Elk and Sixes Archives - Wild Rivers Fishing

River salmon winds down, steelhead season begins Dec. 1

BROOKINGS, Ore. – A hurricane-like storm has sidelined fishing guides and anglers throughout the Pacific Northwest, but before heavy rains blew out every river from Northern California to British Columbia, salmon fishing was in full swing on the Chetco, Smith, Elk and Sixes rivers. Winds over 80 mph slammed the Southern Oregon Coast overnight, bringing several inches of rain. The local rivers are expected to be blown out until around Thanksgiving.

**Longtime customer Tyler with a large Elk River hatchery king that bit a 5.0 Jaw Breaker MagLip.**

The Wild Rivers Fishing crew – Capt. Andy, Sam, Rye, Mick, Eric and Chris – were busy running drift boat trips on the local rivers near Brookings, Oregon, with good success, before the big storm. Salmon have been in the Chetco and Smith since early September, and after rains around Halloween, the drift boat season was in peak-season form. Earlier in September, fishing had been good in the Chetco River estuary.

**Capt. Rye with a trophy hatchery king salmon caught in the Chetco estuary in early October.**

Salmon to 50 pounds were caught on the Chetco and Smith this season, with plenty of fish over 40 pounds. Local guides have been catching salmon on MagLip plugs, roe and sand shrimp fished below bobbers, and back-bouncing roe.

**Capt. Mick holds a chrome-bright Chetco River king from early November.**

**Capt. Sam with a large Smith River king that was caught and released by a customer in November.**

**Capt. Andy with a large hatchery king from the Elk River in November.**

The peak season for fall king salmon was early November. Fresh fish will continue to move into the local rivers through December, while steelhead also will arrive next month. Peak season for winter steelhead on the Chetco and Smith is January and February, although December can produce decent fishing, especially on high-water years, which this appears to be.

The Chetco estuary kicked off this year’s river salmon season. The area along with jetties was crowded, but produced good fishing. A local angler fishing in his own boat caught a 52-pound king. Numerous fish close to 45 pounds or bigger also were caught.

After the first rains, our crew switched to drift boats, first fishing roe and sand shrimp below bobbers on the Chetco tidewater, and then switching gears to the Smith River after its first opener of the season. Fishing was wide open on the Smith. Capt. Sam and Capt. Andy both enjoyed 30-plus-fish days with customers when the river first opened, with a hot back-bouncing bite in the deeper upriver holes.

**Longtime customer Haley with a nice Chetco River king caught with Capt. Rye.**

Another rain storm arrived, kicking off the plug season on the Chetco and Smith. 5.0 MagLip plugs were hot this season, producing countless kings for our crew.

Our newest guides, Chris and Eric, both enjoyed success in their drift boats with customers. Chris and Eric have been deckhands on our ocean charter boats, and are now full-time fishing guides and charter boat captains. Chris earned his US Coast Guard captains license this year, and Eric, who graduated in June, is taking his captain’s class and will be running an ocean boat as well next summer.

**Capt. Chris has been getting customers into lots of nice kings this fall.**

**Eric has been a deckhand for us since he was 16 and is now a guide and soon-to-be ocean captain. Here’s a nice king from an estuary trip in October deckhanding for Capt. Rye.**

**The largest king caught so far this season with our crew, a 50-pound caught on the Chetco with Capt. Mick.**

The Elk and Sixes will be solid bets for salmon in December, while the Upper Chetco and Smith also get their share of late-run kings. Steelhead fishing is usually best on the Smith in December, with a mix of halfpounders and early adults. The Chetco has been known to produce good steelhead action by mid-December as well. In recent years, the Wild Rivers Fishing crew has caught bright kings on the Elk and Sixes as late as Christmas Eve.

**Wild Rivers Fishing founder and head guide Andy Martin with a perfect Chetco River king from mid-November. The fish hit a HawgNose FlatFish.**

To book a winter steelhead trip, call (541) 813-1082. www.wildriversfishing.com.

To learn more about the ocean charters our crew runs during the spring and summer, visit www.brookingsfishing.com.

Here are some more photos from our great salmon action this fall.

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.

Fall salmon season heats up

Our 2018 fall king salmon season on the Southern Oregon and Northern California coast is off to a great start. Capt. Andy spent August on the Rogue River Bay in Gold Beach, where an above-average salmon run has been expected. While not epic, fishing was solid all of August. We averaged a fish per rod all season, with limits several days and a few slower days mixed in.

Salmon caught in August 2018 in the Rogue Bay with guide Andy Martin.

The size of the salmon on the Rogue Bay was great this year, with a solid 20-pound average. Fish to 30 pounds were caught each week. This salmon were caught trolling with anchovies and Yakima Bait spinner blades.

A nice king from August 2018 on the Rogue Bay in Gold Beach.

Now that September has arrived, Andy will be shifting gears to the Coos and Coquille rivers, which has some of the prolific fall salmon runs each year on the entire West Coast. The Coos has an abundant run of hatchery kings, with limits common during peak season. Here, we troll plug-cut herring and Fish Flash flashers. Salmon have been caught on the Coos since late August. Peak season is all of September.

In October, Andy and the Wild Rivers Fishing crew will focus on the Chetco estuary and upriver on the Chetco and Smith rivers. The ocean “bubble” season at the mouth of the Chetco runs Oct. 7-8 and 14-15. We have five guides working this fishery so a few seats are still open.

Until the October rains come, Andy will be trolling the Chetco estuary and combining bottom fishing trips. This is a great way to fill the freezer before winter.

The drift boat season will begin as soon as the fall rains arrive. News this year is Andy’s customer 18-foot Clackacraft ClackaMax. This is the same size as the 19-foot Willie boats and is extremely comfortable and roomy to fish from.

Capt. Andy’s new 18-foot ClackMax drift boat.

The Chetco and Smith fall salmon season will run from mid-October through early December. We also will fish the Elk and Sixes if the Chetco and Smith slow.

Andy and Travis are two of the few guides with special-use permits for the Upper Chetco. This is a great fall salmon fishery without the crowds of the lower river.

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