It's finally raining!! After several ridiculously dry winters this years precipitation totals are above normal and all our North Coast rivers are flowing strong. I've spent the vast majority of my winter season on the Smith and Chetco with both rivers fishing really well. Formal numbers aren't kept on steelhead run size but from my experience this year is bigger than usual. We've seen bright fish pushing in from the salt daily and had lots of action on fish running as big as the high teens.

I'm wrapping up my steelhead season soon and turning my thoughts towards the striped bass spawning run on the Sacramento River in April. Nice weather, lots of action, hard pulling fish and delicious eating make this one of my favorite times of year. I normally focus on the area around Colusa which makes for easy travel for those coming out of The Valley and Bay Area. We'll be power drifting live minnows on light gear from my 22 foot jetboat making for a fun day on the water and great battles with tough fighting fish. Almost all my return clients from last season have already gotten in touch with me so dates are tighter than ever but I'm planning on adding on a extra week this season to accommodate all the interest. Shoot me a message if you'd like to get in on it. The boat can accommodate up to 6 people. With a group of at least 4 I won't add any others. For smaller parties of 1, 2 or 3 I'm happy to find others to pair with to help meet the minimum.

Looking ahead to the summer, Shellback will be ready to go on the salt out of Eureka chasing salmon, rockfish, lingcod and pacific halibut from mid May through the end of August. Dates are already starting to get vacuumed up but there's still plenty of availability.

I'll be available by phone through the end of February and can easily line up a booking. After March 2 contact will be more sparse and I'll be available by email only for the month of March. Phone messages will not be checked at all for that period but I'll get to internet every chance possible.

Tony Sepulveda
Green Water Fishing Adventures
Shellback Sport Fishing
www.greenwaterguides.com
www.eurekafishing.net