Steelhead anglers are very happy to see all this rain! After four years of drought, every river system in northern California and southern Oregon is getting recharged. The water is flowing and fish are pushing upstream.

Between storms last week the Russian River was in very good shape for bank anglers and drift boaters. Reports from mid-week included tales of success below Guerneville. The stretch of river between Dry Creek and Steelhead Beach was most productive for walk-in bank anglers as well as the drift boaters.

Karl Barker from Felton, Mike Baxter from Santa Cruz and I drifted that area on Wednesday last week. Using salmon roe below drift bobbers, we we hooked five fish and landed two. To be precise Karl Barker landed two, a hatchery hen and hatchery buck. Barker released the buck and kept the female steelhead for fresh roe and dinner. Good fishing continued through the weekend on the Russian, before the rains came down hard. On Sunday, Joe Baxter along with Keagan and Steve Vasconcellos found success on that same stretch of river. Baxter reported, ”We caught two for four on bait. Crowded conditions. Low and clear.”

Local rivers and streams are open for steelheading, but limited to Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays and Holidays. Bait can be used, but hooks must be barbless. As of last year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife okayed retention of two hatchery fish per angler on our local streams. Concerned and conscientious anglers from our area urge all fish caught locally be released unharmed, please.

Our steelhead population locally remains fragile after the drought years. This habitat challenge is compounded by the limited release of hatchery fish for the past two years. Be sure to check all DFW regulations for steelhead fishing. Rules and regulations change for each area of the state, and a separate steelhead report card is a necessity as well. The DFW website also has good information regarding handling and releasing these beautiful fish safely.

On the salt, surfcasting for perch is getting better and better. While some anglers have been skunked lately, we are also getting some pretty impressive reports. Santa Cruz’s Craig Pappas recorded an “all-time” best last week fishing one of the beaches in Santa Cruz. “I had 20 fish day today. Best in my memory. My three other buddies caught 30+. My two biggest were 16 and 15-inches. Fished the high tide outgoing 8:30 am-1:00. All on sand crabs,” Pappas reported.

This week’s rain and high surf should really get the local beaches in good shape for perching over the weekend. And, we can expect more El Nino action over the next couple months if weather experts’ predictions are accurate.