4 minute read
Fishing the North Coast
Anglers Await Arrival of Fall Klamath Kings
By Kenny Priest
fishing@northcoastjournal.com
Some of the best steelhead fi shing in recent years on the Klamath has kept anglers busy as we await the arrival of the fall kings. There’s been fl urries of fi sh moving in the estuary and below the U.S. Highway 101 bridge, but not many are choosing to head upriver as of yet. The water temperatures cooled by a couple degrees Monday and quite a few fresh steelhead and jacks moved into the lower river. The big kings should start to move any time, especially with the water starting to cool down. According to Dan Troxel, an environmental scientist on the Klamath River Project, only 47 adult salmon had been harvested from the State Route 96 bridge at Weitchpec to the Klamath mouth towards the quota of 611 for the week ending Thursday Aug. 19. Of those, 20 adults were caught at the spit area of the mouth. As of last Friday, 163 adults remained of the 183-adult sub-quota for the mouth. If the fi shing doesn’t bust open soon, there is some help on the way. Reportedly, fl ows coming out of the Trinity are scheduled to increase Sept. 3 for the ceremonial Hoopa Boat Dance. Flows are predicted to peak at 2,800 cubic feet per second on the Hoopa gauge Sept. 5 or Sept. 6 and then ramp back down by Sept. 8.
Marine forecast
Gale force northerly gusts are forecast to develop Friday across the outer waters north of Cape Mendocino. Winds nearshore will generally be lighter. However, seas will grow steeper through the end of the week and over the weekend. Out 10 nautical miles north of the Cape, Friday’s forecast is calling for north winds 15 to 25 knots and waves out of the north 9 feet at nine seconds. Saturday is calling for north winds 10 to15 knots and waves northwest 9 feet at nine seconds. Sunday, winds will be out of the north at 5 to 15 knots and waves northwest 7 feet at eight seconds. These conditions can and will change by the weekend. For an up-todate 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.
The Oceans: Eureka
Cotati resident Brandon Crane landed a nice hatchery steelhead while fishing the Klamath River Saturday. Photo courtesy of Alan’s Guide Service and hitting spots close to the harbor for limits of rockfi sh and some lingcod. The Sisters continues to be one of the better locations. The tuna water is still sitting 30 miles straight out of Crescent City, but conditions don’t look great for the remainder of the week and the weekend.
Wind and rough ocean conditions have kept the Eureka boats tied up for well over a week. There is a brief weather window for Wednesday and Thursday before the wind returns by the weekend. According to Tim Klassen, of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, the tuna water is still within reach. “The warm water is roughly 40 to 45 miles from Eureka,” said Klassen. “We just need some decent weather.”
Shelter Cove
The salmon bite has been pretty good this week, reports Jake Mitchell, of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “We had limits most days of nice quality kings up to 32 pounds,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been getting them just south of the harbor around the bell buoy. The rock fishing was stellar as well as we limited on rockfish a few days after our salmon. The lingcod bite remains inconsistent with about a fish per rod average.”
Crescent City
Windy conditions have slowed the o shore fi shing out of Crescent City. A few boats are getting out early in the morning
The Rivers:
Lower Klamath
The stellar steelhead fi shing is still going strong on the lower Klamath. The river is full of half-pounders, along with lots of adults running 3 to 6 pounds. More jacks entered the river on Monday and quite a few boats were getting limits. Very few adults are being caught, but that could change at any time, especially with the water temps starting to cool. The estuary fi shery isn’t red-hot, but a few are being caught by boats trolling anchovies. Most of the fi shing pressure has moved upriver.
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
341 West Harris St., Eureka 707 445-3138 poletskis.com
• Servicing Humboldt County for over 40 years • Largest in stock new & used inventory • Competitive price guarantee • Delivery and Service after the sale
