Mendocino County
Mendocino County Fishing Reports
Checkout the latest Mendocino County fishing reports from local anglers and businesses.
The Eel River Pikeminnow Derby started on July 1, and is running through August 31, with $2,500 in cash prizes for anglers helping remove this invasive predator from key stretches of the Eel system. Categories include most fish over 6 inches, most over 12 inches (with tape in photo), and longest single fish. There’s also a kids drawing with eight...
The Eel River Pikeminnow Derby started on July 1, and is running through August 31, with $2,500 in cash prizes for anglers helping remove this invasive predator from key stretches of the Eel system. Categories include most fish over 6 inches, most over 12 inches (with tape in photo), and longest single fish. There’s also a kids drawing with eight $50 winners.
Fishing is restricted to artificial, barbless-only gear — no bait. Open zones include the South Fork below the Humboldt County line, the mainstem from Dos Rios to the Van Duzen, and the Van Duzen from Grizzly Creek down. There’s no bag limit on pikeminnow, but wasting fish is a violation and will get you disqualified.
Visit tribresearch.org/pikeminnow for more info.
Flows have finally dropped to safe levels at the Russian, and the smallmouth bite is firing (largemouth too). The river’s running at around 250 CFS near Hacienda, which means plenty of sections are now navigable by kayak. Anglers working the edges, pools, and riffle transitions are getting into solid numbers of 2- to 4-pound bass. Topwater poppers...
Flows have finally dropped to safe levels at the Russian, and the smallmouth bite is firing (largemouth too). The river’s running at around 250 CFS near Hacienda, which means plenty of sections are now navigable by kayak. Anglers working the edges, pools, and riffle transitions are getting into solid numbers of 2- to 4-pound bass.
Topwater poppers are producing in the low-light hours, but Senkos, twin-tail grubs, and spinnerbaits are doing most of the heavy lifting during the day. There’s plenty of recreational pressure on the river, which can definitely get in the way of anglers. Aim for early morning or late evening... fish are more active then, and the crowds thin out.
A few hatchery steelhead are still being picked off with spinners, and early signs of shad movement are starting to show. No bait allowed until November.
The main stem Eel isn’t ready yet—still running high and off color after spiking to over 56k cfs at Scotia earlier this week, according to Kenny Priest of Fishing the North Coast. Even with dry weather, it’s likely more than a week out from fishing well, and with more rain on the way, that timeline’s probably getting pushed. It’ll take a solid...
The main stem Eel isn’t ready yet—still running high and off color after spiking to over 56k cfs at Scotia earlier this week, according to Kenny Priest of Fishing the North Coast. Even with dry weather, it’s likely more than a week out from fishing well, and with more rain on the way, that timeline’s probably getting pushed. It’ll take a solid break in storms before it’s worth a look. Please note... only artificial lures with barbless hooks can be used from now through Sept. 30.
