Kenny Priest

Our coastal rivers finally received the flushing and scouring they desperately needed. Last week’s storms brought the rivers to their highest levels of the season, providing ample water for steelhead to make it back to the streams and creeks where they originated. The extra flows will also trigger the fish that are still swimming in the salt to begin their...
Full Story 

The fierce round of storms pounding the North Coast has brought a sudden stop to the winter steelhead season. From the Chetco south to the top of the Eel River system, you’ll be hard pressed to find any water that resembles anything close to green. And the dirty water conditions may be with us for a quite a few days...
Full Story 

If you’re on the hunt for green water this weekend, you’ll want to head north. The Smith and Chetco will both be on the drop and should be in prime shape. All stretches of the Eel, Van Duzen, Mad and Redwood Creek are currently blown out, with very little relief in sight. A chance of rain is in the forecast...
Full Story 

It’s been somewhat of a sluggish start to the winter steelhead season on the North Coast, and it’s hard to put a finger on exactly why. All of the coastal rivers saw a good rise on Christmas Day, but that influx of water didn’t bring much in the way of steelhead numbers. Granted, a handful of steelhead have been caught...
Full Story 

For North Coast river anglers, the past couple weeks were spent waiting on the rain – as well as the arrival of the winter steelhead. Well, we now have both. The latest storms delivered a much more powerful punch than predicted, especially to the Smith and Chetco. Both rivers peaked at well over 20,000 cfs, and got the flushing they...
Full Story 

Winter steelhead season has yet to kick into gear on the North Coast, but changes are a brewing. We have a couple decent storm fronts headed our way that will put all of the coastal rivers on the rise. If the rain comes as predicted, the rivers will see their highest flows this winter, except for the Smith. The Eel,...
Full Story