Russian River Fishing Report

Report Updated Aug. 30, 2010

BASS FISHING TIME

There’s not much happening here in the summer months, except for some good smallmouth fishing at places like Camp Rose and the Al Valley. Small craw colored cranks and plastics work great.

Current & Forecasted Flow

Take a closer look…this slick graph shows you current river flow, height and projected flows, which will help you plan upcoming trips. Keep in mind steelhead and salmon fishing is best as a river is on the drop — and typically tough when a stream’s on the rise.

DFG Fishing Regulations

Current Weather

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

Russian River map

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About the Russian River

Okay, so with the derelict car bodies along the banks and the plastic from the vineyards hanging from the trees, you’re not going to mistake the Russian for the Babine, but scenery aside, the river still produces some excellent steelie fishing in the winter months. In particular, the stretch immediately below the mouth of Dry Creek (near Healdsburg) holds a lot of hatchery steelies as they wait to run up the tributary and into the fish ladder.

But you don’t have to fish with the masses. There’s plenty of water upstream through the Alexander Valley to explore. Up or down river, the biggest problem here is that when it rains, the river can be a muddy and unfishable for weeks.

In the spring months, you’ll find a modest American shad run below Johnson’s and Memorial dams in the lower river. The overgrown herring can arrive as early as Easter and run into early June and produce spurts of good action for fly and spin anglers alike. Come summer, the river is overtaken by innertubes, canoes and swimmers but there’s a pretty solid smallmouth bass fishery throughout the drainage if you don’t mind trading quality for quantity.

Stupid Boat Tricks on the Russian!
Shad Fishing 101