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Post Info TOPIC: Eel River Steelhead


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Eel River Steelhead
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looking to hit the Eel River and possibly do a float on the river with a buddy who lives up in that area.

got a bad steelhead itch going

has anyone fished it? I'd appreciate any info you might have

 

Jason

 



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Eric is not a flyfisherman but specializes in kayak fishing the Eel and is very knowledgeable about the river. If you planned to hire a guide and wanted to try something different. He supplies the kayaks.

www.loletaeric.com/home.html

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Winter eats heat the way darkness swallows light. The terrors of failed power and frozen stems are stymied with fire, smoke and white ash.

Cedarville, Mi



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Deck dog,
As the main stem eel is at 26000 cfs after the last rains it’s going to take a good while to clear. The south fork should be in shape sooner, and the van duzen also clears much faster than either. I fished the mainstem a few weeks ago New Year’s Eve day when we had the opposite problem, at 700 cfs you could actually cross the river which is pretty unusual for the time of year. I have been fishing small coastal rivers in Mendocino county while waiting for the Russian to clear, those drop much faster than some of the more well known rivers further north. Have heard of Eric and seen some of his videos online fishing out of his kayak on the eel river system, seems like he gets into a lot of fish. I’d also recommend Jason Hartwick to anyone who wants to go out with a guide swinging flies with a two handed rod. Went out for a half day with him and he really helped me dial in my casting as I had been trying to teach myself to Spey cast using YouTube videos the past 2 steelhead seasons. Good luck

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i am planning to fish the south fork of the Eel next week
anyone have fly pattern suggestions?

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I’ll be up there next week too. I mostly swing intruders in various colors, hobo speys, tube flies and bunny leechs also. Something that gets there attention, they say brighter flies for bright days and darker for overcast but that may be more of a summer run thing.The two adults I’ve landed this year on the Russian have been on the same large black and orange intruder. Have heard from many folks, and in my experience, fly selections not too important, more a matter of locating fish and giving a good presentation. And plain luck for winter run fish. Folks also nymph egg patterns of course, but the eel system is pretty nice for swinging with the advantage of being able to cover lots of water. Good luck next week

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Thanks! I'll be up by Garberville tuesday/wednesday

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How’d you do deckdog? I swung flies wed-Friday, one grab on the Van Duzen and that was it.

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it was slim pickins for sure, the river dropped 6 inches from Tuesday to wednesday

river had a nice steelhead green color to it but was super clear.

got nothing but squaw fish, the guys i was with even used bait to no avail.

on wednesday we floated by the YMCA hole where there was a fly guide in a hyde skiff anchored up for lunch, they "said" they landed 2 using eggs/beads

beautiful river, loved the floats we did, so nice to get back on the sticks,

i did manage to smoke 2 fine cigars a day and enjoyed a flask of Oban 14

so it was a WIN as far as I'm concernedbiggrin

 

 



-- Edited by DeckDog on Thursday 15th of February 2018 01:06:13 AM

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