Eel River Report (Long no pics)

[Ryan]

Well, I said I would give a report fish or no fish, so here it is.

It turns out the guide we got was not a fly fishing guide... enough said.

We fished Friday and Saturday on the south fork, and didn't get a hit. We were fly fishing of course... we tried everything from mayflies to stoneflies, eggs to eggsucking leaches, and... I don't know any more comparisons for the costal flies... lol. But we tried green but skunks, commets, brindle bugs, and everything.

Well, I kept a positive attitude the entire time thinking I would learn a whole lot on Sunday and damage the mussles in my arms from fighting steelies... but when the guides met us in the morning, I found out the guided with BAIT!!! Roberto... if you read this, you know how anti-bait I am, and these weren't no beads... we were fishing was roe! What a waste of money... There was no skill involved... no matching the hatch, no mending, no roll casting, no double hauling... just chucking the crap upstream, and slowly float down the river and wait for a bite, which we didn't get many of.

Even though it was rainy, cold, miserable, and boring, I did get to whiteness some costal steelhead. My friend landed a half pounder, and we saw our friends in the other boat land three in the 8-10 pound range. Those fish are incredible, true silver bullets. I have never seen any fish so chrome and fresh. And the guides had the same philosophy as most of us do with barbless flies... or hooks, and release everything they catch. So that was pretty cool. By the way, we didn't fish the south fork when we were guided, we fished the main river... it would be tough to fly fish.

I didn't see any fly fisherman the entire time, everyone was chucking bait... and the rumor is that people just don't guide fly fishing up there. I know this is BS but some people in a fishing store said that for ever fish a bait fisherman catches... a fly fisherman has to put in/work and extra 1000 hours. So that means... that... I don't want to even do that math, but fly fisherman basically wouldn't catch a fish in a couple of weeks of fishing? Does anyone have any experience on fly fishing the Eel, please tell me what you think about this. It wasn't the report I wanted, but it's a report. Thanks for the previous advice, I used it all, but I just couldn't figure anything out. :lol:

[Darian]

Hi Ryan,..... I kinda think the 1000 hour thing is really an exageration. :roll: However, it does take a lot of effort to make a winter run steelhead take a fly up-river but no more so than in the AR. The reasons are related to water temps/scarcity of cover, water clarity, fishing pressure, etc. Fishing upstream of the forks, in winter, is probably in recognition that the lower river may be too big/dirty. :( Roe will always out fish Flies in winter. That's why Guides use it.

I fished the lower Eel, extensively, years ago and found it much more amenable to fly fishing than the upper (....just my experience). The water temps in the estuary are more influenced by tidal flow/ocean water temps. Also, can be dirtier longer than the upper river. The lower river is big :shock: and lends itself to long casts and sinking lines to reach fish but is much more open along the banks. Many more fisherman as well. The Van Duzen River (an Eel River Tributary) is smaller and may offer a better chance at times. In the lower river, keep an eye on tides, weather and water conditions.

I'm sure that others have had good experiences fishing flies in the upper Eel and you will too if you put in the time :D . By that, I mean learn the river and the fish. Get some advice on guide selection. 8) Nothing like doin' some research. 8) 8)

[BigBuddha]

Years ago a friend and I drove up to the upper Eel for a couple of days flyfishing just to get a look. I remember there were a lot of access areas and I believe we picked up a map at Kiene's. Anyway on the first day we didn't hook up but the following day my friend caught two and I lost one. It can be fly fished. Don't get discouraged I know there are guides who will take fly fishers and I bet once you learn the river you'll have another good place to wet a line.

[David Lee]

Ryan -

First , thanks for the report .

Second . don't take it so hard . I've been skunked on EVERY body of water I've fished at least once in my life (even w/ people catching fish around me ) . Coastal Steelhead are a tough game - many veteran
flyroders have dry spells , but when the fish are in , and happy , then you know what happens .....

Most of us here have seen your Putah photos and I'll bet most are GREEN w/ envy -your day will come , and you will have earned it because you've put your time in . It takes some balls to do it the hard way(the way you did it ) and you have made your choice .... I think it's the right choice .

Be proud of yourself for trying ,and good luck on your next trip . David

[Cal]

Ryan,

Bummer about the Guides. Not a lot of guides on the So. Fork guide fly fishers. I have been looking for a good one myself. I met a guide at the ISE in San Mateo who might have some reasonable information. He was working the booth for the Western Outdoors Sport Shop and his name is Lud Martinson (707) 322-3536, he claimed that he did not guide the So Fork but knew of several guides who could guide fly fishers.

I am convinced that the So. Fork in the Leggett to Miranda area can be successfully fished with flies. The bait guys pull alot of large fish out of the river, every year I read of reports of steelhead over 20 lbs. I am interested in meeting anyone who is willing to put in some time on the river to discover its secrets. I have some experience in the Redway and Miranda areas.

I do expect that it would be useful to have a boat or watercraft of some sort to allow you to cover alot of water as the runs of fish are not large and a factor in anyone's success is going to be to cover enough water to find some fish. Many of the easiest areas to access by drive and walk are in the vicinity of gravel bars and long riffles. The conventional wisdom on the So Fork is that you will not find steelhead holding in these riffles -- but they must be in some tailouts and holes that are accessible to fly fishers.

A possible strategy would be to fish indicators with eggs and nymphs from a watercraft in the deeper holes along the current seams and to wade fish the tailouts and riffles and swing flies. I have caught a few small bluebacks swinging black/orange bunny leeches in the riffles, but I have not yet managed to get to the Eel at the optimal time of the season or at optimal river flows.

Any one who has information or is willing to take an excursion after this current storm is over, please leave me a private message.

Good luck to all, and let me add my thanks for your informative report.

[Ryan]

Thanks for the replies. The South Eel was one of the nicest looking rivers I have ever fished. I am supprised that I haven't had someone reply who is consistantley succesful. Some of the holes I fished (with an indicator) just looked so good, and so fishy, I would find myself talking to myself in my head saying "Oh come on... drop." And for some of the holes I was swinging... I could almost feel a hit comming on, but they never came. I know other people do the same thing. I have never seen so many stoneflies before, every rock I turned, there was a stonefly. It was sort of like fishing the McCloud's deep and fast runs in a way, but there weren't any willing fish. I know that's just steelheading though. The Eel was really a beautifull looking river, with the fog floating above the river and into the mountains/forest. Everything was green, and the water is a nice greenish blueish color. I don't think I am going to fish the Eel anytime soon again, but after seeing the fish that were caught, I really want to get into costal steelheading more. I want to try the Gualla, heard that is a great fly fishing river, with good acess and fresh fish. I think if anyone was going to fish the Eel, the advice I would give them would be to fish the south fork. The main is just too wide, with not too much structure except for a couple of riffles here and there. I think I want to get a book about steelhead fly fishing in general. Does anyone have any reccomendations? And just out of curiosoty, has anyone ever fly fished the Smith river? One of the guys we went with (bait fisherman) does the Smith every year. He told me stories of Steelies 20+ pounds, and he said that nobody really fly fishes the river. I think if I were to ever get another guide, I would try to get one on the Smith for fly fishing next year... that is if they exist?

[Hairstacker]

Hi Ryan! Thanks for the interesting report. Curious, you say you saw lots of stoneflies -- what kind were they? Goldens?

[Ryan]

Hey Mike, I'm really not sure what kind of stoneflies they were. I'm guessing they were goldens? I didn't see any flying around, but I checked all over the rocks. I saw one that was probabley close to two inches long! I'm going to admit... when I flipped over this rock, and saw this big ugly bug touching my hand, it really startled me, and I jumped back. I have never seen a stonefly this big before. Funny thing is I didn't see any mayflies or caddis or anything. The rocks were bare with about one stonefly on every two or three rocks I flipped.

[Darian]

Ryan,...... After fishing coastal streams/rivers a lot for about 10 years, I found that coastal fly fishing for Steelhead requires a major commitment in time.... Both travel/fishing. Also, as I mentioned earlier, TIDES, WEATHER, TIMING are some of the major keys.

Some lower coastal rivers (Fort Bragg to SF) are only fly fishable in their estuaries; even though they're called rivers, they're too small to effectively fly fish in the upper sections. All lower coastal fly fishing is similar in one way. It's almost always crowded..... :shock: The Gualala River is one of these. It has good access in the lower sections and good fly fishing, at times, in places like Thompson's and the Racetrack and sometimes, Mill Bend. 8) But, in my mind, The Gualala is typical of most of the lower coastal rivers. If you're passing when the run is on, fish. 8) Otherwise, I would not plan a trip from here to one or even two of these small rivers without local info. If you insist on fishing the lower coastal rivers/creeks, be ready to travel until you hit a run. Then travel some more. Hope you're a gregarious fisherman.... :)

My advice, stick to the northern coastal rivers. They may be bigger but offer larger and more consistent runs of fish and have more water available to fish. You're still gonna be fishing in a crowd but the potential for a catch is much higher up there. 8) 8)

In winter, the Smith River is best fished from a boat with a guide..... It is a beautiful river that clears rapidly as it runs through a very steep/rocky canyon. For the most part it is a series of pools with short runs until it reaches the lower section. Some of these pools or holes are very deep.(I've always fished Salmon on the Smith preferring to fish Steelhead in other places. e.g. Klamath/Trinity system 8) )

Hope this doesn't discourage you..... Just want to give you a good idea of what you're up against.

[Digger]

good info here and reputable guides from what I understand:

http://www.usafishing.com/Calriver.html

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Digger,

I think these are mostly conventional fishing guides.

Most of the readers here are more intersted in going with fly fishing guides.

I do think you can learn a lot from reading their reports though.