Month: December 2018

For North Coast river anglers, the past couple weeks were spent waiting on the rain – as well as the arrival of the winter steelhead. Well, we now have both. The latest storms delivered a much more powerful punch than predicted, especially to the Smith and Chetco. Both rivers peaked at well over 20,000 cfs, and got the flushing they badly needed. Here in Humboldt, all of the rivers rose to their highest levels of the winter. And plenty more is on the way. The storms predicted for Sunday and Monday are looking like good ones. While not a ton of angling activity has taken place this past week, there are some good signs. A few adult steelhead were landed on the Mad over the weekend before it blew out. A few also showed up at the hatchery. There’s been a handful of steelhead caught on the main stem Eel, so there’s surely fish making their way up the Duzen and the South Fork Eel by now. Quite a few fresh steelies also made their way to the Rowdy Creek hatchery on the Smith. All signs point towards a good start to the winter steelhead season, all it will take is a few rainless days and we’ll know for sure.

Weather ahead
“More rain is on the way, with a couple pretty good systems bearing down on the North Coast,” said Kathleen Zontos of Eureka’s National Weather Service. “The first system will arrive early Thursday evening and is forecasted to leave some decent rainfall totals in it’s wake. The Smith basin should see from three-quarters up to an inch and a quarter. The hills could see up to an inch and a half. Locally, the Eel and Mad basins could see a half-inch up to an inch and a quarter. Friday and Saturday are looking mostly dry, with the next system forecasted to arrive on Sunday afternoon. This storm, which could linger through Tuesday, will pack a pretty good punch. The Smith basin could see three to four inches, and the Eel, Mad basins could see up to two inches,” said Zontos. More rain is forecasted for Wednesday and Thursday, but the amounts are uncertain according to Zontos.

Humboldt Bay Entrance Safety Zone established
In a recent press release, the Coast Guard established a safety zone in the navigable waters of the Humboldt Bay Entrance Channel to promote the navigational safety of all vessels near Humboldt Bay, when extreme environmental conditions are present. The safety zone will run through March 31, 2019. The safety zone prohibits vessels from transiting the Humboldt Bay Entrance Channel as a result of extreme environmental conditions.

During times of extreme environmental conditions, the temporary safety zone applies to the navigable waters of the Humboldt Bay Bar Channel and the Humboldt Bay Entrance Channel, of Humboldt Bay. This safety zone is effective from the time of promulgation through March 31, 2019; this safety zone will be enforced when on-scene conditions reach 20 feet breaking seas or as the Captain of the Port determines that the on scene environmental conditions are hazardous and unsafe for vessel transits, as announced via Broadcast Notice to Mariners. During times of enforcement, all vessels are prohibited from transiting through or remaining in the safety zone.

Any vessel requesting permission to transit the safety zone during times of enforcement shall contact Station Humboldt Bay on VHF-FM channel 16 or at 707- 443-2213 between 6:30 a.m. and 10 p.m., or to Sector Humboldt Bay on VHF-FM channel 16 or at 707-839-6113 between 10 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
For more information on boating safety and required and recommended safety equipment, please visit www.uscgboating.org. For more information on weather conditions, please visit www.weather.gov.

2019 Fishing license
A reminder that it’s the time of the year to purchase your 2019 sport fishing license, which is required for residents 16 years of age or older to take fish, mollusks, crustaceans, invertebrates, amphibians or reptile in inland or ocean waters. The cost of a new resident sport fishing license is $49.94. A North Coast salmon report card, which will run you $6.74, is required for all anglers taking salmon in the Smith River System or Klamath-Trinity River System. If you plan to fish for steelhead, you’ll need to purchase a steelhead report card, which will cost $7.56 this year. The Dept. of Fish and Wildlife does not accept cash for fishing licenses. For more info, visit https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/fishing

Reduced-Fee sport fishing licenses available
Reduced-cost fishing licenses are available in 2019 for $7.47 (instead of $49.94) for those 65 or older on reduced income or disabled military veterans. For more information on all CA fishing licenses, visit https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/fishing#44521417-free–reduced-fee

Mattole River opens to fishing Jan. 1
The Mattole River will open to fishing on Tuesday, January 1 from 200 yards upstream of its mouth to the confluence with Stansberry Creek. Only artificial lures may be used and barbless hooks are required. The Mattole is also regulated by low flow closures, with a minimum flow of 320 cfs at the Petrolia gauging station.

Mad River Hatchery ladder open
The water running down the ladder to the river was turned on Sunday and a few fish had already made their way up as of Wednesday. The hatchery hopes to begin spawning on Wednesday, Jan. 2 and then each following Tuesday.

The Rivers:
Chetco/Elk/Sixes
For the first time this season, the Chetco reached the top of its banks and completely blew out on Tuesday, hitting 20,000 cfs at the Ice Box gauge reports Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “A steady stream of logs and trees flowed into the ocean. The forecast shows there is an outside chance the river will fish for drift boaters by Saturday. It could be fishable for plunkers as early as Thursday or Friday. To side-drift, it needs to drop below 5,000 cfs. There should be some steelhead in the river when it comes into shape,” added Martin.

The Elk and Sixes also blew out big time according to Martin. He said, “The Elk reached 8.9 feet Tuesday afternoon, up from 4 feet the day before. The Sixes went completely over its banks. The Elk will be fishable by the weekend. The Sixes may be out for the rest of the salmon season, which runs through December. The Elk will remain open to salmon fishing in January.”

Smith River
The Smith exceeded monitor stage on Tuesday, but was quickly dropping as of  Wednesday. According to Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service, the color looked good, but it was big. He said, “This is the blowout we needed, the river should have really cleaned up. There haven’t been many boats out due to the weather and flows, but I did hear some fresh steelhead made it to the hatchery. Once the flows drop to fishable levels, I expect there to be plenty of fish in the river.” Flows are looking good for the weekend, but another rise is predicted for late Sunday.

Main stem Eel
Flows peaked at nearly 15,000 cfs on Monday night and looks to be blown out for some time. There were a few adults around as well as half-pounders. This latest rise should have brought the first big batch of adult winter steelhead into the system.

South Fork Eel
The South Fork topped out at 6,500 cfs on Wednesday morning. Another smaller rise is predicted for Friday, with flows dropping down to fishable levels by the weekend. There’s a couple of active slides that will likely keep it too muddy to fish. Another rise is predicted for late Sunday.

Van Duzen
The Van Duzen peaked at 3,330 cfs on Tuesday night, but is predicted to rise again on Friday and Monday. The river will need a few days of dry weather before it turns green, especially on the lower end. Will likely be end of next week at least before it’s fishable.

Mad
Like all of the coastal rivers, the Mad blew out on Tuesday and won’t be green any time soon reports Justin Kelly of Eureka’s RMI Outdoors. He said. “We’ll need about a week of dry weather for the river to come around. Prior to the rain, a few adult steelhead were caught below the bridge in Blue Lake. A few fish have made it back to the hatchery as well, so the river definitely has some fresh fish in it.” The Mad is forecasted to rise on Friday to nearly 10 feet and another decent rise is predicted for Monday.

Find “Fishing the North Coast” on Facebook and fishingthenorthcoast.com for up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information. Questions, comments and photos can be emailed to kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com

Winter steelhead season has yet to kick into gear on the North Coast, but changes are a brewing. We have a couple decent storm fronts headed our way that will put all of the coastal rivers on the rise. If the rain comes as predicted, the rivers will see their highest flows this winter, except for the Smith. The Eel, South Fork Eel, Van Duzen, and Mad will all get a good flushing, and will likely be muddy next week. Once they recede to fishable levels, we should see the first wave of winter steelhead make their way into our coastal rivers. After a very short and sub-par late fall salmon season, seeing the rivers loaded with bright steelhead sure would be a welcome sight.

Weather ahead
“A couple of fronts are headed our way and we should begin to see a pattern change by Friday,” said Kathleen Zontos of Eureka’s National Weather Service. “The first system will arrive on Friday afternoon and could drop up to three-quarters of an inch in the Smith basin and up to an inch in the Eel and Mad basins. Saturday is looking dry, with a more robust storm arriving on Sunday afternoon. Rainfall totals will be a little better for this one, with the Smith seeing one to two inches and the Eel seeing up to two and a half inches. Another system is forecasted for Monday and Tuesday, but there’s some uncertainty as to where it will land. Right now, the models are showing three-quarters of an inch in the Smith basin and up to a half-inch locally, but that could go up or down. Wednesday is looking dry, with the next system predicted for Thursday and Friday,” said Zontos.

Commercial Dungeness season delayed again
Poor quality has again delayed the commercial Dungeness crab season on the North Coast. The additional 15-day delay will push the new opener date to Dec. 31. Results from the latest round of quality tests continue to show the crab are not ready for harvesting. Delays due to quality only affect the northern commercial fishery in California Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 8 and 9 (Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties). The season in these districts is now scheduled to open at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2018, to be preceded by a 64-hour gear setting period that would begin no earlier than 8:01 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2018. The next round of quality testing is scheduled for Dec. 21. If the meat weight to crab weight remains low, the season could be delayed until Jan. 15, 2019. For more information, visit https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=162630&inline.

For the latest quality test results, visit http://www.psmfc.org/crab/2018-2019%20Files/Tri-State%20PreseasonCoastwideResults_2018.pdf

Razor clam fishery remains closed
In a recent blog post, the CDFW is reminding clammers that the razor clam fishery in Humboldt and Del Norte counties is still closed. The sport razor clam fishery closed more than two years ago due to harmful levels domoic acid. Domoic acid levels have not fallen low enough to reopen the sport season according to the state Department of Public Health (CDPH). Levels were recently found to be skyrocketing. Clams tested were found to contain 130-300 parts per million of domoic acid – up to 15 times the 20 parts per million consumption alert level.

“We are concerned about the extremely high domoic acid test results that came in a couple of weeks ago for razor clam,” said Christy Juhasz, an environmental scientist with the CDFW. “We’re taking this opportunity to remind clammers that the razor clam fishery has been closed since April 2016 to protect the public from consuming potentially lethal razor clams.”

The fishery closure prohibits the recreational take and possession of razor clams from Humboldt and Del Norte county beaches. It effectively removed access to one of the tastiest food clams in California with no season reopening in sight, as testing continues to confirm dangerous levels of domoic acid in razor clam populations in the affected counties.

For the latest information about fishing season closures, you can call the CDFW’s Domoic Acid Fishery Closure Information Line at 831-649-2883. Fishing season closures are also listed on the CDFW website. For the latest consumption warnings, call the CDPH Biotoxin Information line at 510-412-4643 or toll-free at 800-553-4133.

The Rivers:

Chetco/Elk/Sixes
Very few salmon are being caught on the Chetco, but steelhead fishing has begun to pick up reports Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “There are a bunch of half-pounders, many of them hatchery fish, spread throughout the river. There also are more adult steelhead being caught. The upper river has dark salmon still spawning,” said Martin. Following Friday’s rain, flows are predicted to be between 2,000 and 2,500 cfs for the weekend on the Chetco.

Anglers willing to drag their boats downriver did fairly well on the Elk over the weekend according to Martin. He said, “Bank anglers also got into fish in the deep hole next to the hatchery. Big flows are expected after this weekend’s big storm, which could bring fresh kings into both the Elk and Sixes.”

Houston Texas resident Nathan Vajdos landed a late fall-run king salmon on Wednesday while fishing the Smith River. With rain in the forecast, the last of the king salmon will be making their way upriver to spawn while the winter steelhead should begin to make their way into the coastal rivers. Photo courtesy of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service

Smith
“The river came up overnight on Tuesday and was little on the dirty side Wednesday,” said Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service. “There’s still a few kings in the river, but most are dark. There hasn’t been much in the way of steelhead yet, but hopefully that will change with the next round of storms on the way. We’re predicted to get a decent rise for Saturday, and then another bigger one for early next week. This should open the door for the start of the steelhead run.”

Mad
The Mad opened back up to fishing on Wednesday morning, but it could be a short window. Flows are predicted to drop through Friday morning, with the next rise coming Friday afternoon. There should be some steelhead around, as well as a few late kings. Minimum flows to keep the river open to fishing are 200 cfs.

Main stem Eel
The main stem is low, but holding decent color. The river is full of half-pounders from the forks down, along with a few adults. Most of the fish are in the deeper holes, anywhere there’s broken water. The flows were just above 1,200 cfs on the Scotia gauge on Wednesday afternoon and predicted to hold there until Friday evening. The river is forecasted to rise late Friday and will likely blow out for the weekend and into next week. Minimum flows to keep the river open to fishing are 350 cfs on the Scotia gauge.

South Fork Eel
The South Fork was closed to fishing as of Wednesday, and it likely won’t open prior to the next storm. It’s predicted to rise beginning Friday night and will probably be blown out through the weekend and into next week. Minimum flows to keep the river open to fishing are 340 cfs.

Van Duzen
The Van Duzen was open to fishing as of Wednesday, and could remain open until it starts to rise on Friday morning. The river will likely be muddy on Saturday before it blows out on Sunday. Minimum flows to keep the river open to fishing are 150 cfs.

Find “Fishing the North Coast” on Facebook and fishingthenorthcoast.com for up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information. Questions, comments and photos can be emailed to kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com

With very little rain over the past week and the rivers on the drop, the end is likely in sight for the late, fall-run salmon season on the North Coast. The season has been somewhat of a disappointment to fishermen as only a couple major storms hit the coast and dropped enough rain to bring the Smith and Chetco up to ideal levels. While the fishing window was very small, that doesn’t necessarily mean the number of returning salmon was small. Even during the low water conditions, salmon were seen making their way upriver on all of our coastal streams. Typically, the season’s first big rains come in October, leaving us a good four to five-week window to fish. That hasn’t been the case the last couple of years as the salmon didn’t bother to wait for us, or the strong flows to get them to their end destinations.

On the flip side — with the calendar now saying it’s December — expect the winter steelhead to start showing in numbers in the rivers. The Chetco has seen quite a few adults make their way in and the Smith steelhead should be right behind them. But don’t give up entirely on salmon just yet. The Smith, Chetco and the Eel should each see another spurt or two of fresh kings move in on the next substantial river rise.

Weather ahead
The next round of storms should arrive by mid-day Sunday according to Matthew Kidwell of Eureka’s National Weather Service. “The bulk of the system should move into the area on Sunday afternoon and will linger into Monday. We could see up to an inch and a half in the Smith basin and up to an inch here locally. We’ll have a break beginning on Monday afternoon, with the next system forecasted to arrive Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. There’s quite a bit of uncertainty with this one, but we could potentially see one to two inches. We’ll get another short break on Thursday, with the next system predicted for later in the week or by the weekend,” said Kidwell.

Humboldt Bay crabbing
Sport Crabbing inside Humboldt Bay has improved according to Justin Kelly of RMI Outdoors in Eureka. He said, “I’ve been hearing that the fishing has improved.The best spots have been between the Coast Guard station and the entrance. The medium-sized crabs are in really good shape, while the jumbos are still a little light, but improving. Squid and chicken seem to be the bait of choice,”Kelly added. Typically crabbing is best an hour and a half on both sides of the slack tide.

Commercial Dungeness crab season to open in Sonoma County
The commercial Dungeness crab fishery from Bodega Head, Sonoma County north to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line will open this Saturday according to a press release issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The area from the southern boundary of Bodega Head State Marine Reserve, Sonoma County (38° 18′ N.latitude) north to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line (38° 46.125′ N. latitude)was closed due to elevated levels of domoic acid. The fishery will open at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, to be preceded by an 18-hour gear setting period that would begin no earlier than 6:01 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 7. No vessel may take crab within a delayed area during the closure period. In addition, any vessel that has landed crab from ocean waters outside of this delayed area is prohibited from taking, possessing on board, or landing Dungeness crab in this area until Jan. 7, 2019 pursuant to Section 8279.1 of the Fish and Game Code.

The northern California commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 8 and 9 (Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties) remains closed until 12:01 a.m. December 16, due to poor crab meat quality tests. If the next round of test results indicate good quality, the fishery will open and be preceded by a 64-hour gear setting period. For more information, visit https://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2018/12/03/commercial-dungeness-crab-season-to-open-in-sonoma-county/

River closures
The South Fork Eel, Van Duzen, Mad and Redwood Creek will all be closed to fishing beginning Thursday morning, Dec. 6 due to low flows. Be sure and call the low flow closure hotline, 707 822-3164, to determine if the river is open prior to fishing.

Chetco/Elk/Sixes
“Salmon fishing has been slow on the Chetco the past week, although there seems to be one boat that gets hot each day and gets a couple of fish,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “The water is higher than the gauge indicates, and that has played somewhat of a role in the success. The river is still high. More steelhead have been caught the past week, both from drift boats and the bank anglers plunking Spin-N-Glos. Expect to see more steelhead after this week’s rain. Salmon are currently spawning in the upper river.”

The Elk and Sixes have been hit or miss, with a few nice fish being caught early this week reports Martin. “Overall, fishing has been slow this fall on the two rivers, following a similar pattern for all the north-migrating rivers. The Elk is the southernmost river where the salmon migrate to Alaska, and all of the north-migrating rivers have had fairly poor returns this fall,” added Martin.

Smith
“It’s transition time for the Smith River as the majority of the salmon have moved upriver and we’re now waiting for the steelhead to show,” said Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service. “The river has been low this week, and the fishing pressure has been light. From what I’m hearing, there aren’t many salmon around, especially bright ones. It looks like the majority of the fish came through on the rise that we had around Thanksgiving. I heard good reports of fish making it to some of the creeks, and I’ve also seen quite a few main stem spawners. It was definitely a short fishing window, but that not a reflection on the potential run size.Now is typically when we see the steelhead start to show, and I’ve heard there’s some small ones around. We have a decent rise coming late this weekend,so hopefully the first wave of steelhead will begin to show.”

Main stem Eel
The main stem is turning green and was fishable on Wednesday reports Paul Grundmans of Grundmans Sporting Goods in Rio Dell. He said, “We may see a few fresh salmon coming in,but the majority likely moved upriver during the higher flows. We’ve got some pretty big tides happening, so we should see the first of the winter steelhead start to make their way in,” Grundman added.  The flows were just below 1,900 cfs on the Scotia gauge on Wednesday afternoon and predicted to be around 1,000 cfs by Saturday.

Upper Trinity
It has been an up-and-down week on the upper Trinity reports guide Steve Huber. He said, “Deadwood Creek, which was heavily affected by the Carr Fire, has pushed quite a bit of mud into the river. Most of the creeks have all started to flow due to the recent rainfall.  We’ve finally started to see some new fish pushing into the upper river, which should be the start of the winter steelhead run. The Junction City area is clearing quicker due to the clean water coming from the creeks, and that’s where most of the fishing pressure has been. All methods seem to be working, both bait and fly fisherman are seeing good results. Most of these fish from here on out will be wild fish. More storms and weather coming in this week, so I’d expect to see good fishing.” 

Find “Fishing the North Coast” on Facebook and fishingthenorthcoast.com for up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information. Questions,comments and photos can be emailed to kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com