Fishing the North Coast

from North Coast Journal 06-17-2021 Edition

Poem

Sizzling Pacifi c Halibut Bite o Eureka, Trinidad

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

The weather isn’t the only thing heating up right now. The Pacifi c halibut bite on the North Coast is sizzling! With salmon season still a couple weeks away, o shore anglers have homed in on the halibut, and they are coming over the rails at a record pace. Eureka and Trinidad have both experienced some exceptional fi shing. And we’re not talking about a couple halibut per boat, we’re talking full limits by early morning. It’s some of the best fi shing we’ve seen,” said Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “I think the water clarity has a lot to do with it. Last week the water was really dirty, and the bite slowed. There’s seems to be fi sh from north of the entrance all the way to Trinidad in 260 to 300 feet of water. We’re starting to see some bigger fi sh too. They’re running anywhere from 15 to 45 pounds, but we’re seeing more in the 30-to-40-pound class,” added Klassen. The only thing that could cool the bite would be the wind. And that’s exactly what’s headed our way, and plenty of it.

Weekend marine forecast

Northerly winds will ramp up starting Wednesday and will persist through the rest of the work week and through the weekend. Friday’s forecast is calling for 10 to 20 knot winds out of the north and waves north at 10 feet at 10 seconds. Saturday looks similar, with north winds at 10 to 20 knots and waves north at 11 feet at 10 seconds. On Sunday, winds will be out of the north at 10 to 20 knots with north waves of 9 feet at nine seconds. These conditions can and will change by the weekend. For an up-to-date weather forecast, visit www.weather.gov/eureka/ or www.windy.com. To monitor the latest Humboldt bar conditions, visit www.wrh. noaa.gov/eka/swan. You can also call the National Weather Service at 443-7062 or the o ce on Woodley Island at 443-6484.

The Oceans:

Eureka

Not only are the Pacifi c halibut snapping, the rockfi sh bite at Cape Mendocino is also going strong. A few boats have made their way south this week and reported easy limits of both rockfi sh and lingcod. The California halibut Mark Nelson of Chester landed this nice Pacific halibut Saturday while fishing out of Eureka aboard the Seaweasel II. Photo courtesy of Gary Blasi/Full Throttle Sport Fishing bite is starting to turn on as well. Quite a few were caught by the of salmon around last few days.” Ocean boats working the middle and third chan- recreational salmon season opens June 29 nels over the weekend. Shore anglers are and continues through Oct. 31. also picking up a few at Fairhaven Beach tossing swimbaits. Crescent City

Trinidad

The Pacifi c halibut bite slowed slightly over the weekend, but picked right back up on Tuesday. Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters, who boated limits on Tuesday, reports the best bite is south of Trinidad Head in 250 to 300 feet of water. “The rockfi sh action between the Head and Patrick’s Point is still really good too,” said Wilson. “We’re catching mostly blacks, with limits coming pretty easily. We’re also catching a few lings, but not a wide variety of rockfi sh right now.” Crabbing is still good and the charter captains are sending their clients home with limits of fresh Dungeness.

Shelter Cove

Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing took advantage of some nicer weather and made the trip north for Pacifi c halibut and rockfi sh combos. “The halibut bite was scratchy at best and we averaged only one per day,” said Mitchell. “The rockfi sh and lingcod bite on the other hand was fantastic and we had quality and quick limits each day. We spent a couple days last week fi shing rockfi sh close to home around the Hat and had pretty good results as well. We’ve been seeing a lot

Just about any direction you take, the rockfi sh and lingcod action are outstanding reports Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “The weather was a little better this week, so the boats were able to spend a little more time on the water,” said Carson. “Just about everyone were reporting limits of both rockfi sh and lingcod. The redtail perch bite really took o this week; anglers were scoring easy limits along Kellogg Beach. The minus tides brought out the clammers, and there were plenty of clams to be had. Lots of limits reported for medium-sized razors. The next set of minus tides begin June 21. A couple Pacifi c halibut were caught last week, so hopefully that fi shery is starting to heat up. Still no California halibut to speak of, and the e ort remains low.”

Read the complete fi shing roundup at www.northcoastjournal.com. ● Kenny Priest (he/him) operates

Fishing the North Coast, a fi shing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and www.fi shingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fi shing reports and North

Coast river information, email kenny@ fi shingthenorthcoast.com