San Francisco Area River Report 11/17/05

[Wahoo!]

Rivers: The Smith River is its usual prized self, running full and clear
and pleasing guide and client alike. The river is open, with no low-flow
restrictions, and the pros are making their drifts from the Forks on
down. One change this week is that the clearer water means a slower bite
on plugs. No problem that, as the guides just switch over to back
bouncing roe, through holes up to 30 feet deep, with as much as 4 ounces
to keep the mess down. A 42-pounder was caught this week, but Harvey
Young says the average is more like 23 pounds. He had a group of two out
Wednesday, he didn't really want to say, and the take was zip. They had
three chances, missed them all. Two other boats, though, that made up
the larger group, had six salmon between them. The nearby Chetco, Young
says, is sort of slim on fish. They just haven't arrived like in years
past ... The Trinity is very low and very clear, meaning most of the
bait and plug fishing is now in the lower river, near Willow Creek.
Guide Steve Huber tells his clients to expect two, maybe four adult
steelhead a day, to about 8 pounds. If you get into half-pounders,
though, the catch number goes way up. The fly fishers, meanwhile, are
doing well from top to bottom on the river, dead drifting egg and
stonefly patterns ... Huber actually went over to fish the Lower
Sacramento this week, knowing that the fishing is better there than on
his Trinity. He had his clients fly fishing, and egg patterns and Copper
Johns produced a dozen wild rainbows from the Redding stretch. Nearby,
the salmon guides are into a run of fresh fish. Plenty of limits coming
in, with the fish caught on sardine-wrapped Kwikfish and back-bounced
roe ... The American is fishing well at night for the few guides
offering such trips. Bob Sparre, one such guide, says the take is better
than a fish per rod, when the salmon cooperate.