Word around the campfire is fishing is still going strong in the Sierra Nevada and other mild climates, but it's only a matter of time before the weather heads south.

And when it does, anglers either have to resort to fly tying, A River Runs Through It watching, or traveling to a warm-weather fishing destination.

A happy medium is surf fishing along the coast.

Reports out of San Diego suggest that along with the solid Sierra fishing, the halibut fishing is turning on along the beaches and lagoons.

And, of course, the surf perch fishing is always solid in the winter thanks to the winter swells and tides.

Read more about fly fishing for barred surf perch in the winter.

Now let me begin this post by making it very clear that I'm not a fan of reality TV shows.

But it is the offseason for fly fishing, and I have to admit I watched Bachelorette a few times last season because a co-worker was a contestant who made a nice run on the show.

One of the contestants he went up against, Ben Flajnik, is still a big reality TV star, and he apparently goes fly fishing on the latest edition of The Bachelor.

That's right, Flajnik took his 13 dates on a fly fishing trip, and one of them (Courtney) even caught - and kissed - a decent-sized trout.

Now that's my kind of woman.

The West Coast finally saw some rain this weekend, which means our dry streambeds are finally flowing again and there's a slim possibility we might see some fish coming our way.

Here in California, at least, the steelhead don't make their way into our coastal creeks until after a couple solid storms, but I'm wondering what happens if we don't see any more significant rain for a few weeks.

If the steelhead do make their way into the streams, it doesn't bode well for their survival if we don't get much more rain.

Should be interesting to see what Mother Nature has in store in coming weeks.

Either way, it's time to start thinking about steelhead fishing if you're around any steely waters this winter. Here are some tips on fly fishing for steelhead along with one of my favorite Q&As on steelhead fly fishing with a guide from Arch Anglers in Washington.

Also, to the angler north of us here in California, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently published its 2012 Winter Steelhead Guide, which is worth a read if you fish in Northern California or the Pacific Northwest.

Earlier this month the National Marine Fisheries Service published a report that suggests restoring endangered trout to their old Southern California creeks and rivers will cost more than $2 billion over the next century.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know the Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan has been a hot topic of mine, given I live on the Central Coast, where steelhead are far and few in between. That's why I'm even hesitant to write about steelhead fishing in Central California on waters such as the Big Sur, Carmel and San Lorenzo rivers.

The current Southern California steelhead recover planning area, in the eyes of the National Marine Fisheries, resides just south of me and extends from the Santa Maria River to the Tijuana River at the Mexican border. Affected waters include the Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, Ventura and Santa Clara Rivers, which are almost void of steelhead today.

The report estimates that only about 500 adult steelhead exist on Southern California's fisheries today, compared to some 45,000 prior to World War II.

Here's a look at the rest of the 600-plus-page Steelhead Recovery Plan.

If you're looking for a historical look at steelhead fishing in California, I strongly recommend watching Rivers of a Lost Coast.

Wild Central Coast steelhead photo by Brian Milne.