Mad River Fish Report - Mad River - Fishing has been a little slow and the pressure has been light

Fishing has been a little slow and the pressure has been light

Mad River - Arcata, CA

by Kenny Priest
1-29-2026
Website

According to Justin Kelly of RMI Outdoors, the fishing has been a little slow and the pressure has been light. “There are quite a few fish in the system, but they’re scattered and not bunching up like previous years,” said Kelly. “You’ll need to move around a lot to find fish. Typically, the best fishing is in February, hopefully that will be the case this year.” As of Thursday, the river was holding steady at just under 7 feet.

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Nor Cal Fish Reports Reports

for Friday, January 23rd

Mad River: The Mad is in good shape and steelhead are showing up
Eel River: The main stem dropped into shape this week and is nice and green, but still big
Eel River - South Fork: The South Fork is running at just above 1,000 cfs at Miranda as of Friday
Van Duzen River: The Van Duzen was down to 190 cfs Friday and is in great shape
Smith River: Flows were under 1,600 cfs (6.6 feet) on the Jed Smith gauge Friday
Chetco River: The Chetco is low and clear

Nor Cal Fish Reports Reports

for Thursday, January 15th

Mad River: The Mad is starting to come around, both in color and height, but is still off color
Eel River: The main stem is still big, but starting to turn as of Thursday, flowing at just above 8,600 cfs and dropping
: The South Fork is green, and was holding right around 1,800 cfs at Miranda
Van Duzen River: The Van Duzen was down to 425 cfs as of Thursday and should be plenty fishable
Smith River: The Smith is getting low and clearing
Chetco River: The Chetco dropped into prime shape, with fair to good action for steelhead