I just spent my first couple days of the season fishing on the middle Klamath and saw good action. There were solid numbers of jack salmon mixed with adults up into the mid 20 pound range. Steelhead were in the mix as well with both adults up to 8 pounds and halfpounders. Sidedrifting with roe and a fish pill has been the ticket to success but as more adult salmon show up I'm sure plugs will become a good bet as well. Both the Klamath and Trinity rivers will continue to see more fish push in each day. This is always one of my favorite times of year.

Just did my first float of the season down through the lower Trinity to check things out. While it's really a bit early for there to be much in the way of fish there yet, we did see a couple salmon roll and managed to put one nice steelhead in the net. Getting back on this river in the fall always feels a little like coming home and in a couple short weeks it'll be full of big bright fish. I can't wait.

Back from my Argentine adventure with lots of fond memories. It's a beautiful country with so many charismatic and engaging people. As far as the fish were concerned, I spend a few days on the Rio Parana looking for freshwater dorado. While the action wasn't red hot due to high water from heavy rains upriver in Brazil we did manage to find enough of them to get a feel for what they're all about. I wouldn't say they're the strongest fish I've ever tangled with but for sheer meanness not much eclipses them. With big, sharp teeth, powerful jaws and a really bad attitude, they destroy just about anything that comes within reach. Most of our fish were caught casting live armored catfish to fallen timber in riffles and fast runs. Great trip and really neat fish.

On a side note, I know it seems early to start thinking about the Trinity and Klamath for September/October kings and steelhead but don't put off booking that one. It's the most popular season for me and it just sells faster and faster every year. While I still have plenty of space open right now I'm surprised at how many early bookings I have and anticipate prime dates going quickly.
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Last year I wrote my final entry in Managua, Nicaragua en route to a quest for giant tarpon. This year I'm again wrapping up my season with an exotic adventure and am on my way to Argentina to fish freshwater dorado. If you've never heard of them, do a little research. They seem very interesting. I'll see if I can get a picture of one for you.

I spent the last few weeks of winter steelhead season on our southern rivers with solid fishing most days. Early March kicked out good numbers with some double digit hookup days. The past week and a half things got a little tougher for me but we still caught fish every day and did it with some spectacular spring weather. My last picture of the season is of Laura Evans of Redding with her first steelhead. Nice fish Laura.

Fishing has continued to be solid for the past couple weeks with the exception of a couple tough days when the river was rising. Most days we've been hooking between 3 and 6 fish. I'm on my way to the Smith tomorrow after a day off and I'm optimistic. It's at a great height and the fishing pressure should be light with so many other rivers coming into shape. The picture is of Liam Maizner with one of 3 birthday steelhead he landed with me on the Eel.

I've spent the past few days on the Smith where we're continuing to see good fishing. There are big pods of fish fresh in from the salt scattered up and down the whole river. My recent scores have been 5 to 6 hookups each day with with 3 to 5 fish hitting the net. The picture is of Chris Rodzen who fished with me on Sunday. He had never fished steelhead before and landed the one he's holding on his second cast. He finished the day with 2 more, an 8 and a 15 pounder.

With the frequent storms rolling through the southern rivers have been blown out making the Smith the only game in town. Fortunately it's continued to fish much better than the past 2 years with fresh pushes of both hatchery and wild fish coming in on every rain. Currently the river is a little high to sidedrift but plunkers put up some huge scores today which should translate to some great fishing in the next day or two. The picture is of a typical smith river hatchery hen we caught a few days ago.

The past few weeks have brought good pushes of winter steelhead to all our north coast streams. The Smith has been kicking out some of the best scores we've seen in a few years. The past 2 were less than exceptional on this river but so far this winter it's been giving up good numbers. The dry weather last week brought all our Humboldt County rivers into shape and for the most part they fished well. The main eel was the only one that was a little bit of a letdown. It fished decent and gave up some nice fish each day but didn't kick out the numbers that it can for this time of year. It's raining now and all our rivers are on the rise bringing in new fish and I'll be back to the Smith in a day or two as conditions settle back in.

Much anticipated rain has returned to the coast putting water in all our rivers and bringing the first wave of those big chrome missiles that haunt our sleepless nights. While there are still a few stray salmon floating around the majority of the run has pushed through and the focus has turned to winter steelhead. After a couple tough seasons on the Smith it looks like it's off to a more normal start with good numbers riding in on the last rain. It should continue strong for the next couple months. The picture is of a 8 pound Smith hatchery fish I actually got to catch while having a fun day with buddy and guide Curt Wilson. It's not very often these days that I find myself on the end of a bent rod so it's a rare treat. Thanks Curt.

I've been back up on the Smith the past few days fishing what may well be the end of the salmon for this year. The river was rising while we were on it Friday making for a tough bite. It crested at 9 1/2 feet on the upper gauge and got real leafy. Some fish were caught low on the river but I felt like we just couldn't end up in the right place at the right time. After that the river settled back in and the fish bit well until Tuesday when it just started getting a little too low and clear. We got a jack and missed another bite first thing in the morning and then saw no life for the rest of the float. As a last chance we ran down to tidewater with about an hour of light left and ended up putting 2 nice big fish in the box. Unless we get rain real soon I would imagine the salmon are done. The good news is there have already been some nice steelhead caught and the next rain should bring in a good push. The next few months are prime time. While were waiting for rain I do have some steelhead staked out and have had good fishing. I'd love to tell you where they are but if I print this one my secret won't last. Come fishing and I'll show you.

No, I didn't catch that one on the Trinity. I just got back from a couple weeks off in Baja where a buddy and I had great fishing for yellowfin tuna up to 35 lbs and a few dorado and yellowtail mixed in. Fun trip. I'll be back to the rivers now with most of my attention being focused on Smith River salmon for the next few weeks. It sounds like there are piles of fish stacked up in tidewater and fishing should get good as soon as we get some rain. I'm ready!

The middle klamath and lower trinity continue to kick out solid fishing. Not spectacular but solid. We had a really tough day on Friday with a fair number of fish showing but not biting well. It was still on the way down from rain and looked to be in good shape but the fish just seemed to be unsettled. Saturday we landed a few salmon and an adult steelhead with about 20 halfpounders. Today I snuck over to the coast for a day where we had good action in the morning landing a pair in the 30 lb range. Here's a picture of Joe Ringer holding a big buck he caught on a kwickfish.

We've got our first real rain of the season on Tuesday and Wednesday putting some water in all our rivers. The Smith went bonkers for one day with big chrome salmon bitting just about any lure you wanted to put in the water today but it appears the bite will be short lived as it's dropping out fast. You should have been here yesterday rings true again. Most of the other coastal streams got a good push of salmon as well but with things drying out I'll be back on the Trinity and Klamath tomorrow. Before the rain we had solid fishing with good numbers of steelhead and more kings pushing in and I'm sure it'll pick back up where it left off. The picture is of a dime bright salmon caught backbouncing roe on the Trinity. Nice fish Dean.

The past few days have shown an upswing in the bite as well as new pushes of fish arriving. kings silvers and steelhead are all charging into the Trinity as we speak and it sounds like there's another good batch behind these. The mouth of the Klamath finally broke open again a couple days ago and with it came the big slug of fish we were expecting. It looks like the next few weeks are primed for some great action. Here's a picture of a perfect 12 lb wild steelhead we caught a couple days ago.

It's been an interesting week with lots of fish in both the Klamath and Trinity but for some reason they've been reluctant to bite. I was just chalking it up to the scorching hot weather but that's been over for a few days now and the water temperature is perfect. Despite the tough bite we're still putting fish in the boat with some really nice steelhead up to 12 pounds and for salmon the week was topped by a 40 lb monster