California Halibut Still Biting

California Halibut

Still Biting1537 4th St. Eureka 445-1177

By Kenny Priest

the lack of rain isn’t doing the run of late-fall kings any favors but it is keeping the California halibut fishery alive. Without an influx of freshwater from the rains and with enough food SWEETHEARTMOTORS.ORG to keep them happy, there’s no reason for the halibut to leave. Though the effort has dwindled, there are still enough halibut in the bay to make for a great day. The few boats still targeting them are finding success using artificial baits, with swimbaits being the top producer. Most of the live bait le the bay toward the end of September but enough halibut have hung around to make it worth your while. And the smaller tide swings we’ve had lately also play a Tyler Gillespie, left, along with Russell Boham scored limits of California halibut last week while shing in Humboldt Bay. role, as the halibut seem to Photo courtesy of Tyler Gillespie bite better when there’s less water moving in and out. If you haven’t had your fill of halibut, there The Rivers: are still plenty le to catch. The north River Closures channel above the bridge, near the Coast Currently, all the North Coast rivGuard station and South Bay have been ers subjected to low flow fishing closome of the best spots. The recreational sures, including the Eel, Mad, Redwood fishery for California halibut is open Creek, Smith and Van Duzen, are closed. year-round. The daily bag and posses- Sections of rivers that are open include sion limit is three fish, with a minimum the main stem Eel River from the paved size limit of 22 inches total length. junction of Fulmor Road to its mouth and the main stem Smith River from the More dry weather ahead mouth of Rowdy Creek to the Smith’s

We’re looking at dry weather through mouth. The Mad River from the mouth this week, as the high pressure is stay- to 200 yards upstream is closed until Jan. ing put, according to Kathleen Zontos 1. The Department of Fish and Wildlife of Eureka’s National Weather Service. will make the information available “There are some weak systems in the to the public no later than 1 p.m. each forecast for next Tuesday and Thursday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday as to but they don’t look like they’ll do much whether any river will be closed to fishfor the river levels,” Zontos added. CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 →

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Halibut

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ing. The rivers can be opened at any time. The low fl ow closure hotline for North Coast rivers is 822-3164.

Lower Klamath

Very few salmon, if any, are entering the mouth of the Klamath. Most are in the upper reaches or are in the Trinity. There are a few adult steelhead and some half-pounders making their way through the lower river.

Trinity

I’m starting to hear of salmon in the Douglas City area, so it sounds like there’s fi sh spread throughout the river. Junction City Store owner Frank Chapman reports, “We’re not seeing a whole lot of steelhead right now. One boat dri ed the upper end on Monday and only got a couple small ones. We really need some rain to put both salmon and steelhead on the move.”

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Smith

According to Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, there are a few salmon being caught at the mouth. “Guys tossing Cleos are catching a few each day,” said Carson. “There are quite a few jacks being caught and I’ve seen adults up to 30 pounds landed. Upriver, most of the deeper holes are full of salmon. We just need some rain in order to open the river to fi shing,” added Carson. The river is currently closed to fi shing above the mouth of Rowdy Creek due to low fl ows.

Read the complete fishing report at www.northcoastjournal.com. ✦

Kenny Priest (he/him) operates Fishing the North Coast, a shing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and www. shingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date shing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@ shingthenorthcoast.com.

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