It’s steelhead time

Recent rains bolster trout on the Smith

Steve McCown clears debris from a pump intake at Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery on Friday afternoon. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Local fishing guide, Mike Coopman, said Sunday fishing on the Smith River was “stellar.” Coopman’s group landed nine of the 14 steelhead it hooked, including a “double” — catching two fish at the same time.

Other guides expressed similar sentiments about their weekend experience on the Smith, with several boats chalking up steelhead scores in the double digits, according to reports on USAfishing.com.

“There are fish being caught all over” the Smith, said fishing guide Kevin Brock. By 11 a.m. Monday, Brock’s group had landed three of the five steelhead it hooked. “There will be fish caught every day the rest of the week.”

Coopman agreed that the Smith  should continue to provide good fishing all week, with just enough rain in the forecast to keep the river slightly cloudy, which makes for better fishing.

Guides are side drifting for steelhead, and Brock recommended shrimp-pink colored glow yarn and pink puff balls to land some fish. Brock said bank fisherman also caught plenty of fish this weekend, casting and drifting above the forks and plunking with heavy weight in the lower holes.

There are a few straggling salmon still in the Smith, Brock said, but for the most part, it’s steelhead time from here out.

Only barbless hooks are allowed on the Smith River, and no wild steelhead trout can be kept. The only steelhead trout that can become dinner are hatchery fish, marked by a clipped adipose fin (the fin on  the top of the fish just ahead of the tail fin).

“Hopefully we produce enough fish that people catch a few and they’re happy,” said Andy Van Scoyk, manager of the Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery.

Kenny Priest, left, and Max Kellog show off steelhead caught Sunday. Photo courtesy of Mike Coopman Guide Service

“We’re here to enhance the Smith River and keep fishermen happy,” McCown said. The hatchery produces about 100,000 each of steelhead trout and Chinook salmon every year.

The hatchery’s traps used for counting passing fish tallied 11 male steelhead and 13 females from Friday to Sunday.

On Thursday, 456 adult fish  swam upstream and 238 were counted on Sunday, according to the DIDSON sonar fish counter at Fred Haight boat launch. From Wednesday to Sunday, at least 1,357 adult fish swam upstream past the DIDSON. The numbers could be higher, since one of the sonar counters had to be taken out of the water on Friday due to the high water flow.

On Monday, the Smith was dropping from 10 feet to 9 feet in depth at the Jed Smith State Park river gauge in Hiouchi.  The same gauge counted a flow around 5,200 cubic feet per second early Monday, dropping to 4,500 cfs by noon.

The forecast for the Smith calls for the river to drop to close to 8 feet by 8 a.m. Tuesday with a flow of around 3,000 cfs.

Anglers should be reminded with the new year comes the need for a new fishing license, which can be purchased from Coast True Value, Englund Marine, Hiouchi Hamlet and Walmart, or online at dfg.ca.gov/licensing/ols/.

Reach Adam Spencer at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it