| 2008 Fishing Report
Winter
Steelhead!!

Date: February 18, 2008
Current Report: Up and down fishing
Since my last report I was able to get down on the Eel
river. The fishing was very good. After fishing around
up north it was fun to see some different water. The
river flows were higher than I normally fish them but the
color was good. Then I went up north to fish in the
first of three derbies. The fishing was as tough as
I've ever seen it. The Smith has been tough all year
but the Chetco didn't fish as well as I thought it should.
I really believe the cold water from the snow melt has a lot
to do with this. There is rain on the way this week
which is going to change things up, hopefully for the
better. With most rivers being slow or not fishing it
seems like everybody is on the Eel river. It is as
busy as I've ever seen it. The main stem is not
fishing which is piling everybody up on the lower South
Fork. I'm not sure where I'll be fishing this week
except for another derby Friday and Saturday.
Brice

Date: February 11, 2008
Current Report: Chetco River
I have spent the last few days fishing the Chetco river.
I know my reports are starting to sound like a broken record
but with the consistent fishing on the Chetco there is no
reason to leave. With the snow melt the river is
dropping slowly. I've been catching fish every day but
having to work hard to get them. It seems like some
days you can throw your bait out anywhere and a fish will
bite it. It's not like that now. I know it is
more rewarding when you catch one when its like this.
The fish seem to be scattered throughout the river with no
concentrations anywhere. The weather has been nice and
there is no significant rain in the forecast. The
lower rivers are starting to come around slowly, it's hard
to say when they will be fishable. The next two weekends are
derbies, it looks like we will be fishing low and clear
conditions in the first one. See you on the river.
Brice

Date: February 7, 2008
Current Report: Chetco River
Since the last report I have had
a few days off because of high water. We received a
lot of rain and with the snow melt the rivers blew out.
Right now the Smith and Chetco are fishing, the lower rivers
still have a long way to go before they start fishing.
I have been fishing the Chetco river still. The
fishing has been good with ideal river conditions. The
weather hasn't been too bad either. It sounds like
since the last rise on the Smith river that there has been a
few more fish caught there. Hopefully it will keep
going that way. I have had a few people ask about the
fish in the picture above. We didn't weigh it because
we released it after the picture but it was 37 1/2" inches
long. For comparison the guy holding the fish is 6' 2"
and weighs 250 lbs. I figure it was or real close to
20 pounds. Definitely an awesome fish to catch!
The weather report sounds good for the next few days, I hope
the fishing stays as consistent as it has been. See
you on the river.
Date: January 29, 2008
Current Report: Chetco River
I'm still fishing the Chetco
river. It rained pretty good up here which blew out
all of the lower rivers but put some much needed water in
the Smith and Chetco rivers. The fishing has been good on
the Chetco lately, the extra water has helped a lot.
The reports from the Smith are the same, one day there will
be some fish caught and then the next day nothing. I
wish more fish would show up on the Smith, I really enjoy
fishing it.
Date: January 24, 2008
Current Report: Chetco River
I have been fishing the Chetco
river for the last week except for one day that I fished the
Trinity. The fishing has been good on the Chetco,
especially when it first dropped into shape. Right now
it is low and clear and the fishing has been scratchy.
If a person can find some fish that havn't been beat on
there are fish to be caught. It's frustrating though
that people are still fishing like there is only two feet of
visibility in the river. They run the boat right down
the middle of the river and short cast it toward the bank.
That's not going to work very often and then you spook the
fish which are now in the middle or deep part of the river.
I have not been fishing the Smith river, the reports I have
been getting from there are not good. The fish are
just not coming in. The day I fished the Trinity the
fishing was good. I was hoping to fish the Eel
river but with the storms coming in I'm going to be up on
the Chetco and Smith rivers. The reports from the
boats that were able to fish down there are good. Some
boats were able to fish the main stem. I'm hoping to
get on the river soon, it does take a long time to come into
shape though.
Date: January 14, 2008
Current Report: High Water
Since my last report it has been
a bunch of un-fishable days and the days we've able to go
the river level is high. I have been fishing the Smith
River. One day I fished the Smith the river was at 15
ft. on the upper gauge but the river color was good. I
don't think I've rowed that hard in my life!
We've been dealing with a lot of snow melt. Scores on
the river have been 0-3 fish a day. Plunkers in the
right spot and time have been doing O.K. Both the
Smith and Chetco are dropping down to good flows, it should
be good fishing for awhile when they do.
Date: January 4, 2008
Current Report: Chetco River
Happy New Year to everybody.
I started it out by fishing the Chetco River. The
conditions were ideal and the fishing was great. We
got a late start and were moving slow but I believe it
helped us. That morning it was really cold so by the time we
started fishing it had warmed up and the fish were biting.
It looked like most of the boats were catching fish.
We fished the next day on the Chetco again and we had to
work a little harder for the fish but it was as good as the
1st. Today I didn't have high hopes but we headed to
the Smith this morning. Even with the big storm that
pushed in the river did not rise that much. When we
got to the Forks put in the middle fork was a off green
color with not much visibility but the level was good.
We figured there was a slide up river. With the rain
that was coming and the color of the river we decided not to
go. I'm glad that we didn't because about a half hour
later the south fork was dumping in mud. I'm going to
be off for a few days because of this storm. Winter
steelhead season is here! I do have open days
scattered through out the season.
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