The North Coastal region of California has always been the epicenter of winter steelhead fishing. And will remain so for as long as steelhead exist, orrrrr….CDFW disallows us to fish for them any longer. For anyone who has partaken in this fine winter sport we call steelhead fishing, they will attest to its lasting addiction. This addiction takes deep roots the second you hook your first true coastal steelhead trout. Many anglers are mislead by the separate runs of trout. Brought to believe that when they catch steelhead in the Sacramento Valley and its tributaries, that they are steelhead fishing. Yes kind of! Those are a kind of steelhead. “Summer Steelhead” typically. A much smaller and all together different specimen than their winter relatives. The summer steelhead travel much farther inland, are considerably smaller in contrast, must eat to sustain a spawning season, take up residency during staging cycles prior to spawning, and take on a heavy rainbow trout appearance with rosy cheeks and lateral line. Nevertheless folks, these so called steelhead are NOT what’s being caught on the North Coast. Wild and river specific, these dime bright rockets inhabit almost every coastal tributary on the west coast that drains straight into the Pacific Ocean. As far as California is concerned we are talking about the coastal tributaries of Del Norte, Humbolt, and Mendocino Counties. These counties are the home to the real steelhead of California.

This past week I toured the Northern Coastal communities of California’s steelhead country. Trying to get an idea of how the season was shaping up thus far (As January kicks off the unofficial start to winter steelheading). Also to feed my own addiction to the sport. As well as take customers to experience these fisheries first hand. Here is what I found….Let’s start by reporting for the three counties individually.

Del Norte - This county is the Northern most county on California’s Pacific Coast. Also home to the mighty Smith River. Residing only minutes from the Oregon state boarder, this is our states most popular steelhead fishing destination. I myself did not travel this far North on my recent fishing trip. However I did receive daily steelhead fishing reports from fishing guide Ryan Tripp (ryantrippsguideservice). Whom is working the gin clear waters of the Smith River every day for his clients. “The fish aren’t stopping”. Reports fishing guide Ryan Tripp when I spoke with him this past weekend. A steady trickle of fish are moving through the Smith River system every day right now. So the targets are there Getting in front of them may present its challenges. If you know the Smith River the risk is well worth the reward. But be prepared to put in your time. Or call fishing guide Ryan Tripp to book a trip with a professional fishing guide. A experience you will never forget on the Smith River. After all it is in my opinion the most picture perfect steelhead fishery on the West Coast.

Humbolt-Where do I even start? It’s not just every season you get to take full advantage of every steelhead tributary in the county. In fact I can remember on several occasions in the past twenty five years, the whole month of January passed by, and never even had an opportunity to wet a line. On the SF Eel, Mattole River, Van Duzen, or Redwood Creek. These rivers can stay at elevated flows and silty the entire month of January. This year it was December that left coastal rivers unfishable from saturating rainfall. So this January dry out was right on time. Following the twenty plus inches of rainfall that hit the redwood forests in December. Stopping just in time for the New Year. Now not even a drop has fallen since. Everything weather related has actually played out perfectly in my opinion. Giving the over saturated soil much needed time to soak in. Giving the rivers a chance to finally recede. As it happens one trib after another, eventually all the counties tributaries have dropped into shape and the fishing begins. The steelhead seemingly show up and start biting when their natal waters turn from silty and brown, to emerald green. This is where the North Coast rivers currently reside. Emerald green on all Humboldt’s steelhead fishing rivers.

Humbolt-Where do I even start? It’s not just every season you get to take full advantage of every steelhead tributary in the county. In fact I can remember on several occasions in the past twenty five years, the whole month of January passed by, and never even had a opportunity to wet a line. On the SF Eel, Mattole River, Van Duzen, or Redwood Creek. These rivers stayed elevated and silty the entire month. So this January dry out was right on time. Following the twenty plus inches of rainfall that hit the redwood forest in December. Now not even a drop has fallen this January. Everything has played out perfectly in my opinion. Giving the over saturated soil much needed time to soak in and give the rivers a chance to finally recede. As it happens one by one, eventually all the counties tributaries have dropped into shape. The steelhead seemingly show up and start biting when their natal waters turn from silty and brown, to emerald green. This is where the North Coast rivers currently reside. Emerald green on all Humboldt’s steelhead fishing rivers.

This past week has been filled with good and consistent steelhead fishing. With that said, and considering the amount of fresh fish coming through these rivers daily right now. Is leading me to believe when this winter steelhead fishery reaches its peak in mid to late February. The steelhead fishing may just turn into an all out slugfest. As for right now 1-3 fish a day has been the general consensus for drift boaters I spoke with over the long three day weekend. Fishing pressure certainly increased dramatically over the lengthy weekend. The South Fork Eel seeing the most fishing pressure. Dozens and dozens of drift boaters were scattered along the middle grounds of the SFE. Near the town of Garberville. Where most drift boats I spoke with had caught or fought at least one fish for the days effort. Some SFE locals from Legget , Ca I spoke with reported catching 3-7 steelhead a day. Having perfect attendance all last week. Moving forward look for the main stem Eel River to drop into shape and start fishing this week. Spreading out the steelhead fishermen and easing up on the heavy fishing pressure the South Fork Eel has had the past ten days.

The Mad River in Arcata, Ca has always been a steelhead attraction come winter time. This year is no different. This past weekend anglers saw some great action fishing from the hatchery down river. One highlight from the holiday weekend was angler Juan Nava, a tattoo artist from Red Bluff, Ca and a life long fisherman. Who caught a steelhead of a lifetime while pulling plugs from his drift boat. Down river from the Mad River hatchery. He landed a 20 pound male steelhead that caught the attention of steelhead fisherman state wide. A true trophy and something very few California steelhead anglers will ever accomplish this milestone. Hats off to Juan for his amazing catch. Congratulations!

The anglers that prefer to tackle these wild coastal steelhead on the fly also saw great success this weekend as they flocked to the remote Mattole River. A Humbolt County tributary that they have found a niche for. Casting soft beads and covering lots of water is the primary method of catching steelhead for fly fisherman on this river system. This method proves to be very successful for guys wanting to catch ocean going rainbow trout on the swing. They also faired well over the holiday weekend. Every boat polled had got into at least a single steelhead. A steelhead guide from the Fly Shop in Redding, Ca that I chopped it up with on Sunday reported landing five adult steelhead on his trip that day. Soft beads being his pattern of choice.

Mendocino- With the exception of the top stretches of the South Fork Eel River, the rest of the county will need more rain before it becomes productive for steelhead anglers. Much of this county’s steelhead tributaries are small in comparison to those in neighboring Humbolt County. Relying heavily on replenishing rainfall to keep the river and creeks at levels conducive to steelhead fishing. So anglers looking to target the county’s smaller tributaries will have to wait for our next Pacific Ocean low pressure system to roll into town before heading out to chase that coastal chrome in Mendo.

All and all it has been a great start to the 2025 steelhead season, and there is undoubtedly much more to come. Don’t hesitate to get in on the action as this is a better start to a NorCal steelhead season then we have seen in a handful of years. The last few wet winters have helped with successful spawning. Expectations run high for the steelhead fishing to get better and better as each year passes. Leaving the damages done by Californias extreme drought farther and farther behind.

If you wish to book a steelhead fishing trip with a professional guide service, we will continue to book fully guided steelhead fishing trips through the month of February and into early March. The peak of this years run will be during the month of February. So don’t miss out on the opportunity to chase these hard fighting and unique fish. Give us a call (530)-722-8876 or complete a submission form on this website and we will return it with a phone call. Good luck out there and tight lines to all steelhead anglers who head out in hopes of tying into a mean,chrome, steelhead trout.