Chetco, Smith salmon season off to good start

Jackie of Bend, Ore., with a nice Chetco River king salmon caught in October with guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing and Brookings Fishing Charters. The fish hit a 5.0 MagLip plug.

With ocean fishing practically over for the year, the attention has turned to the fall salmon runs on the Chetco and Smith rivers. Fishing is off to a good start on the Brookings-area rivers.
We knew we were likely in for a good run when the Rogue River and Rogue Bay had one of it's best seasons in recent memory. Like the Rogue, the Chetco and Smith river fall salmon runs are south-migrating fish, which means they spend the ocean portion of their life off of Northern California and extreme Southern Oregon instead of heading to Alaska like other salmon runs. The Feather River, another south-migrating run, had an incredible early fall season.
Brookings Fishing Charters and Wild Rivers Fishing began fishing the Chetco estuary in early October. Fishing was good. The short ocean season at the mouth of the Chetco also was good, with lots of quality fish. The Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife estimated 300 salmon would be caught during the four-day sport season in the ocean off of Brookings in October. The final count was 530 fish, an indicator there are a lot of salmon off of Brookings right now.
The first rains arrived the week of October 20. Brookings Fishing Charters and Wild Rivers Fishing guides Andy Martin and Travis Sallander were among the first to float down the Chetco this fall, and they encountered a lot of bright king salmon. The Smith River also fished well for a few days, but the Chetco was the bright spot during the good flows of mid-October.
Another big rain is expected this first weekend of November. We are expecting good fishing on both rivers. Most of our fish have been caught on Yakima Bait Company MagLip plugs, but we also caught some nice kings on roe fished below bobbers. Beginning Nov. 4, we will be back-bouncing roe was well as running the MagLip and FlatFish plugs.
Here are a few photos from the first part of our salmon season on the Chetco and Smith rivers and in the ocean out of Brookings in October.
To learn more about our river trips, visit www.wildriversfishing.com or www.brookingsfishing.com.

Salmon still being caught on Southern Oregon Coast (Nov. 30, 2015)

Yesterday, the 29th of November, my clients landed two chrome bright king salmon on the Chetco. I had two other guides out and they also landed multiple bright fish. There are still a lot of new salmon in the Chetco, Smith, Elk and Sixes rivers, even though conditions are currently low and clear. Fishing is tough, but there are bright fish available.

Tonight it is raining lightly in Brookings. Heavier rain is expected tomorrow night through Thursday, which could set up prime conditions for this weekend on all the area rivers.
Yes, it is late in the salmon season. Many of the kings on the Chetco and Smith have already spawned. But without a major blowout rain so far this season, there still may be a good group of salmon to come. We will find out this weekend.
If you want one more shot at king salmon this season, I have local guides available for the weekend and early next week.

Call 541-813-1082 to book a trip, email wildriversfishing@yahoo.com, or visit www.wildriversfishing.com.

For the past two weeks, we have been enjoying some pretty decent salmon fishing, despite the low water. Some of the kings have been pretty big, including a really nice 49-inch king caught and released last week by Matt Thompson of Prineville. The fish was around 55 pounds. The fish may have cut OK if we kept it, but I am glad my customers chose to let it go.

Steelhead are just around the corner. We may begin some winter lingcod trips in January.

Here are some of the photos from the past couple of weeks.

- Andy Martin
Wild Rivers Fishing and Brookings Fishing
www.wildriversfishing.com
www.brookingsfishing.com

One of the bigger kings from the past few weeks, caught on the lower Chetco.

Matt and Jamey with a 49-inch, estimated 55-pound king caught and released last week on the Chetco.