Steelhead Arcata/Fortuna Area

[kyburz]

Family and I going up in a couple weeks to see relatives and wondering if anyone has info about steelhead. Been up here over the years but never had time to fish. Van Duzen, Redwood Creek, Mad, Eel, Mattole, etc. I do not have a boat so it'll be shore and wading for me. Appreciate any response.

[Jeff Fisher]

Hey Kyburz. Since no one else chimed in, I guess I will.

As of today, all the rivers up here are blown out, and none of them will fish by the weekend, unfortunately. It all depends on how much rain we get before you come up here. It's amazing how quickly the rivers blow up here. There are, however, fish in all the rivers.

The Trinity and the Smith will be the first to clear. There seems to be quite a few fish in the Trinity. I did pretty good two weekends ago. Last weekend, the river was a little too high. If you go, make sure you go up above the South Fork at Salyer. The SF doubles the size of the river and usually muddies it up too. The higher up you go, the smaller the river gets and it's usually clear enough to fish above the North Fork. I watch the river level on Dreamflows. If it's around 1,500cfs or below at Cedar Flat, it's fine.

The Mad, Van Duzen, Main Eel.....forget it. They won't fish for a while. The SF Eel might be ok up high around Garberville and Legget.

Hope this helps. Just check the forecast and the river flows.

~J

[kyburz]

Thanks Jeff for your reply. Think I'll make other plans since it's still dumping rain all over the place. Good info for next season though. All that I can do is wait for all the Sierra streams to get in shape for trout season.....think that might be a long wait to.

[Larry S]

A very good investment would be to purchase the StreamTime maps for the
rivers you have an interest in. Less than $7 each, I believe. Click on the
"Kiene's Spey Shop" banner/link at the top of the page. These are a great resource;
for boaters and waders.
Best,
Larry S

[WinterrunRon]

Are you crazy! :eek:

Jeff is spot on on with his advice, and if you're lucky, the SF Eel will be fishable before it closes 3/31. If you're in the area and you don't take the time to fish it this time, you might as well sell your steelhead stuff!

[kyburz]

Thanks for the heads up. We leave in a couple hours for Fortuna. I'll bring my stuff and check out the SF. Only up there for 2 days so not alot of time but better than nothing.

[WinterrunRon]

Awesome. Let us know how you did if you give it a solid attempt. I've had great success in late March on the SF Eel from Benbow to Miranda and those fish have the nastiest attitude of any I've hooked. Every one is a brute-solid fish!