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Rough Seas Curtail Pacifi c Halibut Bite

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

When the ocean has been fi shable, the Pacifi c halibut have been chomping baits at a pretty good clip out of Eureka. Most of the charters and sport boats still fi shing are scoring their one-fi sh-apiece limit. The biggest detriment has been the weather. Large swells have been the norm over the past few weeks, limiting the fl eet to just a day here and there on the water. When the stars do align, the fi shing has been very good. “There’s plenty of fi sh out there,” said Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “Most of the action has been in the same general area, between the 49 and 54 lines in 200 to 300 feet of water.” According to Klassen, the majority of the fi sh are running between 10 and 20 pounds, but a few bigger fi sh have shown up. The top baits have been herring along with salmon and tuna bellies. Rough ocean conditions are in the forecast at least through the end of the week. The good news is with no fi shing, the quota will last longer. The halibut fi shery will run through Nov. 15, or until the quota is reached, whichever is earlier. As of Sept. 12, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated 26,118 net pounds of Pacifi c halibut had been harvested toward the 39,260-pound quota. To view the latest catch projection information, visit www. wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/Pacific-Halibut#31670772-in-season-tracking.

Recreational crab regulation changes for 2021

The California Fish and Game Commission adopted new regulations for the recreational crab fi shery in 2021. The revised regulations include the following new requirements when fi shing with crab traps: • A standardized buoy and additional red buoy marker for each trap • All crab traps must be serviced at least every nine days • A Recreational Crab Trap Validation is required when fi shing crab traps • A limit of 10 traps per person

Also note that the CDFW director can now implement a season delay or early season closure due to marine life entanglement risk. Notices of delay or closure will be posted on the CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries web page at least fi ve days before any delay or closure. The Dungeness season is expected to reopen on Nov. 6. Crabbers can also sign up to receive important season information and updates on the web page. The new regulations are in effect beginning Nov. 1. The Recreational Crab Trap Validation can now be purchased at www.wildlife.ca.gov/ Licensing/Fishing as well as from other approved license sales agents. For more information on regulations changes, visit www.nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=195067&inline.

The Oceans: Eureka

Eureka resident Jazz Lewis landed a nice Pacific halibut while fishing out of Eureka on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Gary Blasi, Full Throttle Sport Fishing

Crescent City

According to Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, tuna were caught last weekend 40 miles from the harbor. “Since Sunday, the ocean has been really rough,” he said. “When the boats can get out, the rockfi sh and lingcod bite is still excellent. The California halibut are pretty much done.”

Rough ocean conditions have kept the boats tied up since Monday and it looks like more of the same all week. The Pacifi c halibut bite remains solid between the 49 and 54 lines, weather permitting. According to Klassen, the rockfi sh action near Cape Mendocino was tougher than usual over the weekend. “There’s still lots of blacks but not big numbers of the other species,” he said. “The ling cod bite wasn’t that great, either. The ocean conditions could have put them o the bite.”

Shelter Cove The Rivers:

Lower Klamath

Salmon fi shing slowed slightly late last week, as the mouth was reportedly sanded over. The fi shing picked up on Sunday, with jacks and some adults caught between Starwein and Blue Creek. With more than an inch of rain on Monday and fl ows jumping up 400 cubic feet per second, there should be plenty of fi sh moving through the mouth into the lower river. ●

The rockfi sh bite was great all week, according to Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “We made it up to Rodgers break in marginal conditions and did really good for a couple days,” he said. “The weather fi nally laid down enough for us to get up to Gorda on Sunday, and we had limits of rockfi sh and lings along with four Pacifi c halibut. We fi shed for salmon for about a total of eight hours this week and landed seven fi sh to 27 pounds right out front inside of the whistle.”

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.