After what seemed like a solid month of wet weather in December, a generous window of clear weather has graced California's North Coast. This prolonged dry spell has given us steelhead anglers the opportunity we've been waiting for. Over the past few weeks of January all coastal systems have been in play, with some fishing better than others. After having spent the better half of the month on the water I can say that the most consistent fishing we've had has come in just the past few days. Now, as we head into February we will need another shot of rain to keep some of the smaller and quick clearing coastal rivers in contention. We are lucky, however, to have a host of rivers that are still in prime shape for anyone looking to come find one of these elusive critters on the swing. If you have an itch to scratch I have lots of availibily starting around the second week of February for right now. 

On another note, an important regulation change has gone into effect on the North Coast steelhead rivers. Now the low flow fishing closure will be enforced through the end of April opposed to ending on January 31. This means that now most of the coastal rivers can be closed to fishing through the entirety of the winter steelhead season if they drop below the CFS threshold. It is important to call the hotline at (707) 822-3164 and follow the automated prompts to check on the status of the river you might want to fish. Considering that we currently have no rain forecasted going into this next month I think it is safe to assume that some of these rivers will potentially be closed to fishing.