Trinity and Klamath Rivers

Date: August 26, 2011
Current Report: Trinity and Klamath Rivers

The salmon and steelhead are starting to push into the Klamath River.  We should see some good numbers of fish around Labor Day, this is when I'm planning on starting to fish.  As usual I will be fishing in the Willow Creek area of the Trinity and Weitchpec and down on the Klamath.  I have some days open in the middle of September if you are interested.  I will be going back up to the upper Klamath in the beginning of October and I have one day available up there.  Looking forward to another fall fishing season!

Brice

Date: Mar.29, 2010
Current Report: Northcoast Rivers

I've spent the last part of the steelhead season fishing from home, mainly the Eel River.  We've been catching mostly runbacks with a few fresh fish mixed.  The river traffic was really light and fishing was good which was a nice way to end the season.  I would like to thank everyone who fished with me this year, it was fun!

Brice

Date: Mar.4, 2010
Current Report: Northcoast Rivers

I've been able to still fish the Chetco River.  It was a little high on Monday but still fished good.  Tuesday and Wednesday it was at a level that fished well.  The weather we received didn't affect the river near as much as I thought it would.  The snow level was pretty low on Wednesday morning.  It was a nice sunny day on the river though, we were down to t-shirts for part of the day.  This last high water has changed the fishing.  We are now catching mostly runbacks with a few fresh fish mixed in.  It sounds like there are a few fish being caught on the Smith River.  All the lower rivers are blown out, we'll see how long it takes for them to come around.

Brice

Date: Feb.28, 2010
Current Report: Northcoast Rivers

We've been dealing with a lot of water in the rivers the last few days.  The Chetco blew out on Friday, and the Smith got big.  The Smith was fishable Saturday, just a lot of water.  Both the Smith and Chetco are dropping into shape today.  Our lower rivers are going to be unfishable for a while.  This extra water made fishing tough the last couple of days but it was pretty good before that.  I would have figured on catching more downers but it's mainly fresh fish that are being caught. 

Brice

Date: Feb.24, 2010
Current Report: Northcoast Rivers

Since my last report most of the northcoast rivers had dropped into shape and were fishable.  I spent most of my time on the Chetco River, it was fishing good so I wasn't going to leave.  Over the weekend both the Chetco and Smith were getting low and clear but the fishing was still decent, there were not a lot of people out on the river.  I made it down to the Eel for a day and had a good day.  Hopefully I will be able to get down there more often through the end of the season. A storm just went through which blew out the Eel and is putting the Smith and Chetco on the rise.  It sounds like more rain on Friday too. 

Brice

Date: Feb.15, 2010
Current Report: Smith and Chetco Rivers

I am still fishing on the Smith and the Chetco Rivers.  It has been a roller coaster for river conditions lately, we've been getting a lot of rain.  The Chetco River was fishing good until it blew out on Friday.  I went to the Smith on Friday and it fished really good for me.  The river came up over the weekend and made fishing a lot tougher.  I was able to catch fish every day but it was tough.  The Smith is running clearer than normal this year.  This makes finding the fish a lot more difficult.  The river today started out at about 11.75 on the upper gauge which on a "normal" year would mean about 3-5 feet of visibility.  It was close to 12 feet today. 

We have a dry spell in front of us, the rivers should be dropping into great shape.  The Chetco will fish tomorrow and the Eel River is starting to fish too.  Now is the time to go!  If you have never been on a drift boat fishing trip and want to go give me a call.  Don't let inexperience be a deterrent either..  I enjoy having new fisherman in the boat and watching the progression through out the day.

Brice

Date: Feb.3, 2010
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, 2010
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, 2010
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, 2010
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, 2010
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, 2010
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