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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr><td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr><td width="100%" style='width:100.0%;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><h1>Fishing the North Coast:Weather or not, steelhead are still being caught<o:p></o:p></h1><p class=MsoNormal>Kenny Priest/For the Times-Standard<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Posted: 02/03/2011 01:01:51 AM PST<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><br><br><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.times-standard.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=3567776" target="_new"><span style='color:blue;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=200 height=234 id="Picture_x0020_24" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CBC455.5E2A5D10" alt="http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site127/2011/0202/20110202_044955_FNC-2_3-photo_200.jpg"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jenn Grover, right, of Garden Grove caught and released this beautiful 18 lb wild steelhead on a recent drift boat trip down the Eel River. Grove was fishing with guide Tony Sepulveda, pictured left, of Green Water Fishing Adventures. (Photo courtesy of Green Water Fishing Adventures.)<o:p></o:p></p><p><b>The lack of rain continues to be the hot topic amongst North Coast steelhead anglers. Except for a brief period of rain last Saturday afternoon that dropped roughly a half-inch, the coast has been unseasonable dry. While some rivers, like the Smith and the Chetco are running out of fishable water, others like the main stem of the Eel, lower Trinity and lower Klamath are in great shape. Even with the lack of water, anglers are still catching steelhead on just about every river along the North Coast. The Smith and Chetco are still giving up a few fish to the die-hards who are grinding away on clear, low water. The Mad is having one the best years in recent memory, and the Eel and Van Duzen are both giving up decent numbers of winter steelhead. When the rain finally does fall, look out, we could be in for some world-class steelhead fishing!<o:p></o:p></b></p><p><strong>Weekend weather</strong><br><b>It's dry, dry and dry, according to Troy Nicolini of Eureka's National Weather Service. There's no change in the current weather pattern through at least Wednesday. Looks like another weekend of sunglasses and t-shirts.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Mad River Hatchery numbers encouraging</strong><br><b>The number of steelhead returning to the Mad River Hatchery continues to be strong. Trap data for the week of January 16 to January 22 showed 505 new steelhead made their way up the ladder. That brought the season total to a whopping 1,459 returning steelhead. At this time last year, only 721 steelhead had been counted. And the run isn't over by any means. Another 422 were counted during the week of January 23-29 and 483 returned the week of January 30 through February 5.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><br><b>Important note: employees of the hatchery are urging anglers to use the south entrance of the hatchery when headed to and from the river. There is fear that the New Zealand Mud Snail or the Quagga Mussel could be spread to the ponds from other rivers via anglers boots or waders. If either one of those invasive species shows up in the ponds, it would severely impact the release of hatchery steelhead into the river. <o:p></o:p></b></p><p><strong>The Rivers:</strong><b><br><strong>Chetco River </strong></b><br><b>The Chetco is running out of water reports Guide Val Early of Early Fishing Guide Service. "The fishing is spotty at best and that's only if everyone on the water stays off the fish and stays quiet. We had less than half inch of rain and the river rose an inch on Saturday night, then quickly dropped 4 inches by Sunday afternoon. We don't have any rain in the forecast until two weeks from now. It seems there are a few fish out there and with really low conditions there don't seem to be too many coming in at this time," Early said.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><em>The Smith, Eel, Mad, Van Duzen, and Mattole Rivers are regulated by low flow closures. Call the DFG's low flow closure hotline at (707) 822-3164 to determine the condition of the rivers. </em><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Smith River</strong><br><b>Crescent City guide Mike Coopman was on the Smith earlier in the week and reports the fishing is extremely tough, but there are some fish around. "It's about as low and clear as you'll see it, and you really have to work hard for your bites. Stealth and light leaders - either eight or six pound, are a must. There's not a lot of boat traffic happening now, so that makes it a little easier to sneak up on the fish," Coopman added.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Eel River (main stem)</strong><br><b>Paul Grundman of Rio Dell's Grundmans Sporting Goods reports the main stem Eel is in good shape, but still just a little pushy. "From what I'm hearing, the fishing isn't red hot, but some nice adults are being caught from the forks down to Rio Dell," said Grundman. "The main stem should fish through the weekend and into next week. At that point, we'll probably need a little shot or rain."<o:p></o:p></b></p><p><strong>Eel River (South Fork)</strong><br><b>Darren Brown of Brown's Sporting Goods in Garberville reports the south fork still has some good color, but the Benbow area is getting pretty clear. "Right now there isn't very many boats on the south fork, most have moved down to the main so it's hard say the amount of fish that are around. If the river keeps dropping, my guess we'll have clear water down to Meyers Flat by the weekend," Brown added.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Van Duzen</strong><br><b>The Van Duzen still has good color, but is starting to get a little low for boats according to Grundman. The snowmelt should keep it fishing through the weekend," Grundman added. Currently flowing at 350 cfs and is predicted to drop a little over the next couple days, but the warm weather ahead should bump up flows slightly by the end of the weekend.</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Mad River</strong><br><b>The fishing has slowed a bit, but the quality of fish being taken is good according to Justin Kelly of Eureka's Redwood Marine. "Water continues to flow over the spillway at Ruth Lake, which is keeping the flows up and some color in the river. Right now we're not finding many fresh hatchery fish, but there are lots of native fish in the river. The fishing pressure has thinned and anglers are spread out from the hatchery to the Blue Lake Bridge. Small clusters of roe or Spin N Glows continue to be the top baits," Kelly added. "The river is currently hovering around 7.5 feet and should fish well through the weekend and into early next week."</b><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Trinity</strong><b><br><strong>Upper</strong></b><br><b><span style='background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Steve Huber of Steve Huber's Guide Service has been grinding away in the Junction City area and reports some pretty tough conditions. "We're getting between zero and three fish per day and the only thing that's going to help us out is rain. The water is crystal clear right now and when the sun hits it - it's almost impossible to sneak up on the fish. Boat pressure has been light, which is expected under these conditions. As soon as we get some water, my guess is all those fish holding down in the falls area will be headed our way," Huber added.</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p><strong>Middle</strong><br><b><span style='background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>According to Rick Frederick of Hawkins Bar Mini Mart the Trinity is the perfect shade of green from Big Bar all the way down past the south fork. "I'm starting to see a few more fishermen each day and I'm hearing of more fish being caught. Sounds like there are quite a few of the magnum half-pounders in the river. As the river continues to drop, I'd expect the scores will improve," Frederick added. "Roe and nightcrawlers have been the top producers."</span></b><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#948A54'>Byron Leydecker, JcT<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#948A54'>Chair, Friends of Trinity River<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#948A54'>PO Box 2327<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#948A54'>Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#948A54'>415 383 4810 land<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#948A54'>415 519 4810 mobile<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#4F81BD'>bwl3@comcast.net <o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#4F81BD'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org <o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#4F81BD'>http://www.fotr.org<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>