SF Eel? Water quality?

[Anne Vitale]

I haven't been steelhead fishing since Jan 1 and I am getting antzy. Too antzy! Sooo I have decided to take a long weekend off and try new water (at least for me), the SF Eel. Anyone know what the water conditions are like up there? Also I'll be taking my VW Westfalia so any suggestion regarding camp grounds would be appreciated. Thanks....Anne

[dpentoney]

Don't know about what shape the water is in but it is getting a little late in the year for the SF Eel. The SF fork fish tend to be earlier than the main stem, and I would expect any fish there now to be spent. If the water is in shape I would drive a little farther and fish the lower Eel or the Van Duzen for a much better shot at fresh fish. The most epic steelhead fishing I ever experienced was on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of March on the Van Duzen River in 1977.

[mircetich]

The SF is still out of shape but you may get 1.5 - 2ft of visibility by the weekend. I would fish the lower river though in and about Myers Flat for fresher fish. There is a good private campground (Bigfoot) right on the river in Myers Flat.
I would fish the Van Duzen though, Right now there is 2 ft of visibility and will only get better as we get further down the week.
If you need more info feel free to contact me via e-mail or phone...


www. riversedgeguide.com

[Anne Vitale]

Thanks guys...it sounds as if the Van Duzen is a better shot than the Eel. Do you know if there is a campground on the river? ......Anne

[Larry S]

Grizzly Creek CG is up river a bit.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=421

Have a great time.
Larry S

[Larry S]

Anne:
Check pm.
Larry S

[mircetich]

Anne,
Grizzly Creek CG is closed for the winter, this year is the first that they closed it because it had campers in it all winter long...
But there is a nice private campground in Fortuna, right off 12th street. It is more of an RV parking lot but it is clean, well managed, showers etc, and close to a restaurant or two.

[Anne Vitale]

Thanks for everyone that commented on my request for info on the Eel. I left Thursday morning and got back from a short trip up there late last evening the 19th.

The reason the trip was short is because the water clarity north of Benbow on the Eel got worse the further north I went up Hwy 101. I decided to go on up to the Eureka Fly Shop in the hope of being told of a great stream running clear and clean and full of steelhead. Well the best they could do was send further north to the Smith. I find the Smith a bit too inhibiting to fish on my own so I decided to back track 20 miles or so and try the Van Duzen.

As it turns out the Van Duzen was high and cloudy but fishable. I found the County Park on hwy 36 (before you get to Grizzly) open all year for camping and settled in. I fished the Camp water Thursday evening and Friday Morning. Nothing...nada..zilch so I decided to try and fish my way back down 101.

At this point I realized I was basically on what my good friend Lee S. calls a "snoop". I stopped at every point on the StreamTime map and checked out the water and made notes in my log on what the runs were like for future reference. Finally when I got to Benbow the water clarity was ideal for fishing so l rigged up and fished the rest of the afternoon on the run that runs through town. All I managed were a dozen or so smolt.

In the end I got to camp a night in the redwoods, spent quite time on two wild rivers, found at least 10 new fishing spots and got in a whole lot of speycasting practice. Not bad for an unplanned 48 hour trip.......Anne

[Larry S]

Anne:
you have a pm.
Larry S