The first part of December is typically transition time for the Smith River. The majority of the salmon have moved upriver and we’re now waiting for the steelhead to show. Flowing at just under 700 cfs on Wednesday, the river has been closed to fishing since Tuesday. While it was open on Monday, some salmon were caught, but the majority were dark. The majority of the salmon have likely already entered the river on the few small rises we’ve had. It was definitely a short fishing window, with the river only open a handful of days. Now is typically when we see the steelhead start to show. We have a pretty big rise coming this weekend, so hopefully we’ll see the first wave of steelhead enter the river.

Kenny Priest operates Fishing the North Coast, a fishing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and www.fishingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com.