Fishing the North Coast

By Kenny Priest

fishing@northcoastjournal.com

Mother Nature can be so cruel. In the week leading up to Saturday’s rockfi sh and Pacifi c halibut openers, ocean conditions out of Eureka were pristine. Then, as if someone was playing a bad joke, the north winds picked up and the ocean swells grew steep, spoiling the weekend plans of the Eureka fl eet. That’s the bad news. The good news is the seas have since subsided and boats will be headed out through Humboldt Bay Wednesday in search of the season’s fi rst haul of halibut and rockfi sh. But the weather window could be small. Winds will begin to pick up Friday and the weekend is again looking very breezy. There’s plenty of season ahead of us and this won’t be the last time Mother Nature has her way.

After a fi ve-year closure, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife director has re-opened the recreational razor clam fi shery in Del Norte County following a recommendation from state health agencies that the consumption of razor clams in the area no longer poses a signifi cant threat for domoic acid exposure according to a press release issued Friday. During the closure, state health agencies have continued to assess domoic acid levels in razor clams. Razor clams have consistently exceeded the federal action level of 20 parts per million. However, clams recently collected from Crescent City in March and April 2021 all had lower concentrations. CDFW, the California Department of Public Health and the O ce of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment continue to monitor domoic acid in razor clams to determine when the recreational fi shery in Humboldt County can be opened safely. Visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/ Fishing/Ocean/Regulations/Sport-Fishing/ Invertebrate-Fishing-Regs#mollusks for specifi c razor clam regulations.

Breezy conditions are once again in the forecast for the weekend. Saturday is calling for north winds 15 to 25 knots with waves out of the northwest 9 feet at 10 seconds. Sunday is looking similar, with winds out of the north 15 to 25 knots. Waves will be northwest 10 feet at 9 seconds. These conditions can and will change by the weekend. For an up-to-date weather forecast, visit www. Nine-year-old Joey Swancey, of Palo Cedro, scored a pair of black weather.gov/eureka/ rockfish while fishing out of Trinidad Monday. or www.windy.com. Photo courtesy of Curt Wilson/Wind Rose Charters 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 wind was howling all weekend, which kept most of the boats o the water according to Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. He said, “Jared Morris of C’Mon Sport Fishing and one other boat made a quick run to the rockfi sh grounds Saturday morning and found some hungry rockfi sh. Each boat came home with one ling apiece. The weather looks decent starting Wednesday before the wind comes back on Saturday.”

Captain Curt Wilson, who runs Wind Rose Charters, was able to put clients on limits of black rockfi sh and crab over the weekend. “We only had a to hit a couple spots towards Patrick’s Point to score limits of quality black rockfi sh,” said Wilson. “Conditions weren’t great but we were able to get in and out early before the wind picked up. We’ll have a little more time this week to look around for some variety as conditions will be much better.”

Despite the conditions, a few boats trudged their way to the rockfi sh grounds before the winds came up Saturday. Steve Huber, who runs Crescent City Fishing Charters, battled minus tides and rough water to put his clients on some quality rockfi sh. “We started north of the harbor and found a decent bite,” said Huber. “We made a couple of moves before the weather go too bad.” Huber was back on the water Monday and found plenty of hungry rockfi sh and a few lingcod south near the Sisters.

“Rough ocean conditions put a damper on the halibut opener out of Brookings as well as the Point St. George Reef opener south of the border,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “The inshore reefs still produced limits of rockfi sh and a few lingcod during the windy weekend. Calmer conditions are expected Wednesday before a storm brushes the area Thursday and Friday.”

A few spring salmon were caught on the lower Rogue after last week’s rain but overall catch rates remain poor, reports Martin. “This year’s springer run has been well below average. Rogue anglers looking for action are waiting with anticipation for the salmon fl y hatch on the upper river, which produces the best trout fi shing of the year,” added Martin.

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

www.eelvalleyappliance.com