BROOKINGS, Ore. – Fall salmon season has come to an end on the Southern Oregon coast, while the first winter steelhead of the season are now arriving on the Chetco, Smith, Elk and Sixes rivers. Peak season for steelhead is January and February, but fishable numbers of these prized fish have already arrived on the coastal rivers of the Oregon Coast.
The Wild Rivers Fishing crew ran its first steelhead trips of the season last week. Capt. Andy got into a handful of adult winter steelhead on the Chetco. Capt. Sam ran a trip on the Smith, and encountered big numbers of halfpounder steelhead, a sign the main run is about to arrive. The first steelhead of the season have entered the fish trap at Rowdy Creek Hatchery on the lower Smith River.
Salmon season was decent on the Chetco this fall, with a very good estuary season, and fair fishing upriver once the fall rains arrived. Big numbers of salmon spawned, however, signaling a strong run on the Chetco. The Smith River was closed to salmon fishing this fall, but the hatchery had a big return, and impressive numbers of salmon have just finished spawning on the Smith, evident by spawned out salmon spread throughout the river.
Steelhead are caught from drift boats, with two anglers and a guide floating downriver, casting small clusters of roe and Corkies or Puff Balls. The trips are fast-paced, using light spinning tackle and covering large sections of the river, fishing nearly the entire drift downriver. On the Smith River, our guides have special-use permits from the US Forest Service to launch at the Forks, and drift through Redwood National Park. Fishing for steelhead beneath towering redwood trees is a truly unique experience.
On the Chetco, Capt. Andy, Mick and Travis have limited-entry Forest Service permits to fish the Wild and Scenic Upper Chetco. Only a small number of guides have these coveted permits to launch at the South Fork, Redwood Bar, Nook Bar and Miller Bar on the Chetco.
Most steelhead run 6-10 pounds, although the average size is a couple pounds bigger on the Smith. The Chetco River record is 28 pounds, while a pair of California record 27-plus pound steelhead have been caught on the Smith River.
Our steelhead trips are run by Capt. Andy, Rye, Mick, Sam, Travis and Shane. New for 2024, two of our ocean deckhands, Eric and Chris, also will be running a few winter steelhead trips during the peak season.
During Capt. Andy’s first trip of the season last week, he drifted from the South Fork to Social Security Bar. Lots of salmon were observed spawning on the Upper River. On the lower river, his group hooked four steelhead and landed two.
The estuary salmon season kicked off in late August, with a few fish caught every day along the jetties. By September and early October, big numbers of king salmon were staging in the Chetco River estuary, waiting for fall rains. Mick, Rye and Sam had good seasons trolling the estuary with their jet boats.
As the first fall rains arrived, big numbers of salmon moved upriver, into the tidewater and above. We used drift boats to fish the river above tidewater in late October, catching salmon on roe and sandshrimp suspended above the bottom with bobbers. After heavy rains in early November, there was a week of good fishing with plugs and back-bouncing roe, but the majority of the run quickly moved upstream and spawned. There also were a few weeks of good fishing on the Elk and Sixes rivers. Capt. Sam caught our big fish of the year, a king close to 45 pounds caught and released by a young angler from Washington State, Austin Han.
Our main focus for the next two months is steelhead on the Smith, Chetco, Elk and Sixes rivers. All of our river guides are also saltwater charter boat captains with Brookings Fishing Charters, www.brookingsfishing.com.
To book a drift boat trip, call (541) 813-1082, or visit www.wildriversfishing.com.
Here are a few of the fall salmon from the Chetco River estuary this fall.
Here are a few photos from the upriver drift boat fishing in 2023 on the Chetco and Elk rivers with Wild Rivers Fishing.
