Kenny Priest

Steelhead make a showing on the Smith
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, DECEMBER 17, 2015

Last week’s deluge put a little bit of a damper on the start of our coastal winter steelhead season. All of the North Coast rivers blew out, and some, like the Smith, even surpassed flood stage. But the quick-clearing Smith rebounded nicely, and by Tuesday it had receded enough to provide some decent action for those plunking by shore and...
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Mad River Update
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, DECEMBER 9, 2015
Mad River

According to Justin Kelly of Eureka's RMI Outdoors, the Mad was fishable on Sunday, but has since blown out. He said, "There were a few steelhead caught last weekend, both wild and hatchery. I didn’t see or hear of any big ones caught, most were in the four to five pound range. Once the river drops and is fishable again,...
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Steelhead in the Future
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, DECEMBER 9, 2015
Smith River

It doesn’t look like the Smith will be fishable at least through the weekend reports guide Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service. “If the rain falls as predicted, it will be sometime next week before we’re back on the water. There were quite a few salmon around before this big rise, and there may be a few around after,...
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Chetco River Update
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, DECEMBER 9, 2015
Chetco River

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Chetco was flowing at 20,000 cfs and still rising. It’s predicted to peak early Thursday morning at roughly 26,000 cfs, and likely won’t fish until sometime next week. Once the river drops to a fishable level, we should start to see plenty of steelhead around.

Steelheading on hold due to Swollen Rivers
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, DECEMBER 9, 2015

Steelheading on hold due to swollen rivers It looks as though my gully-washer plea has finally come to fruition. We went from parched rivers to some rivers potentially reaching monitor stage in a blink of any eye. Seeing these rivers full of water – and open to fishing – is a beautiful site. And it looks as though there’s plenty more...
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Big rains should entice winter steelhead
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, DECEMBER 4, 2015

North Coast rivers will likely see the last of the late fall-run salmon push in over the next few days as most impressive storm to date is barreling down on the region. The majority of these late-season kings have already made their way up rivers like the Chetco, Smith, Mad and Eel, but you can bet a few more spurts...
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