Chetco River

Fishing the Chetco River

The Chetco is an undammed coastal freestone river in Curry County that meets the Pacific between Harbor and Brookings, about 5 miles north of the California line, in ODFW's Southwest Zone. It rises in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness of the Siskiyou National Forest and drops roughly 3,700 feet over 55 miles, and 25 miles of it became Wild and Scenic in 1988. Like its sister river, the Smith, it clears fast, often two or three days after a winter storm. The lower river starts at the Highway 101 bridge and the tidewater estuary at Brookings and Harbor, then climbs past Joe Hall Creek, the gauge house, Security Bar and the North Fork mouth to Mill Creek. South Bank Chetco River Road reaches the bridge; North Bank Chetco River Road follows the river for about 15 miles, and sites go by their mileage from the highway, 2.1 out to 16.7. The middle river runs from Alfred A. Loeb State Park past the Redwood Nature Trail, 2nd Bridge, Miller Bar and Nook Bar to Little Redwood and Redwood Bar at Redwood Creek. The upper river passes Gardner Bar and Panther Creek to the South Fork confluence and its bridge, with the Chetco Gorge just above and the last drift boat put-in at 16.7 miles. Named water runs from Morris Hole and Tide Rock low down to Ice Box Hole, mostly long gravel bars, runs, riffles and salmon holes, brushy in places. Autumn is the best-documented fishery. Chinook push in after the first big fall rain, usually October and November, mostly 10 to 40 pounds with the odd 60-pound fish, and ODFW's current Southwest Zone report says anglers are still catching them by trolling the estuary late in the season. Half-pounders and small adult steelhead show in September and October. Winter steelhead return to the smaller southwest rivers from December, and those seasons usually last into spring; on the Chetco the main push is January through March, fish of 6 to 15 pounds with some 20-pound fish each year, about half of them hatchery-raised. Cutthroat and rainbow trout hold in the upper reaches. Drift boats cover the most water, but gravel bars suit bank and wade anglers. The estuary is trolled with anchovies or herring; upriver it is roe, Kwikfish and spinners. Fly anglers use brindle bugs and silver hiltons in September and October, then switch to large, dark patterns, popsicles in black and blue, from November through March, though brushy banks cramp the backcast. Salmon and steelhead seasons and bag limits change yearly, and in-season changes are common. Zone trout rules for rivers and streams are a two-fish daily limit, a season of May 22 to Oct. 31 and no bait above tidewater, though local exceptions may apply. ODFW's pages say little about the Chetco itself, so the species list sticks to fish those sources clearly support. Regulations change and differ by section, so check the current Oregon (ODFW) Sport Fishing Regulations and the regulation updates page before every trip.