Kenny Priest

From high water to low water back to high water, North Coast rivers are all feeling the effects of the yo-yo syndrome. We’ve had some good storms roll through the area, bringing with them some decent river rises. Unfortunately, dropping flows have been as abrupt as the rises. This recipe does not make for quality steelhead angling. Having storms closer...
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The transition to steelhead season is taking a bit longer than we had hoped. To date, steelhead fishing has yet to really take off on popular rivers like the Smith and Chetco. The lower Eel has yet to see big numbers of steelhead as well. The lone bright spot has been the Mad River. It’s probably a safe bet that...
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Following a weekend that saw slightly less rain than predicted, conditions on our steelhead rivers are starting to improve. Storms impacting our coast one after the other are what’s really needed to kick off the winter steelhead run, and that looks to be the case through the weekend. A good soaking is forecasted for Wednesday with another coming late Saturday...
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Winter steelhead season has yet to take off on the North Coast but that could soon change. A pretty sizeable storm is headed our way this weekend that should put all of the coastal rivers on the rise, and hopefully open them up to fishing. And more rain is on the way next week according to the National Weather Service....
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With no rain in the forecast for at least the next 10 days, the end is in plain view for the late, fall-run salmon season on the North Coast. The Chetco saw a few good days of fishing but the Smith was somewhat of a disappointment. The rains, along with the runs of salmon, were short-lived, forcing most of the...
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After being open for just over a week, salmon fishing on both the Smith and Chetco has proven to be challenging. By the sound of things, the end is likely near for the run of late-fall kings on the coast. Only a couple small storms hit the coast and dropped enough rain to open the two rivers to fishing. While...
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