After five weeks of dry weather, rain is finally returning to the North Coast — and just in the nick of time.

Several smaller rivers, including the Van Duzen, Mattole and Redwood Creek, have been closed for some time due to low-flow fishing restrictions. At the moment, nearly all North Coast rivers remain low and clear, with the exception of the larger systems like the Eel and Klamath. Needless to say, a good shot of rain is exactly what we needed.

As is typically the case when rivers are refreshed with new flows, expect a strong push of steelhead moving in from the saltwater.

The current forecast calls for about a half-inch of rain in the Humboldt area and up to an inch in the Smith Basin Sunday. That amount won’t dramatically change conditions on the Eel, Mad or Van Duzen, but the Smith should see a noticeable bump in flows. More active weather is expected by mid-next week — potentially enough to cause blowouts around Humboldt — while providing much-needed water for the Smith and Chetco.

With luck, most rivers should be rounding into shape within a couple of weeks as we approach the peak of the season.

Weather outlook
According to the Eureka’s National Weather Service office, agreement is growing on the high pressure/ridging pattern ending Friday. “A deep, elongated trough is forecasted to move through the area. Increased cloud cover and a deeper marine layer will lead to more moderated temperatures over northwest California Friday and Saturday. A return of rain is forecasted to arrive sometime between Saturday night and Sunday midday. Generally, rainfall amounts are likely to be minor, but precipitation rates could briefly be moderate to locally heavy. National Blend of Models is showing around a 40 to 80% chance for over an inch of rain from Sunday morning through Tuesday morning. The highest probabilities are focused more for the higher elevations in Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte counties. Forecast uncertainty grows early to mid-next week. Some ensemble forecasts are showing a break in precipitation, while others are showing continued pulses of precipitation. That said, the forecast is fairly certain this change in weather will bring much colder temperatures, increased rainfall, and mountain snowfall to the area.

Upcoming salmon information meetings
The California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will hold the annual Salmon Information Meeting in person at the California Natural Resources Agency Auditorium at 715 P St. in Sacramento on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at 1 p.m., and will also be livestreamed online. The meeting will feature the outlook for this year’s ocean salmon fisheries, in addition to a review of last year’s salmon fisheries and inland spawner returns.

CDFW statement:

“The 2026 Salmon Information Meeting marks the beginning of a two-month public process to help develop annual sport and commercial ocean salmon fishing seasons. The input is also used to inform inland salmon season development later in the spring.

The annual pre-season salmon management process involves collaborative negotiations between west coast states, federal agencies, tribal co-managers, commercial troll representatives, commercial passenger fishing vessel representatives, private recreational anglers, non-governmental organizations, and others interested in salmon fishery management and conservation.

These leaders utilize the most current information shared at the Salmon Information Meeting to work together to develop a range of recommended ocean fishing season alternatives at the March 4-9 Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting in Sacramento, Calif. Final season recommendations will be adopted at the PFMC’s April 7-12 meeting in Portland, Ore.

Salmon Information Meeting details, agenda, informational materials and instructions to view the livestream will be published in advance of the event on CDFW’s Ocean Salmon web page. Livestream login information and a handout with the meeting presentations will be posted by the morning of Feb. 25. Please see the Ocean Salmon web page for a complete Calendar of Events and contact information regarding the Salmon Preseason Process, including other opportunities for engagement in the ocean salmon season development process.”

Eel River steelhead returns
During the week of January 12 – 18, 45 adult steelhead (female 21, male 17, unknown 7) and one (1) subadult steelhead were observed moving upstream through the fishway. An additional 36 adult steelhead (female 17, male, 16, unknown 3) were observed during the week of January 19 – 25. No (0) subadult steelhead were observed moving upstream over this timeframe. The season total for upstream migrating adult steelhead now stands at 115 (female 51, male 42, unknown 22). The season count for subadult steelhead stands at eight (8). For more information, visit https://eelriver.org/the-eel-river/#fishcount

The Rivers:
As of Thursday, the Van Duzen, Mattole, and Redwood Creek were closed to fishing. All other North Coast rivers subjected to low-flow fishing closures were open to fishing. This includes the Mad, main stem Eel, South Fork Eel, and Smith rivers. The low-flow closure telephone hotline for North Coast rivers is no longer in service. You can now find river openings and closures online at https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Inland/Low-Flow/North-Coast. Low-flow information for all North Coast rivers is available here.

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 from 200 yards upstream of its mouth to the confluence with Stanberry Creek are now open to fishing. More information can be found here.

Mad
According to Justin Kelly of RMI Outdoors, the river is low, but still green. “It’s definitely not clearing as fast as the other rivers,” said Kelly. “The fishing remains tough as we haven’t seen many hatchery fish yet. The rain coming up will help, hopefully it will bring in some more fish.” A very slight bump in flows is predicted for early Monday morning, with bigger increases starting mid-week. If the predictions hit, it could be dirty by next weekend.

Main stem Eel
As of Thursday, flows were at 2,500 cfs at Scotia. Conditions remain excellent, and there are fishing being caught. Boats have been spread out from the top to bottom, and there seems to be good numbers of fresh steelhead scattered throughout. A very small rise is predicted for Monday, but a larger rise is forecast for mid-week. If the predictions are right, it could be big and muddy by next weekend.

South Fork Eel
The South Fork is low and clear, running at 620 cfs at Miranda as of Thursday afternoon. Despite the conditions, fish are being caught, though the crowds have thinned. A small increase in flows is predicted for Monday. A bigger change is forecast for mid-next week where we could see heavier rainfall totals and a possible blowout by the weekend.

Van Duzen
The Van Duzen remains closed as of Saturday, January 31. As of Thursday, flows were down to 100 cfs. If the rain totals fall as predicted, it won’t be enough to open the river as it’s predicted to peak at 125 cfs. Additional rainfall is predicted to start next Wednesday, which could open up the river to fishing and possibly blow it out by the weekend. Minimum flows to keep the river open are 150 cfs at the Grizzly Creek gauge.

Smith River
The Smith is low and clear and in need of some rain. And it’s on the way. As of Thursday, it was just under 6.0 feet (932 cfs) at the Jed Smith gauge. If the predictions are right, it should begin to rise Sunday evening and peak early Monday at 9.5 feet. This is the first of a couple of rises forecast for next week. The bigger one should come Friday, which should provide some good conditions next weekend. We should see quite a few new fish enter the system on the rises, but once it settles down, it should be good fishing.

Southern Oregon rivers
“Almost a month since the last heavy rain, a significant rise in the Chetco is expected Sunday morning,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “Flows are expected to jump from around 500 cfs to nearly 2,500 cfs, prime conditions for steelhead. The river has seemed lower than the actual flow, with drift boaters struggling to find floatable water above Ice Box and plenty of bumping and dragging below Loeb. Groups of steelhead can be seen, but they are easily spooked on the low, clear water. 

The rain also will give the Elk and Sixes a much-needed boost in flows, at a time when fishing is usually at its peak. The Rogue also should fish well after the rise for plunkers and boaters anchoring and running plugs. Salmon have been encountered by bottom fish anglers near Mack Arch, so don’t be surprised by an early springer on the Rogue.”

Brookings ocean update
According to Martin, lingcod fishing was fair with a big swell and choppy seas this week out of Brookings. “Rough weather is likely Friday through Sunday. Surfperch are already moving into shallow areas near beaches.”

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.