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Eel River
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for Eel River, as the state words them
Mendocino County · River · CA
Has its own special rules
How to read this page:Official text quoted regulationParsed fields from the ruleDerived calculated from rulesContext conditions, not a ruleAdvice our suggestion
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from CA's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
Whole water
- hatchery trout or hatchery steelheadAll year.Daily limit Catch and release of ChinookSalmon. 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession.Gear Only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used from Apr. 1 through the Fri. preceding the fourth Sat. in May. Only barbless hooks may be used from fourth Sat. in May through Mar. 31.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(A)(1). ALL WATERS OF THE EEL RIVER DRAINAGE EXCEPT THOSE LISTED ARE CLOSED. Also see subsection 8.00(a), Low-Flow Restrictions.
- hatchery trout or hatchery steelheadAll year.Daily limit Catch and release of ChinookSalmon. 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession.Gear Only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used from Apr. 1 through Sep. 30. Only barbless hooks may be used from Oct. 1 through Mar. 31.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(A)(2). Also see subsection 8.00(a), Low-Flow Restrictions.
- hatchery trout or hatchery steelheadJan. 1 through Mar. 31 and Fourth Sat. in May through Sep. 30. (dates as written)Daily limit Catch and release of ChinookSalmon. 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession.Gear Only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(A)(3), open-season row.
- All fishApr. 1 through the fourth Fri. in May and Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. (dates as written)Daily limit Closed to all fishing.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(A)(3), closed-season row.
- hatchery trout or hatchery steelheadFourth Sat. in May through Mar. 31.Daily limit Catch and release of ChinookSalmon. 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession.Gear Only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used from the fourth Sat. in May through Sep. 30. Only barbless hooks may be used from Oct. 1 through Mar. 31.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(B)(1), open-season row. Also see Low-Flow Restrictions, subsection 8.00(a).
- All fishApr.1 to fourth Friday in May. (dates as written)Daily limit Closed to all fishing.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(B)(1), closed-season row.
- hatchery trout or hatchery steelheadFourth Sat. in May through Mar. 31.Daily limit Catch and release of ChinookSalmon. 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession.Gear Only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used from the fourth Saturday in May through Sep. 30. Only barbless hooks may be used from Oct. 1 through Mar. 31.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(C), open-season row. Also see Low-Flow Restrictions, subsection 8.00(a).
- All fishApr.1 to fourth Fri. in May. (dates as written)Daily limit Closed to all fishing.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(C), closed-season row.
- hatchery trout or hatchery steelheadJan. 1 through May 31 and July 16 through Sep. 30. (dates as written)Daily limit 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession.Gear At all times, only artificial lures with barbless hooks may be used.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(D)(1), open-season row. Also see subsection 8.00(a), Low-Flow Restrictions.
- All fishJun. 1 through July 15 and
Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. (dates as written)Daily limit Closed to all fishing.T14 CCR 7.40(b)(40)(D)(1), closed-season row.
- troutSat. preceding Memorial Day through the last day in Feb.Daily limit 2 troutGear Only artificial lures may be used.T14 CCR 7.50(b)(45)(A). See also 7.40(b)(40) for anadromous segments.
- troutSat. preceding Memorial Day through Sep. 30.Daily limit 2 troutGear Only artificial lures may be used.T14 CCR 7.50(b)(45)(B).
- troutSat. preceding Memorial Day through the last day in Feb.Daily limit 2 troutGear Only artificial lures may be used.T14 CCR 7.50(b)(45)(C)(1).
- troutSat. preceding Memorial Day through the last day in Feb.Daily limit 2 troutGear Only artificial lures may be used.T14 CCR 7.50(b)(45)(C)(2).
- troutSat. preceding Memorial Day through the last day in Feb.Daily limit 2 troutGear Only artificial lures may be used.T14 CCR 7.50(b)(45)(C)(3).
- troutSat. preceding Memorial Day through the last day in Feb.Daily limit 2 troutGear Only artificial lures may be used.T14 CCR 7.50(b)(45)(C)(4).
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Gear
- all fish may be taken only by angling with one closely attended rod and line or one hand line with not more than three hooks nor more than three artificial lures (each lure may have three hooks attached) attached theretoStatewide
- Bait
- Legally acquired and possessed invertebrates, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians (except salamanders), fish eggs and treated and processed foods may be used for baitStatewide
- Poles
- one closely attended rod and line or one hand lineStatewide
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
salmon | Closed to the take of salmon. | - | Statewide |
hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead Varies by water: limit 1 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* (Elliot Road to the Woodbridge Irrigation District Dam including Lodi Lake.) | 2 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead*. 4 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead* in possession. | - | Statewide |
Black Bass Varies by water: No size limit (General Statewide Restrictions: Rivers/Streams and Private Ponds, which are not listed in subsection); 13-inch minimum., limit 6 (Colorado River District); 12-inch minimum., limit 5 (Inyo Co.); No size limit., limit 5 (Mono Co.) | five-fish daily bag limit | min. 12-inch total length minimum size limit | Statewide |
Amphibians | Four (unless otherwise provided) | - | Statewide |
Southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus) | No limit | - | Statewide |
Rio Grande leopard frog (Lithobates berlandieri) | No limit | - | Statewide |
American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) | No limit | - | Statewide |
Catfish and Bullheads | Bullheads, no limit; all other catfish, no limit, except as follows | - | Statewide |
Catfish | 10 | - | Statewide |
Clams, Freshwater | Fifty pounds (in the shell) | - | Statewide |
Crayfish | No limit | - | Statewide |
Lamprey | Five | - | Statewide |
Landlocked Salmon | Five (daily bag); Possession limit: Ten | min. None | Statewide |
Mountain Whitefish | Five | - | Statewide |
Reptiles | Two (unless otherwise provided) | - | Statewide |
Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) | No limit | - | Statewide |
Pond slider (Trachemys scripta) | No limit | - | Statewide |
Spiny softshell (Apalone spinifera) | No limit | - | Statewide |
Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer) | Four (4) | - | Statewide |
California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) | Four (4) | - | Statewide |
California mountain kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata) | One (1) | - | Statewide |
Red diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) | Zero (0) | - | Statewide |
Shad, American | Twenty-five | - | Statewide |
Splittail, Sacramento | Two | - | Statewide |
Striped Bass | Two, except in waters listed in (d) | min. 18 inches total length except in waters listed in (d) | Statewide |
Sunfish and Crappie | Combined bag limit of twenty-five sunfish and crappie of all species | - | Statewide |
Tilapia | No limit | - | Statewide |
Brook Trout | Ten | min. Less than 10 inches total length | Statewide |
Trout | Five-trout daily bag limit, 10 trout possession limit | - | Statewide |
White Bass | No limit | - | Statewide |
Yellow Perch | No limit | - | Statewide |
Other Species | Any number | - | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this stretch begins and ends
Loading map…
The drawn shape is the named water, matched from the official list against OpenStreetMap and accepted only because the name resolved to a single feature in this water's county.
Different sections of this water can have different rules. The exact section boundaries are not marked on the map yet; each rule above describes in plain words where it starts and ends, and that written description is the authoritative boundary. Map boundaries come water by water, never as a guess.
Season at a glanceDerived
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
opensome stretchesclosedunknown
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
At the water nowContext
Overnight
52°F
Clear
Wind 6 mph · 0% precip
Wednesday
77°F
Sunny
Wind 6 to 9 mph · 0% precip
Wednesday Night
52°F
Clear
Wind 3 to 8 mph · 0% precip
Streamflow: 22.7 cfs at mf eel r nr dos rios ca (2026-07-29 01:00)
Forecast: National Weather Service. Flow: nearest active USGS gauge in this water's area, which may sit on a different reach. Conditions are context, not rules.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Eel River's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
Receipts
Statewide rules
StatewideChecked against this official source on July 7, 2026.
Special rules - Eel River
This waterChecked against this official source on July 7, 2026.
Local services near Eel River
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Eel River? Get listed.