Fishing the North Coast

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Salmon Plentiful O the North Coast

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

After sitting on the sidelines for nearly a week due to terrible ocean conditions, the Eureka fl eet was fi nally back on the water Tuesday. And the salmon were waiting. Early reports indicate there’s a large area full of fi sh right out front of Eureka and most of the boats that ventured out scored limits. And it sounds like there are salmon up and down the coast. When the Shelter Cove boats have been able to launch, the salmon fi shing has been lights out. The big surprise so far has been Crescent City. Limit-style fi shing has been the norm since the opener, which hasn’t been the case in quite a few years. Though we’re only 10 days into the season, it’s already looking like we’re in for a good one.

Weekend marine forecast

It’s looking like we’ll have a week of fi shable weather. Friday, south winds will be up to 5 knots with west waves 6 feet at nine seconds. Saturday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds to 5 knots with westerly waves 4 feet at nine seconds. Sunday’s prediction is looking better, with northwest winds 5 to 10 knots with northwest swells 4 feet at 10 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. You can also call the National Weather Service at 443-7062 or the o ce on Woodley Island at 443-6484.

The Oceans:

Eureka

After a week of rough weather, the seas fi nally calmed down and the boats were back on the water Tuesday. And the salmon were there and in a biting mood. According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, there was a pretty large area of Fresno resident Jerry Urzua landed a nice king Friday while fishing out of Shelter Cove.

Photo courtesy of Jake Mitchell/Sea Hawk Sport Fishing

fi sh. “Most of the boats did well between the 44 and 49-lines from 200 to 250 feet of water,” said Klassen. “There were some birds and bait, but not a ton. There were some whales in the area however. The fi sh were averaging about 8 pounds but some bigger fi sh were caught.”

Trinidad

Not much in the way of e ort or fi sh reports out of Trinidad due to the ocean conditions. Just a reminder, the launch will be in service and launching boats at 6 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday. They will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Cost to launch is $45. Call 677-3625 for more information.

Shelter Cove

Ocean conditions have improved this week, which should put some more boats on the water. Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing ventured out in rough conditions last week and reports a pretty good salmon bite. “We were the only boat out on Friday in very sloppy conditions but managed to get boat limits of salmon to 15-pounds,” said Mitchell. “The rock fi shing has been really good so far, with the lings being a little tougher to come by. Most of our e ort has been around the Old Man.”

Crescent City

Abundant salmon limits were reported by the fl eet Tuesday. Boats fi shing near buoy 2 had the most action but there’s a wide area of fi sh all the way to the Sisters. Most of the fi sh are coming shallow, under 50-feet on the wire. Anchovies, SpinFish and Cut Plugs are all catching fi sh. The rockfi sh bite has been excellent as well with the South Reef and Sisters being a couple of the top spots.

Brookings

Rough weather sidelined the Brookings fl eet most of last week, but conditions look good this week, reports Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. He said, “With high water in the Chetco, the best fi shing will be north of Chetco Point. No halibut have been reported yet but smaller swells the middle of this week will allow boats to get to the more productive areas. Ocean salmon season opens June 18 out of Brookings.”

Lower Rogue

“Spring salmon fi shing continues to be good on the lower Rogue River, even with the high, muddy water over the weekend,” said Martin. “Lots of hatchery springers are being caught by anglers fi shing anchovies and spinner blades from anchored boats or Brad’s plug cut lures of 3.5 MagLips from shore. Conditions should be prime this week as the river drops.”

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