For the third time during the 2019 Steelhead season an epic rain event will see every river on the North Coast swell to near flood stage conditions. If the projections hold this rise will rival the big spike in flows we saw in mid January for both the Eel and Smith rivers. The S Fork Eel was just coming into shape late this week above Benbow, but reports of fish being caught were few and far between. It was a small window, and now it looks like the rivers to the south could be out of the game for quite some time. The Smith had near perfect conditions over the Presidents day weekend but fishing remained tough. I fished with Kris from Reno on Wednesday on the Smith. We spent a typical winter steelheaders day on the river in cold and wet conditions searching high and low for the elusive winter run coastal steelhead and came up empty handed. I spotted a single fish that day in shallow water along a willow line, but were denied when we offered him a chance to come to a small black and blue morsal. 

Looking ahead we will see the Smith come online around the first few days of March. It should be in excellent shape by next weekend and through the beginning of next week. I have some prime dates open for anyone looking to catch the next drop in hopes of intercepting some fresh chromers charging up river!