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.
With drift boat steelhead seasons now over on the Southern Oregon Coast, anglers are looking forward to the summer salmon season on the Rogue Bay, where thousands of kings will stack up near the mouth and wait for fall rains before heading upstream.
Anglers hold ocean-bright king salmon caught on the Rogue Bay with guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing.
This year’s fall king salmon forecast for the Rogue is strong. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates the ocean abundance of fall king salmon from the Rogue River is 257,000. Of those, ODFW predicts the in-river run to be around 60,000 adult fall kings.
An angler holds a 25-pound king salmon caught on the Rogue Bay with guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing.
Salmon begin returning to the bay in June. By early July, fishing is generally fair to good, with peak season in late July and August. Thousands of salmon will arrive in the bay, but warm water above the Highway 101 bridge often keeps them from continuing upstream. The ocean-bright salmon hold in the bay, moving back and forth with the tide until water temperatures in the tidewater area drop below 70 degrees.
A 30-pound Rogue Bay king salmon caught with guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing.
The bay is a troll fishery. Guides and other anglers will troll anchovies behind spinner blades. The key is to get an anchovy to rapidly spin and trigger a strike. Veteran guides have years of experience threading anchovies to create that perfect spin. The best guides also know where to find the salmon at certain times in the tide, how much weight to use, how far to let the line out, and how fast to troll.
When lots of salmon stack up in the Rogue Bay, the action can be fast and furious. Here is a catch caught in guide Andy Martin’s sled.
One of the big draws of the Rogue Bay is the calm, protected water. Ocean-bright fish hold between the historic Gold Beach bridge and the tips of the jetties. Here, anglers don’t have to worry about big waves or sea sickness. The shallow water of the bay also concentrates the salmon into a small area, giving anglers an advantage. Catch rates can be high, with a couple hundred salmon caught in a single day by the dozens of boats trolling.
Guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing nets a king salmon for a customer during the 2019 season on the Rogue Bay.
There are plenty of guides to choose from on the Rogue. Guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing is a local, year-round guide based on the Southern Oregon Coast. Many of the guides who fish the Rogue come from outside of the area. Aside from being a local guide, Andy also is a full-time guide, not a hobby guide. Growing up in Brookings, just down the road from Gold Beach and the Rogue Bay, Andy has fished the Rogue for more than three decades and has guided there for more than 15 years.
Guide Andy Martin with a hefty king salmon caught by customer Carolyn Ford.
Last year, the Rogue had big numbers of jack salmon. These 2-year-old salmon are a good indicator of the follow year’s run. In August, guides were catching two to four jacks a person, and losing several more. That should equate to a big numbers of larger adult salmon this summer on the Rogue Bay.
Customers of guide Andy Martin hold jack salmon caught last August on the Rogue Bay. The big number of jacks last year means there will be plenty of adult salmon in 2020.
The limit on the Rogue Bay is two adult king salmon a day, plus five jacks less than 24 inches. When fishing is good, anglers expect to catch one to two adults a person. The salmon are in prime shape, bright and full of fat. The Rogue River is known as having the best-tasting salmon in the world. During the World’s Fair in Seattle year ago, there was a taste contest to determine the best-tasting king salmon. The Rogue won!
Guide Andy Martin holds a 30-pound king salmon caught by customer Jeff Kimball of Seattle.
Andy fishes the Rogue Bay in a custom 26-foot Alumaweld guide sled. It is one of the biggest boats on the bay. He also runs rockfish and lingcod combination trips, fishing the ocean first thing in the morning and then trolling the bay the rest of the day.
Guide Andy Martin holds a typical Rogue Bay king salmon.
To book a summer salmon trip on the Rogue Bay, visit www.wildriversfishing.com or call (541) 813-1082.
