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Smith River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

California's crown jewel: the last major undammed river, running emerald through redwoods with the state's biggest steelhead and king salmon.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
60 / 63 F
Wind
NNW 10 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Smith River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 10 mph, falling pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 63. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:56 AM-11:56 AM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

SteelheadExcellent

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 69 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

California requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $64.54 for residents. What a California licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with CDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for California, read off the agency, are on the California seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp60 F
High / Low63 / 43 F
WindNNW 10-16 mph
Pressure1022.8 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:22
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Smith River this week

Today is the pick of the week on Smith River, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:56 AM-11:56 AM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
Minor period
4:21 AM-5:21 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:22
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 10 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Smith River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Smith River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Smith River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

California requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

California license + steelhead report card. Low-flow closures and gear rules by reach: check CDFW's Smith River regs and the daily flow line.

Access

Jed Smith SP accesses, Ruby/Society Hole drifts, forks' pullouts along US-199 and South Fork Road.

About this water

The last undammed major river in California, Del Norte County. Wild steelhead and kings in redwood country.

Fishing Smith River: the full guide

The free river of the redwoods

The Smith runs dam-free from the Siskiyous to the sea: emerald-clear water through old-growth redwood canyons, dropping and clearing within days of the biggest storms. It is California's premier steelhead river and its most beautiful: protected end-to-end as Wild and Scenic, holding fish that run genuinely huge.

Chrome of consequence

December-March brings the steelhead: wild fish averaging 8-12 pounds with 20s every season: side-drifted roe from driftboats, plugs in the deep slots, and swung flies for those who accept the math. The river's quick-clearing nature makes it the North Coast's storm-week salvation: when everything else blows out, the Smith drops in first.

Kings in the fall

October-December kings (some past 40 pounds) stack the tidewater and lower pools after the first freshets: back-bounced roe and Kwikfish in the emerald slots. The runs are wild and precious: regulations tighten by year: check current rules: and the ethic runs toward respect: these are the state's last great wild-fish returns.

Wild and Scenic realities

Low-water closures protect the fish (angling shuts when flows drop below thresholds: check DFW's low-flow line daily); bait rules and gear windows vary by reach. Access runs through Jedediah Smith Redwoods and the forks' road network: the Middle and South forks' swimming-pool clarity is the summer consolation when the anadromous water rests.

Common questions

How big do Smith River steelhead run?

The biggest in California: 8-12-lb averages, 15-20-lb fish annually. December-February after rain-drops are prime: the river clears in 2-3 days when everything else needs a week.

Why does the Smith close at low flows?

Wild-fish protection: below set thresholds the fish concentrate and become too vulnerable. The daily low-flow hotline/page is mandatory homework: closures are automatic, not discretionary.

Is fishing good at Smith River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Rogue River47 miMad River61 miTrinity Lake97 miTrinity River (CA)98 miCoos Bay108 miUmpqua River108 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.7920, -124.0890 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.