2024 Van Duzen River Steelhead Fishing Maps, Fish Reports
Our fish map has Access points and best spots on Van Duzen
How to fish Van Duzen, Where to go
Hunting Areas, Public Land, and Hunting Clubs
VAN DUZEN RIVER INFORMATION
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Access points, Best spots to Fish on the Van Duzen
About 14 miles inland from the mouth of the mighty Eel River, lies the Van Duzen, a 50 mile long tributary of the Eel. Fishing is superb anywhere below Bridgeville.
The winter steelhead run starts in November and well into March, with January the best steelhead fishing. The average metal head on the Van Duzen is around 8 pounds and, like the Eel 20 pounders are not uncommon.
Compared to the Eel and all other North Coast rivers (the Smith being the exception) the Van Duzen after a storm clears a lot faster.
Besides steelhead, the Van Duzen provides King/Chinook salmon, and Coho/Silver salmon . The Kings arrive in September, through December, reaching its zenith in early November.
Above Bridgeville is closed to fishing. There are some access points from the town to shallow holding pools. Steelhead hold in these holes during low water, waiting to go further upstream to spawn.
GOAT ROCK ACCESS: THIS IS THE HOT SPOT... Downstream of Goat Rock from the north side of the river, watch for a turnout and take the trail to this area of large boulders and deep pools.The Goat Rock area can have crowded fishing when steelhead are in the upper section of the river.
Keep going upstream by vehicle to another turn out about 1. 1/4 miles upstream from Goat Rock that has decent pools..
LOWER SECTION
Look for the north end of the 101 bridge where it crosses the 101, bear right to a road that leads to the gravel bars adjacent to the river.
On the other hand, or side, as the case may be, the south bank near the bridge then upriver has some decent slow water and holes.
Moving up to from Fisher Road,west of Carlotta is an decent are for drifting and if conditions are right very good for fly fishing..
A good land mark while on Highway 36, is whitish chalky bluffs that spring up from pools known to produce steelhead.
Middle River Van Duzen
Around the Bluffs you will encounter a bridge, look for some deep holes there. Fly fishers also use move a little upriver from here to some pools near a gravel bar . Keep going upriver and yet an additional bridge has an access road to the river, to the North, there is decent holding areas for steelhead.
Finally, for some decent fly fishing, look for a old logger road 1 and a half miles up from this bridge
Upper River Van Duzen
The best area to fish in the upper stretches of the river is probably Grizzly State Park. Down river from the Park offers some less deep pools and further down river some deeper holding areas.
For decent bait and fly fishing on this section,go two miles up from the Park to find yet another bridge. There is a long stretch of fish-able water along here.
Traveling another 4.5 miles upstream is....infrastructure prevails once again, a bridge. Maybe the famous Bridge Too Far, depending. Anyway, a good fly fishing riffle is here.
