Fishing the North Coast

from North Coast Journal 07-01-2021 Edition

On the Table

FISHING THE NORTH COAST Tough Go for Eureka King Opener

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

For at least the past few weeks, there were all sorts of signs indicating salmon were plentiful o the coast of Eureka and Trinidad. But somehow those signs, and the salmon, all but vanished by the time the sport salmon season opened Tuesday. While the majority of boats opted for Pacifi c halibut, a group, including Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, spent a good part of the day hunting for salmon. And what they found was pretty disappointing. According to Klassen, there were no keeper kings caught that he had heard of. The overall salmon abundance numbers weren’t projected very high for our area, but there should have been at least a handful caught.

But it wasn’t meant to be. At least not yet. For all we know the fi sh could be out in deeper water, or they could still be making their way here. Shelter Cove had a decent opener, so that’s encouraging. Until the kings arrive, rockfi sh will su ce.

Pacific Halibut closes June 30

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday that the recreational Pacifi c halibut fi shery will close Wednesday, June 30, at 11:59 p.m. for the remainder of 2021. Based on the latest catch projections, CDFW expects the 2021 California recreational quota of 39,260 net pounds will be exceeded unless the fi shery is closed. Similar to the hot Pacifi c halibut bite observed in 2020, the 2021 season has proven to be very successful. During the second half of June, CDFW fi eld sta recorded a very high number of Pacifi c halibut being caught. Visit www. wildlife.ca.gov/News/recreational-pacifi chalibut-fi shery-to-close-june-30-for-restof-the-year# for more information.

Weekend marine forecast

Ocean conditions look fi shable through the weekend. As of Tuesday afternoon, Friday’s forecast is calling for north winds at 5 to 10 knots and waves northwest 6 feet at nine seconds. Saturday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds at 5 to 10 knots and waves northwest 4 feet at nine seconds. The winds will be the same on Sunday, with waves northwest 5 feet at eight 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.

Laytonville resident Jack Kuykendall landed this nice king salmon while fishing out of Shelter Cove. Photo courtesy of Jake Mitchell, Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. the water,” said Mitchell. “We opted to put some rockfi sh on the boat fi rst before salmon. We ended up with only three The Oceans: kings, but a lot of boats did better. Overall, the rock fi shing has been great with limits of nice quality fi sh every day. The Eureka lings continue to be a little more stubborn

The salmon fi shing was tough for but the grade is good and we got limits all the sport boats that gave it a whirl on but one day.” Tuesday’s opener. Some undersized kings and a couple silvers were all the fl eet Crescent City could muster. The majority of the boats “Sport salmon season opened Tuesopted to fi sh Pacifi c halibut and leave the day and there were a handful of salmon salmon for later. A wise move as it turns caught, including some bigger ones,” said out. While the boats were on the water, it Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund was announced that the season would be Marine. “The rockfi sh bite remains closing after Wednesday, following a full solid, with limits reported by just about quota. Hopefully the salmon bite will pick everyone. The California halibut have up, otherwise it’s going to be rockfi sh from fi nally shown up with quite a few being here on out. caught daily o of South Beach by boats and kayaks trolling anchovies. Last week’s Trinidad minus tides produced excellent clamming

The salmon opener didn’t produce conditions. Anglers reported limits of much, but the rock fi shing is still outstand- razors, and some bigger ones are starting ing. Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters, to show.” ● along with the other charters, has yet to come back to port shy of limits. “There’s Read the complete fi shing roundup at just a lot of fi sh between the Head and www.northcoastjournal.com. Patrick’s Point this year,” said Wilson. “It’s been pretty easy to get 10 rockfi sh per Kenny Priest (he/him) operates person. The crabbing is still good, we’re Fishing the North Coast, a fi shing guide sending clients home with limits each day.” service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Shelter Cove Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and

The sport salmon opener was decent, www.fi shingthenorthcoast.com. For according to Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk up-to-date fi shing reports and North Sport Fishing. “There were probably over Coast river information, email kenny@ 50 kings caught by the 35 or so boats on fi shingthenorthcoast.com