Steelhead Are Big And Beautiful On The Chetco River   By: Dan Bacher March 21, 2008 More Articles by Dan

Ron Denardi, longtime fishing guide on the Chetco and Smith rivers, has two huge steelhead mounted on the wall of his house in Smith River, California. One weighed 21 pounds, 6 ounces while the other weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces.

Both fish came out of the Chetco at Upper Nook Bar in the wild and scenic section of the river in February 1998. “I was waiting for 2 clients the first day when I hooked the 21 pounder, a big male,” said Denardi. “When the anglers finally arrived, they were sorry that they hadn’t got there earlier.”

On the next day, the clients were late again. Denardi decided to try fishing roe again from his drift boat while he waited for them. Sure enough, he hooked and landed the second huge steelhead, the 19 lb. 8 oz. female.

“Those are the two largest steelhead I’ve caught on any river,” said Denardi. “And they were taken on back to back days.”

It the magic of catching big steelhead like those hooked by Denardi that keeps anglers coming back to the Chetco, known for the size of its steelhead and king salmon. Every year the river produces steelhead over 20 pounds and king salmon over 45 pounds. Don Hawk of Medford, Oregon set the river steelhead record of 28 pounds on January 1, 1973.

The largest steelhead of the season generally show in the Chetco from early December to mid January, according to Mike Ramsey at Sporthaven Marina in Brookings. A lot of fish in the 15 to 18 pound range, along with some in the 17 to 20 pound class and an occasional 20 to 22 pounder are caught at this time.

From mid January through March 31, fish in the 7 to 14 pound range become most common. Plunkers using Spin Glos with roe do best when the river flows are above 4,000 cfs. When the flows drop below 4,000 cfs, the river becomes prime for drift boat fishing, Ramsey noted.

The fishing this season has been “hit and miss,” with the top fishing occurring in early February after the river recovered from a series of big storms. For two days, boats averaged 5 fish per trip and up to 11 fish per boat, according to Denardi.

However, fishing began to slow down after that to 1 to 2 hook-ups per boat. On the day before I made a trip with Denardi on February 10, the fishing had slowed down as the water cooled from snow runoff in the mountains.

“Fishing has been tough the past few days,” said Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing on the morning of my trip. “We caught one fish yesterday.”

Ray “The Rev” Heald of Brookings and I got in Denardi’s boat at Nook Bar, right at the spot where Denardi hooked his two biggest ever steelhead. We side drifted roe with puff balls several times, but didn’t hook up any fish.

“The river is in perfect shape, with a nice green color and good flow,” noted Denardi. “However, the river has been heavily pressured by boats and bank anglers the past few days.”

Denardi kept rowing us through riffles and runs, all of which looked like ideal habitat for big, hungry steelhead, but there were no biters. Nor did we see other anglers hook any adult steelhead.

Finally, Denardi told us to cast our baits below a logjam into a quick run about 200 yards above the take out at Loeb Park. Heald got bit, set the hook and the fish started ripping off line. Heald put all of the pressure he could on the monster steelhead to keep it from going upstream into the snag, but the fish darted right into the snag.

Heald tried to work the fish out of the snag, but wasn’t able to budge it and the line finally broke. “That was a big steelhead,” said Denardi.

Although I was disappointed that Heald lost the “picture fish” of the day, that’s steelhead fishing. Other anglers I talked to at the take out also reported slow fishing – I didn’t see a single person with a steelhead.

I decided to drive back to Brookings so I could get back to Sacramento at a decent time. However, I made the wrong turn and went upriver to another take out. Jeff Goetze and his two clients, Don Neese and Dave Neese were taking a break before resuming drifting down the river in Goetze’s boat.

“Did you catch any fish?” I asked.

“We caught three fish today,” said Neece, “and we landed three yesterday.”

“Wow… those are the first steelhead I’ve seen today. You guys did the best I’ve seen of anybody on the river,” I said.

Their fish were all beautiful, bright steelhead in the 8 to 12 pound range. The anglers caught their fish on roe and puffballs, just like just about everybody was using. It goes to show you that even on a very tough day of fishing, there’s always somebody that seems to do well.

The river is open for chinook salmon and steelhead from January 1 through March 31 and from May 24 through December 31. King salmon in the 40 to 50 pound class are caught every fall in the Chetco. The fish normally begin to mill around in the estuary for the first two weeks in September until the rains begin and allow the fish to get upriver.

There is a special season in the ocean outside the mouth of the river from October 1 to October 14, when anglers trolling slow with herring and sardines hook up some of the largest season of the year.

During that time, Sporthaven Marina sponsors their annual “Hog Derby.” Although salmon fishing was slow last fall, the derby was topped by three fish weighing 48 pounds, 46 pounds, 7 ounces and 46 pounds, 1 ounce.

However, you’ll have to catch a really big fish to break the river record. John Collins set the river’s king salmon record on October 18, 1971 when he bagged a 64 lb. chinook.

After the rains raise the river level, the salmon move into the system. During this time, usually from mid October through the end of December, anglers catch salmon throughout the river while back trolling and anchor fishing with Kwikfish with sardines wrappers.

“Sea run cutthroat in the 12 to 20 inch range also found in the Chetco,” said Ramsey. “However, few people fish for them. The river also has a small run of American shad.”

In addition to anadramous species, anglers can target rockfish and lingcod on charter boats out of Brookings Harbor or fish for perch outside of the jetties. Unlike California, anglers can fish year round for rockfish and lingcod in Oregon, with a bag limit of 6 rockfish and 2 lingcod.

For more information, call Ron Denardi of Denardi Outfitters, 530-340-1345, Randy Whitney of Whitney's Guide Service, phone (530) 367-3656 or cell (530) 320-2680, or Sporthaven Marina, 541-469-3301.

Chetco River Facts

Description: The Chetco River is a river in southwestern Oregon approximately 55 miles long. It drains a rugged isolated coastal region in the extreme southwestern corner of the state near the California border, descending steeply from 3700 feet to the Pacific Ocean over its course. Except for the lower 5 miles the river is located in the Siskiyou National Forest.

Wild and Scenic Section: The Omnibus Oregon Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1988 designated 44.5 miles of the Chetco River as wild and scenic, from its headwaters in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness down to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest boundary just above Loeb State Park. The designated segment of the Chetco is located within Curry County in southwest Oregon on the Chetco Ranger District. The Chetco Wild and Scenic River is divided into three segments: a 27.5-mile wild segment from the headwaters down to Mislatnah Creek; a 7.5-mile scenic segment from Mislatnah Creek down to Eagle Creek; and a 9.5-mile recreational segment from Eagle Creek down to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest boundary.

Road Access: Primary transportation routes within the river corridor are the North Bank Chetco River Road 1376, the South Bank River Road 1205, and associated spur roads. Anglers can access the recreational and scenic river segments and launch boats in several locations, including Miller Bar, Nook Bar, Redwood Bar, Upper and lower South Fork Camps, Low-water Bridge Site and Forest Road 1917-067.

Restrictions: Mandatory permits are required to float the Chetco for all users year-round. Free self-issuing permits are available at a boat registration station along the North Bank Chetco River Road (Forest Service Road 1376). Motorized boat use is not allowed on any river segment. Motorized vehicle crossings of the river are prohibited.

Camping: Overnight use of Miller Bar, Nook Bar, Redwood Bar, Little Redwood Campground and South Fork Camps requires payment of a fee (non-reservation sites). Fee stations are provided at each site. A camping fee is also required at Loeb State Park on the North Bank Chetco River Road prior to reaching the forest boundary.

Information: Gold Beach Ranger District, Alan Vandiver, District Ranger, P.O. Box 4580, 539 Chetco Ave, Brookings, OR 97415, 29279 Ellensburg Ave, Gold Beach, OR 97444, Voice: (541) 412-6000, Fax : (541) 412-6025, http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue-siskiyou/recreation/rivers/chetco.shtml.

Fishing Guides and Information: Ron Denardi of Denardi Outfitters, 530-340-1345; Sporthaven Marina, 541-469-3301; Randy Whitney of Whitney's Guide Service, phone (530) 367-3656 or cell (530) 320-2680; Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing, 1-800-670-4448 or 530-221-6151; Albert Kutzkey of Kutzkey’s Guide Service, phone 530-475-3138, cell 530-941-3474. For additional guides, go to www.fishsniffer.com/places/oregon.html.

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