Fishing the North Coast

from North Coast Journal 08-18-2022 Edition

by North Coast Journal

Screens

Fall-Run Salmon Quotas Underway on the Klamath

By Kenny Priest

fi shing@northcoastjournal.com

Fall regulations began Aug. 15 on the Klamath River, triggering the start of the fall salmon quota. The California Fish and Game Commission adopted bag and possession limits for the Klamath Basin based on a quota of 2,119 fall-run adult kings. On the Klamath, the fall season closes Dec. 31. The fall season on the Trinity begins Sept. 1 and closes Dec. 31.

On the Lower Klamath, from the State Route 96 bridge at Weitchpec to the mouth, 1,060 adults will be allowed for sport harvest. The section above the bridge at Weitchpec to 3,500 feet downstream of the Iron Gate Dam will get 360 adults.

The Spit Area (within 100 yards of the channel through the sand spit formed at the Klamath River mouth) will close when 15 percent of the total Klamath River Basin quota is taken downstream of the U.S. Highway 101 bridge. In 2022, 318 adults can be harvested below the U.S. Highway 101 bridge before the closure at the mouth is implemented. The rest of the area below U.S. Highway 101 (the estuary) will remain open to recreational fi shing. Important reminder: All legally caught Chinook salmon must be retained while fi shing the spit. Once the adult component of the total daily bag limit has been retained, anglers must cease fi shing in the spit area.

On the Trinity side, the quota is set at 699 adults. The quota will be split almost evenly: 350 adults for the main stem Trinity downstream of the Old Lewiston Bridge to the State Route 299 West bridge at Cedar Flat, and 349 adults for the main stem Trinity downstream of the Denny Road bridge at Hawkins Bar to the confluence with the Klamath.

The daily bag limit will be two Chinook salmon, no more than one of which may be greater than 23 inches, and a possession limit of six, of which only three may exceed 23 inches. Once these quotas have been met, no Chinook salmon greater than 23 inches in length may be retained (anglers may still retain a limit of Chinook salmon less than 23 inches in length).

Visit www.nrm.dfg.ca.gov/ FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=202686&inline for a complete list of regulations. Anglers may monitor the quota status of open and closed sections of the Klamath and Trinity rivers by calling the Klamath information hotline at 800-564-6479. All anglers on the Trinity and Klamath rivers must have salmon harvest cards in their possession when fi shing for salmon.

The Oceans:

Eureka

Vic Haskett, of McKinleyville, landed a nice Chinook salmon while fi shing the Klamath River estuary last Monday. The fall-run adult salmon quota for the Klamath River basin began Monday, Aug. 15. Photo courtesy of Mike Thall

According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, the tuna bite turned on pretty well last Friday o of Eureka. “Boats didn’t need to go much farther than 20 miles,” said Klassen. “The tuna were in that general area for a while but they were spread out. Friday, for whatever reason, they decided to come up and the boats did well. With all the warm water, the salmon fi shing hasn’t been great. Top scores have been a couple per boat. The fi sh being caught are on the bottom. Hopefully the wind we’re seeing this week will cool the water.”

Trinidad

The rockfi sh bite out of Trinidad remains excellent according to Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters. He said, “They come a little slower when we have minus tides, but overall, the bite is still good. Some days we’re getting a nice variety and others, it’s nothing but black rockfi sh. The lingcod bite is still going strong too. Fish are being caught from Flat Iron all the way to SueMeg (formerly Patrick’s Point). There are some salmon being caught, mostly out in deeper water and the fi sh are right on the bottom.”

Lower Klamath

The water color is fi nally starting to improve after last Monday’s blowout. It’s not quite green, but it’s improving slightly each day. There’s plenty of steelhead to be had from the Glen up and some fall kings are making their way into the lower river. Fishing should really improve over the next couple weeks. Fall regulations went into e ect Monday, Aug. 15. The daily bag limit will be two Chinook, no more than one adult (longer 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 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.