The San Lorenzo River is still running strong at this time. Mark Dingler at The Angler's Choice predicts good fishing through the coming holiday weekend. Quite a few fish were caught on the San Lorenzo last week, both fresh bright "chromies" as well as "runback" fish that have completed spawning. Remember you must possess a steelhead card with your license, and that our local streams require single barbless hooks, and catch and release only for these fish. Using a landing net while fishing steelhead locally is also forbidden.

Smaller streams in our area are running low and clear, though most are holding steelhead this week. Many of these fish are lying up in shrinking holes waiting for increased flows to complete their spawning journey. When catching steelhead in these conditions, savvy anglers will take extra caution to treat the fish gently and make sure they revive fully before releasing. We do not want to overstress these beautiful fish.


North Coast Rivers have the opposite problem. Though it has not rained in Northern California for a couple weeks, snowmelt is keeping most rivers very full and murky. Harrison Ibach from Mad River Outfitters says the Smith River is still fishable, as is the South Fork Eel River. Most others, including the Mad River are blown out at this time.