Tag: chetco river steelhead guides

Steelhead action heats up

Steelhead season is off to a strong start on the Chetco and Smith Rivers, with near-perfect conditions and a big return of winter fish. The Wild Rivers Fishing crew has been enjoying success on both rivers.

Despite cold weather, with lots of snow in the hills, fishing has been has been good the past week. A major winter storm is expected to start the new year, which could limits options for the first week of 2022.

A beautiful Chetco River steelhead caught with Capt. Andy.

Both rivers blew out around Christmas, but the Smith quickly dropped back into shape, and the Chetco has been in prime shape for the past few days. During the higher flows, plunkers fishing large Spin-N-Glos from shore did well. Drift boaters side-drifting roe and Corkies did well as the river began to drop.

A wild hen steelhead is released on the Upper Chetco.

Wild Rivers Fishing has guides licensed in Oregon and California to fish the Chetco and Smith rivers, and operates under special use permits from the US Forest Service to fish the Wild and Scenic Upper Chetco and launch at the Forks on the Smith River to drift through Redwood National Park.

Nice Chetco steelhead caught on a 3.5 MagLip plug.

We also fish the Elk and Sixes rivers during the winter, and occasionally on the lower Rogue River. Steelhead season is off to a great start on the lower Rogue, where some guides are getting into double-digit numbers anchoring and fishing 3.5 MagLip plugs.

The Chetco is expected to blow out by Jan. 2, and could approach flood stage with the combination of heavy rain and melting snow. When we get back on the water, we will start by running plugs and then side-drift as flows drop.

To book a trip, call (541) 813-1082.

Big steelhead showing up on Chetco, Smith

The peak of the winter steelhead season has arrived on the Chetco and Smith Rivers, and although fishing is only fair at best, some of the fish being caught are in the mid-teens or bigger. The Smith already has produced a handful of 20-plus-pound steelhead, and the Chetco has yielded several fish in the upper teens.

High water in early January has brought in decent numbers of steelhead. Catch rates, however, are still somewhat low, with one to two fish a day on average. There is a nice mix of hatchery and wild steelhead on the Chetco, while the Smith has a few hatchery steelhead, and plenty of bigger wild fish.

A large hatchery steelhead caught on a 3.5 MagLip in January 2021 on the Chetco River.

As the rivers dropped back into shape after the New Year’s rain storm, the Wild Rivers Fishing crew spent the first few days the Chetco was fishable by running plugs close to shore. A 19-pound and an 18-pound steelhead were caught on 3.5 MagLips. After the river continued to drop, side-drifting was effective.

A 19-pound steelhead caught on the Chetco River in January 2021.

The Wild Rivers Fishing guides have donated a handful of wild steelhead to the ODFW hatchery broodstock program on the Chetco. The steelhead are caught with hook and line, and after being held in live wells on the drift boats, are dropped off in holding pens on the lower river. ODFW then takes the steelhead to the hatchery on the Elk River (there isn’t a hatchery on the Chetco), where they are live spawned. The adult steelhead are released back into the Chetco, and several months later, the juvenile steelhead are brought back to the Chetco.

A beautiful Chetco River wild steelhead that was donated in January to the ODFW broodstock hatchery program.

The last few years, February has been the peak season on the Chetco and Smith rivers. Steelhead season runs through March 31 on the Chetco and the end of April on the Smith.

A hefty Chetco River hatchery steelhead from January 2021.
One of the wild steelhead donated to the broodstock program.
A chrome-bright Chetco steelhead.

Ocean bottom fishing charters also will begin soon out of the Port of Brookings. The Wild Rivers Fishing crew also captains charter boats in Brookings, targeting lingcod, halibut, salmon, rockfish and albacore tuna.

To book a guided drift boat river trip, or an ocean charter, call (541) 813-1082 or visit www.brookingsfishing.com.