Green Water Guide Service

Early reports are starting to trickle in from the Klamath and everything points towards a great season.  Steelhead fishing has been good with boats puting together some excellent early season numbers of both halfpounders and adults to 12 lbs.  I've heard of fall salmon pushing all the way up to the Trinity already and there are rumors spreading about some giant fish tuning up at the mouth.  I heard of one that went 52 lbs.  I'm finishing up the last two weeks of my Alaska season trying to beat suicidal silvers off jigs and spinners.  I'll be on the Klamath and Trinity starting September 8th and fishining there until the first heavy rains push us north to the Smith for giant kings, usually sometime in early November.  I've still got a handfull of days open so if your looking to get in on this spectacular fishery and put some salmon on the grill, give me a call.   

With the summer solstace behind us I'll be leaving Alaska soon and turning my thoughts to my favorite time of year.  As the days get shorter and the first fall colors touch the hardwoods of the northcoast, salmon and steelhead begin their ascent of the Trinity and Klamath.  Last year was one for the history books with some of the most epic steelhead fishing anyone can remember and although a bit behind schedule the salmon ended up coming on strong as well.  I'm still prone to waking in the middle of the night with a cold sweat running down my brow as visions of freight train plug bites run through my head. This year we're in the unique position of being one of the only spots on the coast you can keep salmon.  With warm sunny days, unspoiled wilderness and spectacular fishing September and October are a time to cherish on California's northcoast.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the old faces back in my boat, making new friends and of coarse big chrome fish.

Tight lines

Tony

Things got a little tougher this weekend with with all the added boat pressure.  There were lots of people up from out of town and most of the guides have pulled off the smith and gone searching for greener pastures.  Still there were fish to be caught.  Saterday we hooked 5 landing 3 and Sunday we landed 2 nice fish.  With the great weather, gorgeous redwood scenery, and abundance of wildlife (deer, bald eagles, otters, osprey ect.) it made for a very nice weekend of fishing despite not having huge scores.

The past few days I've been fishing down in humboldt county and it has been very good.  I worked the past 2 days with a 3 boat group.  For the seven people fishing 2 days we landed 43 out of 51 hookups.  A lot of fish were down runners but there were some really fresh ones mixed in. 

Well, things are still fairly tough on the Smith.  Some people are blaming it on high water 3 years ago resulting in poor spawing conditions but really you never know.  I fished high water on monday plunking with a 3 boat group for John Klar.  There were five guide boats clusterd together  and everyone had 4 to 6 good bites, it was just a question of getting them to stick.  Unfortunately luck wasn't on our side and ony one stayed on to make it to the net.      

The next day the river had dropped down to a perfect sidedrifting height and everyone had high hopes from what we had seen the day before.  Unfortunately it didn't end up the way anyone hoped.  By the end of the day scores were low with quite a few boats reporting in without a fish for their effort.  We ended up with one. 

On a brighter note many of our other rivers have had good action when conditions allow us to get on them.  At this moment they are all a bit high from rain but are dropping fast.  If the rain stays away we should see great fishing again soon.

The Smith got off to a bit of a slow start this year but seems to be getting on track now.  Late December was only producing about a half a fish per boat but the last week has been better when conditions allow us to fish.  I was on the river yesterday fishing good conditions with decent success.   We ended up with 2 nice fish with the big one going about 14 lbs.  The other guides I talked to all had 1 to 3 fish and I know of a 20 pounder caught in high water on sunday.  Right now its dumping rain again but it looks like we have a good weather window coming up.  When rivers drop out there should be a lot of fish.

Since I got back from Alaska I've been having problems with this reports page. Looks like things are back on track now.

Coastal salmon season this year had it's highs and lows. Long dry spells left the Smith low and fishless for some long stretches but when conditions were right the fish were there. Fortunately when things were dry there were usually other options and fish to be caught.

Winter steelhead season is just begining and I went to the smith yesterday with friends to see if we could get it started. Landed one small fish and hooked and fought one that was in the high teens. After several minutes he managed to wrap up in some willows and break the line. Still fun and its always great to see the first winter steelhead of the year. They are such different creatures than the little summer and fall fish we get on the Trinity and Klamath.

Rain is falling as I write this and with it may come the first good push of winter fish. We'll see what happens

Best holiday wishes

Tony

I fished a group from southern california today on the smith. Despite perfect conditions things were very tough. We endeded up landing one bright 11 pound hen and lost one other hookup. It seems like the number of fresh fish is dropping off, which is normal for this time of year. The strange thing is that the runbacks don't seem to be sliding down out of the forks. On a brighter note, the rain has backed off and it looks like were going to get a great weather window to end the season down south.

Well, the rains have returned and we've been back to business as usual. I fished the smith march 2,3 and 4 with good results. We landed 5 the first day, 5 the second and 4 the third. The most surprising thing was the high ratio of bright fish to downrunners. Of the 14 boated only 3 were spent fish. The forecast calls for things to dry out over the next few days. If the snowpack doesn't continue to keep the rivers up, we may get to fish down south by the end of the week. In the meantime I'm headed back to the smith for a trip tomorow. Hopefully the good fishing continues.