Klamath Fishing Slower than Expected

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I am unable to connect with the internet at my trailer in Klamath. Fishing on the Klamath has been unexpectedly slow to start off the month. We are catching a handful of fish everyday, but this is hardly what the fishing was expected to be like considering the forecasted run for this system. That being said, there are still a lot of fish at the river mouth that have not pushed up yet. The weather, and water temps have still been very warm and I believe that the fish are being reluctant to swim out of tidewater in these conditions. A few cooler days and nights would help fishing out a bunch in my opinion.

Steelhead still Good, Salmon and Water on the Way Soon!

Steelhead fishing remains good. The beginning of last week was a little spotty, but in the last 3 days, fishing for summerruns has gotten very good once again. The Salmon are still absent upriver, but this will change very shortly. There will be water released from the Trinity River beginning this Sunday, and when that water reaches the lower river it should drive the fish to make their move. The reports I've been hearing from the mouth of the river have been nothing short of unbelievable. I talked to a friend who was down there yesterday and said that he and his group of buddies hooked 50 to 70 large (20 lb+) king salmon apiece (!) during an afternoon of fishing. That pretty much equated to a hookup a cast. I know this sounds like B.S., but he's a super reliable source and he's not the only one I'm hearing reports like this from.

Give me a call or email for open days, as they are being booked pretty quickly. It's going to be a fun season and I hope to see you all out there!

Big Numbers of Salmon On The Way, Steelhead Still Here!

Well, my trip this morning was unexpectedly canceled, so here I am. Fishing was tough to start yesterday, but as I worked my way down the river, we started encountering more and more fish. Nothing wrong with ending the day well! Overall, fishing has been very good the last week with adult steel the predominant catch, but salmon are showing up more and more. After my trip yesterday, I talked to some folks fishing the mouth, and it sounds like there are a ton of salmon in tidewater. I think this salmon season will be absolutely epic!

On a different note, I will on the ocean for a 3 day tuna trip out of San Diego starting the evening of August 12 to the evening of August 15. If you wanna contact me for a trip during that period, give my wife a call at 707-601-8756 and she'll set you up.

Summer Steelhead

I've been catching summer steelhead on the Klamath River for around a month now. While fishing has tapered off a bit, we are still averaging around a dozen hookups for a day of fishing for the last week or so. There are also a few salmon in the mix. Over the course of the next few weeks their numbers will build significantly.

I do have some availability for the rest of the month and through August for the summer steelhead fishery. For those interested in prime salmon dates in September, get 'em quick as I'm starting to book quickly. It will be a great run, as there are a bunch of fish in the ocean destined for the Klamath.

See ya on the river

Stripers Are On!

I started fishing the Sacramento on Friday, and fishing has been good. Sometimes you have to hunt around for a big group of fish, but when you find em' the action can be crazy! I still have Tuesday and Wednesday open along with the 22nd, 27th and 28th. These are all prime days.

Mike

Almost Striper Time!

It sure has been a phenomenal winter steelhead season, and it's hard to believe it's almost April already! For the third winter in a row, dry weather has led us to fish Humboldt County rivers nearly the entire season and for the most part, our rivers were stuffed with beautiful steelhead. Thanks for all of you that came out fishing with me, I had great time and I hope you did too! I wrap up my season next week with a couple of trips and while most rivers close after the 31st, a few remain open. If conditions are decent, these rivers can offer outstanding and completely uncrowded fishing in the first half of April.

Next up for me are Sacramento/Feather River Striped Bass. I am fishing there from April 13th to May 1st out of my power boat. This is a super fun fishery with lots of hookups, warm weather and strong, great eating fish. Perfect for the whole family! I have 5 open days for that time period: 16th, 17th, 23rd, 27th and 28th, however I may extend my season further into May if there is enough interest. I can fish up to 6 people, but will take groups as small as 2. If the group is less than 3, I reserve the right to fill the remaining seats.

The pic attached is a huge Striper we caught on the Sac system a few years ago. Certainly this is an exceptionally large fish, but it shows you what's possible.....

Cheers,

Mike

March Steelhead Looks to be Good

As you can see, the server for pictures is working again, so I will begin posting more regular reports here along with my facebook reports. Above are a few pics from this winters' action.

We finally got a shot of rain the last few days here which will kill the low clear conditions for a bit, anyways. I spent the entire month of February down south, and fishing was really good. Of course there were some slow days, but overall it was a really wonderful month of Steelhead fishing. I think we are in for a good March of steelheading, conditions willing. Most of the steelhead have not spawned yet, so when our rivers recede into fishable conditions, I expect there to be a bunch of downrunners around along with late run fresh fish. In the immediate future, the plan is to head up north tomorrow and through the weekend. By next week our rivers here should be kicking out good numbers if the rain stays off of us.

March is typically uncrowded and the fishing can be excellent. I do have space, so dont hesitate to call if you get the bug to catch some late season steelhead.

Mike

PS- I'm in the process of putting together my Striped Bass calendar for the Sacramento and Feather Rivers. I'm looking to book the last 2 weeks of April, extending into May if there is demand. Get those days while they're around!

Water Low and Clear many places, but Steelhead are Here!

I took the day off for a little time with the family and some R and R, but I've been fishing everyday. Fishing on the southern rivers continues to be good to great, while up north things are low and clear. I will be on the Smith or Chetco for the weekend and then it will be back down south until those rivers get rain. Look to my facebook page (Redwood Coast Fishing with Mike Stratman) for a daily report and pictures.

Mike

Winter Steelhead

Guys, I've put a couple of reports on Facebook with pics (search Redwood Coast Fishing with Mike Stratman). I've been fishing on the Smith and Chetco Rivers and fishing has been very good. Unfortunately, I've been canceled on for today and tomorrow, along with Thursday and Friday. I will probably begin fishing the Eel system when I start back up. If you wanna catch some prime time steelhead action give me a call now! Don't forget to "like" my facebook page!

Mike

Salmon Just About Over, Here Come the Steelhead!

It looks like our fall salmon season in just about over with here on the coast. We have a huge storm rapidly approaching Nor Cal and Southern Oregon, which should blow out all of our rivers. Regardless of whether the rivers punch out or not, fishing was really tough even in the good conditions we had after the last storm. While the Chetco flooded and was unfishable until yesterday,The Smith was in great shape but just didn't kick out many fish. I ended up venturing north to the Elk and Sixes rivers in Oregon where I found improved fishing, but it wasn't what I'd call wide open. With the coming storms, I canceled the rest of my November/early December calender. All in all, a disappointing coastal salmon season.

Next up, I'll take a few weeks off to be with the family during the holidays. After Christmas, I will start winter steelhead fishing. At this point I'm ready to get out the sidedrift rods and catch some chrome steel!

Remember to take a look at my Facebook page, Redwood Coast Fishing With Mike Stratman. Since my pics aren't posting here (and won't until my new website is up) this is where the pictures are going. "Like" it while you're at it!