Fishing Articles

Summer Arrives at Collins Lake
by Collins Lake Staff, JUNE 2, 2026
Collins Lake

It’s a beautiful week at Collins Lake. Crowded earlier-than-normal Memorial Day celebrations left a nice quiet mid-week calm as summer starts in earnest. Daytime highs are climbing into the 90’s with surface temperature around 73°F- it’s perfect lake weather! The lake is about 2.5ft below spill, which means we’ll get the south launch, parking & fishing out on the spillway...
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Southern Oregon Rivers Fishing Report
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, FEBRUARY 27, 2026

“The Chetco is dropping back into shape with prime conditions expected this weekend after cresting at nearly 28,000 cfs earlier this week,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “Flows were down to 15,000 cfs on Wednesday and should be near 5,000 cfs sometime Friday. Steelhead fishing was decent before the big rains and melting snow pushed the Chetco well over...
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Smith River Fishing Report
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, FEBRUARY 27, 2026
Smith River

The Smith dropped back into plunkable/driftable shape Thursday, with the river sitting at just above 12 feet at the Jed Smith gauge. Conditions look excellent for the weekend with the height hovering around 10 feet. The big rise earlier in the week should pull some fresh fish in from the ocean as well as push some downers from their spawning...
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Van Duzen Fishing Report
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, FEBRUARY 27, 2026
Van Duzen River

The Van Duzen peaked at over 21,000 cfs Tuesday but dropped back down to under 3,000 cfs as of Thursday morning. Depending on snowmelt, it could be down to a fishable level by the second week of March.

South Fork Eel River Fishing Report
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, FEBRUARY 27, 2026
Eel River - South Fork

South Fork Eel The South Fork Eel surpassed action/monitor stage Tuesday evening, peaking at over 52,000 cfs at Miranda. It’s been dropping quickly since and is back down below 12,000 cfs as of Thursday morning. The 10-day ensemble shows the river dropping to a fishable flow by mid-next week. Above Benbow will be the first area to turn green. ...
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Main Stem Eel River Fishing Report
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, FEBRUARY 27, 2026
Eel River

Main stem Eel The main stem Eel was down to 65,500 cfs after reaching 190,000 cfs at Scotia Wednesday morning. It doesn’t look like it will drop down to a fishable flow for at least a couple of weeks, possibly by mid-March. ...
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