Fishing the North Coast

from North Coast Journal 08-19-2021 Edition

NCJ Daily Online

Wind Cuts Short Epic Tuna Bite

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

And what an epic bite it was! The onslaught began last Thursday out of Crescent City and didn’t let up until Sunday, when the ocean turned sporty. Fish were caught out of Shelter Cove but the best bite was near Crescent City. Boats leaving Eureka headed northwest to the area o of the mouth of the Klamath River. There was a huge swath of tuna from there north to Brookings. Boats leaving Crescent City met the warm water and boatloads of tuna at 20 miles. The Trinidad boats got in on the action, as well. Tony Sepulveda, of Shellback Sport Fishing, was one of the charters that made the run Friday and Saturday. “Tuna were caught as close as 34 miles northwest of Trinidad,” said Sepulveda. “We did our heavy lifting around 45 miles. The fi shing on Friday was ridiculous, with 76 by noon. We had lots of quads, fi ve-ways and even six-bangers. We didn’t have live bait available but did real well sliding colt snipers after the troll rods went o . Saturday was busy but they were a little more tentative. No long dry spells but lots of singles and we ended the day with 37.” Scores were all over the board, ranging from high teens to more than 70 for some boats. A boat fi shing out of Brookings even announced a limit of 75 for three anglers by 8:30 a.m. The best way to describe this level of fi shing – everyone who went “got all they wanted.” The grade of fi sh was mixed, ranging from 8 pounds all the way to the high 30s.

The Oceans:

Eureka

The tuna water was quite a way from Eureka, but a few boats did make the long 50-plus-mile run. Quite a few of the Eureka boats opted to trailer to Crescent City to get in on the bite from there. The boats that stayed put took advantage of the nice weather and headed to the Cape for rockfi sh. Tim Klassen, of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, reports the fi shing is really good, with easy limits of rockfi sh. “The blacks are big and plentiful and it’s really easy to catch a quick limit,” he said. “The lingcod were a bit tougher to come by as the wind kept us from getting to some of the better spots, but we did manage to get quite a few.” Eleven-year-old Paul Griffith, of Chico, landed this hefty albacore tuna on Saturday while fishing roughly 45 miles northwest of Trinidad.

Photo courtesy of Tony Sepulveda/Shellback Sport Fishing

Trinidad

Curt Wilson, of Wind Rose Charters, reports the rockfi sh action is cranking right along, with lots of black rockfi sh coming over the rails. “Between the Head and Patrick’s Point is still producing quality limits of black rockfi sh,” he said. “We made a couple trips out to Reading Rock over the weekend and caught a wide variety of rockfi sh and some nice lingcod. The wind this week may keep us o the water for a few days.” The boat launch is operating from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Shelter Cove

According to Jake Mitchell, of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing, there are still some nice salmon being caught. “It’s not red hot but the average is probably about a fi sh per angler,” he said. “Some days are better than others as it hasn’t been real consistent. Still lots of bait in close to the harbor and that’s where most of the e ort has been. We made our fi rst tuna run on Thursday 57 miles out past Gorda Valley. The grade was pretty small for the most part but there was plenty of action. In fi ve hours of fi shing, we boated 55 albacore. Rock fi shing was still easy limits with about a lingcod per rod on the days we tried. Most of the rockfi sh are being caught at the Hat and the Old Man.”

Lower Klamath

The estuary fi shery has slowed down as we wait for the fall kings to come in big numbers and make their way upriver. As of Wednesday, there weren’t many salmon being caught above tidewater, but there are plenty of half-pounders and adult steelhead around. Fall regulations went into e ect Sunday, Aug. 15. The daily bag limit will be two Chinook, no more than one adult (greater than 23 inches) and the possession limit is six, no more than three adults.

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