Fishing the North Coast

Chetco Estuary Kicking Out Quality Kings

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

If you’re looking for an opportunity to catch big, ocean-fresh kings, the Chetco estuary is the place to be. Salmon have been staging in the tidewater since the beginning of September.

They’ll be there until rain allows them to make their way upriver. Following last

Monday’s rain, which bumped the fl ows from under 100 cubic feet per second to nearly 1,000 cfs, some salmon were able to navigate out of the tidewater. But there should be plenty more heading in from the salt to take their place. “Salmon fi shing has kicked into high gear on the Chetco estuary,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers

Fishing. “Upward of 50 kings were landed on Saturday and several dozen more on

Monday. There is a good mix of jacks and wild and hatchery kings. The good fi shing has attracted a crowd of boats. Anchovies and plug-cut herring are producing fi sh the second half of the incoming tide and beginning of the outgoing.”

On the Chetco, the daily bag limit for salmon is two adult fi sh per day and no more than one adult wild Chinook. Anglers may harvest adult hatchery Chinook until the daily bag limit has been met. Once the adult daily limit is harvested, anglers cannot continue to fi sh for jack salmon. The river remains closed above mile 2.2 because of low fl ows.

Over on the Smith River, the tidewater fi shing hasn’t been as good. But that may not be for a lack of fi sh. The rain that fell last week pushed the fl ows over 900 cfs, and schools of jacks and darker adults moved through. According to Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, there aren’t many fi sh staging in the estuary right now. “There’s been a few boats trolling sardines and anchovies, as well as bank anglers tossing Kastmasters and Cleos,” he said. The Smith River is currently closed above the mouth of Rowdy Creek due to low fl ows. Doug and Nick Ebert hold limits of salmon caught Oct. 2 while fishing the Chetco River estuary with guide Mick Thomas of Brookings Fishing Charters.

Photo courtesy of Brookings Fishing Charters

Weekend marine forecast

Winds will begin to decrease Friday and the ocean looks to be plenty fi shable over the weekend. As of Tuesday afternoon, Friday’s forecast is calling for winds out of the southwest up to 5 knots with northwest waves 4 feet at eight seconds and west 3 feet at 16 seconds. Saturday, winds will be out of the north 5 to 10 knots with northwest waves 5 feet at nine seconds. Sunday looks similar with winds coming from the north 5 to 15 knots with northwest waves 5 feet at nine 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.

The Oceans:

Eureka

Prior to Monday, there hadn’t been much o shore activity out of Eureka due to rough seas. Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sport Fishing ventured to the halibut grounds in less than ideal conditions Monday and put in quick limits. The weather was better Tuesday but the bite was slower. Very few boats were on the water.

Shelter Cove

According to Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing, the rockfi sh bite has been excellent this week. “It’s been a little slow at times but still getting good limits every day,” he said. “Most of the e ort was at the Old Man this week. The salmon bite picked up the last couple days and most boats have been getting limits over the weekend right at the Coast Guard buoy.

The Rivers:

Lower Klamath

The salmon e ort and harvest has slowed considerably on the lower Klamath. Reportedly, the mouth is still sanded over, making it di cult for fi sh to enter the river. If and when it blows open, we should see more fresh kings along with coho move in. The daily bag limit is two jack Chinook at 23-inches or smaller and two hatchery steelhead.

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.

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