The rain persisted a little bit longer than anticipated last weekend, putting the river conditions a few days behind where we thought they’d be this week. But there is finally light at the end of the dark, wet, tunnel. With no significant rain in the forecast for the next 10 days, green water is finally within reach for all the coastal rivers. The Smith was the first to round into shape and produced some quality fish for those drifting from the forks down Wednesday. The Chetco is green as well, and boats flocked to the river Thursday. It was still a little on the high side, but the color was pristine. The South Fork Eel, which started to turn green earlier in the week, will be very popular location this weekend. It will still be a little pushy, but plenty fishable. Conditions should be excellent all next week. The same can be said for the Van Duzen. The Mad is also coming around, and should a hint of green by the weekend or early next week. The hatchery is seeing some solid returns, so there’s plenty of fish in the river. The main stem of the Eel River will be the last to turn green. It will likely need every bit of the 10-dry spell before it drops to a fishable height. If you’re looking to try and catch a winter steelhead, you’ll have plenty of options coming soon.

Commercial crab season to open Jan. 15
The commercial Dungeness crab season in Fishing Zones 1 and 2, from the California Oregon Border to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line, will open on Jan. 15, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. under a 25 percent trap reduction. A pre-soak period will begin on Jan. 12, 2025, at 8:01 a.m. More information can be found here.

Mad River Steelhead Reward Program Returns for 2025
For the Mad River steelhead fishery in the upcoming 2025 season, the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will once again attach reward tags to a small subset of hatchery-origin (i.e., adipose-clipped) adult steelhead upon their return to freshwater. This is in effort to estimate the steelhead harvest on the Mad River. According to John Deibner-Hanson, a Northern Region Environmental Scientist for CDFW, a number of fish will be captured in the lower river using tangle nets and affixed with spaghetti tags worth $20, $50 or $100 rewards. Once the tags are applied on their backs behind the dorsal fin, the fish will be released.
Upon capturing a reward tag, anglers will need to follow one of the methods outlined below to answer a series of questions about how the tag was acquired (e.g., caught on fish, found on dead fish, found on bank). Anglers will have until April 15, 2025 to report tags and claim rewards, after which reward tags from this season will expire. To attain accurate harvest estimates, we must assume 100% tag return rates on harvested steelhead, so getting the word out for our tagging program will be vital to its success.

There are three ways an angler may report their tag for reward:

1. Scan the QR code posted on message boards and signage around the river or carried by CDFW creelers
2. Visit: https://forms.office.com/g/jjWnw9t7Ss
3. Return the tag to CDFW at: 50 Ericson Ct., Arcata, CA

Using options 1 and 2 above, anglers will not submit the physical tag, only needing to provide the unique tag number and answering the accompanying questions online. For this reason, anglers are strongly urged to retain the tag after submittal until all rewards have been claimed, as only one reward will be paid for each uniquely numbered tag. For questions, please email MadRiverRewards@wildlife.ca.gov.

The Rivers:
As of Thursday, all North Coast rivers subjected to low-flow fishing closures were open to fishing. This includes the Mad, main stem Eel, South Fork Eel, Redwood Creek, Van Duzen, Mattole and Smith rivers. The Department of Fish and Game will make the information available to the public by a telephone recorded message updated, as necessary, no later than 1 p.m. each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as to whether any stream will be closed to fishing. The rivers can be opened at any time. The low flow closure hotline for North Coast rivers is 707-822-3164. NOTE: The main stem Eel from the South Fork to Cape Horn Dam, the Mad River from the mouth to 200 yards upstream and the Mattole River are all now open to fishing. More information can be found here.

Mad
The Mad is still high and off color, running at just under 10 feet as of Thursday. With dry conditions persisting, it will continue to drop and should be at a fishable height and color by mid next week. Quite a few fish are returning to the hatchery, including a few pushing 20-pounds. The river fishes best between 7 and 8 feet.

Main stem Eel
The main stem is dropping fairly quickly. After topping 132,000 cfs at the end of December at Scotia, flows were down to 15,000 cfs by Thursday. It will likely need another 10 days of dry weather before it’s green and at a fishable height.

South Fork Eel
The South Fork above and below Benbow has started to turn green as of Tuesday. It will be plenty fishable by the weekend, but it will still be a little pushy. Conditions next week should be prime as flows drop towards 1,500 cfs at Miranda.

Van Duzen
The Van Duzen was running at 950 cfs at Bridgeville Thursday afternoon, and should start to come around color-wise by the weekend. Predicted to be below 800 cfs by Saturday morning. Conditions should be excellent next week.

Smith River
The Smith dropped into perfect shape Wednesday and quite a few fish were caught by the dozen or so boats on the water. Scores ranged from one to three fish per boat. Conditions should be excellent through the weekend, and boat pressure should lighten up as boats headed to the Chetco Thursday. As of Thursday afternoon, the Smith was just above 10 feet on the Jed Smith gauge and dropping slowly.

Chetco/Rogue
After weeks of high water, the Chetco is finally dropping into shape, with prime conditions expected this weekend reports Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “Plunkers have been catching steelhead since the weekend at Social Security Bar and Loeb Park on the Chetco, which should be fishable for drift boats by Thursday,” said Martin. “A mix of wild and hatchery steelhead are being caught. Steelhead also are being caught on the Lower Rogue by plunkers, despite high, muddy water. This weekend should be prime throughout Southern Oregon.”

Chetco/Rogue steelhead harvest requires Validation and Tag
As a reminder, if you want to harvest a winter steelhead from the Chetco or Rogue River this winter, all anglers will need a harvest tag in addition to a Rogue-South Coast Steelhead Validation.

To fish for steelhead in the Rogue/So. Coast, all anglers will need:

• Annual angling license (12 years and older) and combined angling tag
• OR Daily or multi-day angling license with valid ODFW ID number.

Purchasing daily or multi-day licenses through “guest checkout” doesn’t include the ID number (a full account is required to purchase a validation). Pre-paid daily licenses do not qualify to purchase a validation.

• AND 2. Rogue-South Coast Steelhead Validation.

To KEEP wild winter steelhead, anglers (regardless of age) will need:

• All the above

And Rogue-South Coast Wild Steelhead Harvest Tag:
Wild steelhead kept are recorded here, not the statewide combined angling tag.
Not needed for catch-and-release or keeping hatchery steelhead only.
Bag limit: 1 wild steelhead/day, 3 per season (Dec. 1 – Apr. 30).
Check the sport fishing regulations or myodfw.com to know where and when wild steelhead may be kept. Return or report paper tags to ODFW after each winter steelhead season and before the next begins Dec. 1.
COST: Validation: $2 residents, $4 non-residents.
Harvest Tag: $10 residents, $20 non-residents.
Validation and harvest tag are valid for one full season (Dec. 1 through April 30), even when using daily or multi-day licenses.

Brookings ocean update
According to Martin, ocean conditions are expected to be calm enough for boats out of Brookings on Thursday, before strong northwest winds arrive. “Lingcod and rockfish are open year-round out of Brookings. With commercial crab season well underway, sport crabbing has been slow.”