is at than normal.  This makes a person change up their tactics.  The Chetco has been fishing the last couple of days but I'm planning on staying on the Smith for now.  We have a storm coming in tonight and tomorrow, not really sure what it will do to the rivers.

Brice

 Date: Jan. 17, 2009
Current Report: Smith and Chetco Rivers

Still fishing the Smith and Chetco rivers.  After being off because the rivers blew out I was back on the Smith on Thursday.  The Smith has been fishing better than the Chetco so far.  We are getting hit with another storm right now which will probably blow everything out except maybe the Smith.  We have rain for most of the week too.

Brice

Date: Jan. 11, 2009
Current Report: Smith and Chetco Rivers

I've been fishing the Smith and Chetco since my last report and the fishing has been good.  I have been hooking fish every day, I did have a tough day on the Smith where we hooked two fish but didn't land either one. It just was one of those days where I just couldn't get into the groove.  Then both fish we hook come off.  Then I have a day where the fish kick our rears and we still get them.  That's fishing for you.   Both rivers have been in excellent shape in river flow.  We have another storm coming in tonight and it is supposed to be a big one. We'll see what it does to the rivers but I'm planning on being on the Smith for a few days.

Brice

Date: Jan. 3, 2009
Current Report: Winter steelhead

The last storm that we had did blow out all the rivers.  The Smith was back fishable on Saturday though.  I've been on the Smith the last couple of days and the fishing has been good, even with the high water.  I plunked on Saturday, It was too high to side drift effectively even though the color was good.  I was able to side drift today. The new boat rows good, I was concerned about the bigger boat with higher water. The Chetco River river should be fishable tomorrow.

Brice

Date: Dec. 31, 2009
Current Report: Winter steelhead

Both the Chetco and Smith River are fishing good. It's been a mix of hatchery and wild fish. One of the nice things is that there are not a lot of boats on the rivers.  We've been getting rained on for the last few days, just not enough to really do anything to the rivers.  That's changing right now, it's raining hard and the rivers are rising fast.  I'm not sure if I'll be fishing tomorrow but the Smith might be in Saturday.

Brice