Fishing the North Coast

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Pacific Halibut Season Closes, Boats Turn to Tuna

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

One of the better Pacific halibut seasons came to a close Sunday with boats catching some nice fish right up until the final buzzer. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Sunday’s closure late last week with the expectation that quota would be exceeded if the season remained open. And I don’t think they were wrong. But as we say goodbye to halibut, we welcome albacore tuna to our decks. The warm water that tuna seek is just a few miles offshore but most boats are looking out in deeper water in hopes of finding large schools. As of Monday, the scores weren’t off the charts but the fish being caught are big. Not many peanuts are being caught — most are in the 20-pound class and quite a few 30-plus-pound tuna are being caught. Boats will have a couple more days to search for tuna with windy conditions predicted to return later in the week.

The Oceans:

Eureka

According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, the tuna water is within 20 miles of the entrance. “Sunday and Monday, we found fish roughly 18 miles offshore,” said Klassen. “The fish are really scattered, no real big concentrations of fish. Scores were slightly better 35 miles out Monday but still not red-hot. However, the fish being caught are a really good grade with most of the fish being over 20-pounds. The wind is forecast to return Thursday. With all the warm water close to shore, the salmon bite hasn’t been great. Most of the fish are being caught right on the bottom. North of the entrance off the stacks in 100 feet of water has produced some quality keepers.”

Trinidad

bang; the fishing was really good Sunday,” said Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters. “The black rockfish bite has slowed the last few days. We’re still catching nice ones and getting limits but it has slowed a little. Not sure what role the ocean conditions are having on the bite; the water is really clear and calm. The lingcod bite is still good if you put in the effort. There are some nice ones around, too, up to 25-pounds. The salmon bite has been slow. A few were caught on the beach and out deep right on the bottom. A couple have also been caught out near Redding Rock.”

Shelter Cove

It continues to be a pretty dismal year out of Shelter Cove, reports Jake Mitchell, of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “Rock fishing has been pretty good but that’s been about the only consistent fishery we’ve had. Salmon fishing has gone from bad to worse and until the water cools off — it probably won’t get any better. We had a decent albacore bite last week, but that has petered out and boats are only getting one to three fish over the last several days. The warm water is only 10 miles out and it’s in every direction. I think we need a good blow for a few days to reshuffle the cards. There was a decent halibut bite Sunday up at Gorda for the last day.”

Crescent City

According to Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, the Sisters and the South Reef continue to provide limits of quality rockfish and lingcod. “The salmon action continues to be slow but we aren’t seeing a whole lot of effort,” said Carson.

Cooper Sharp, of Lewiston (left), landed a monster 97.5-pound Pacific halibut Sunday while fishing out of Eureka with Eric Justesen (right). Photo courtesy of Eric Justesen/707 Sport Fishing “That may change now that halibut season is closed. Currently, there isn’t much in the way of tuna water near Crescent City. One boat did run quite a ways south Monday and boated six.”

Lower Klamath

The entire river blew out Monday due to heavy rain near last year’s fires, sending mud and debris from Happy Camp all the way to the mouth. (Read about the devastating impact of the McKinney Fire on fish in the Klamath River on page 9.) While upriver of the estuary is dirty, boats trolling for salmon did quite well Monday. Your best bet will be to fish the incoming when the tidal influences push back the dirty water. It’s hard to know when the river will be fishable again — it could easily be a week. Spring-run regulations are in effect through Aug. 14, with a daily bag and possession limit of one salmon of any size. The fall quota will begin next Monday, Aug. 15. Read the complete fishing roundup at www.northcoastjournal.com. l Kenny Priest (he/him) operates Fishing the North Coast, a fishing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and www.fishingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@ fishingthenorthcoast.com.