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The Smith is low and clear, registering 7.5 feet at the Jed Smith gauge Thursday morning. The salmon season is all but wrapped up, and some rain is needed to bring in the steelhead. A few were caught last week.

Like the Sf Eel, the Van Duzen is fishable, but it’s starting to get low. As of Thursday, flows were just above 200 cfs. With no rain in the immediate forecast, it could close after the weekend. Current river conditions: cdec.water.ca.gov/river/eelStages.html

The South Fork is in perfect shape, running at 1,750 cfs at Sylvandale Thursday. It’s dropping slowly, and will be in prime shape this weekend. It’s a little early for big numbers of steelhead, but there could be some late-arriving

Flows were just under 5,000 cfs Thursday morning as it continues to drop. If it continues to drop as predicted, it will be plenty fishable by the weekend. Flows will be a little high, but the color should be good.

The Mad was just above 700 cfs Thursday and dropping slowly. The water is turning green with about a foot of visibility. Should be in excellent shape by the weekend. Current river conditions: cdec.water.ca.gov/river/madStages.html

Fresh kings still coming into the Chetco, Smith likey done for the year With the late-fall king season all but wrapped up on the coastal rivers, it’s time to turn our attention to winter steelhead, likely the most popular fishery on

Water levels have been steady at 54 percent of the lake’s storage capacity, and surface water temperatures dropped below sixty degrees. Bass anglers reported a fair to good bite as largemouth and spotted bass transitioned into their winter haunts. Small

The lake rose to 14 percent of its storage capacity, and fishing remained fair. Spotted bass anglers continued their patient assault on the lethargic bass in 15 to 40 feet of water. Dead stick finesse techniques with small plastics took

Here at the Upper Kern, flows have settled back down and the CDFW stocked trout here throughout the 20-mile stretch. Anglers have been scoring trout at the easy access points with salmon eggs, crickets and trout jigs. The Upper Kern

In the final bottomfishing changeup for the year, December ushered in one more month of deepwater rockfishing. As per CDFW regulations, nearshore rockfishing is closed for 2024. Rockfishing is allowed only beyond the 50-fathom line (300 feet). It takes a

We had rockfish "full speed" up on the Berg today. We made one drift for 310 rockfish. Then shifted to get some jumbo Dungeness crab limits. Weather was flat and sunny. Final count 310 rockfish (31 limits) 310 Dungeness crab (31 limits) 1 ling

New Huck Finn • Crab Combo • 26 anglers • 260 Dungeness Crab • 260 Rockfish Sea Wolf • Crab Combo • 22 anglers • 220 Dungeness Crab • 220 Rockfish • 1 Lingcod  Oakland Anglers II • Dungeness Crab • 19 anglers  • 190 Dungeness Crab Pacific Pearl • Crab Combo •