Last Sunday provided offshore anglers along the entire North Coast some of the best ocean conditions since the rockfish and Pacific halibut seasons kicked off. And plenty of boats took full advantage. Leaving Humboldt Bay, there were a steady stream of boats headed south, reacquainting themselves with Cape Mendocino. Reportedly, the fishing was excellent with lots of rockfish and lingcod coming over the rails. A good number of boats chose to head west and take a go at Pacific halibut. That move paid off as well as boats were met with cleaner water and hungry halibut. By Monday, conditions were starting to change for the worse, again, but there were a good number of halibut caught. Tuesday saw the wind return, and it looks like it will stick around through the work week. Saturday looks to be fishable, but by Sunday winds up to 20 knots will return.
Weekend marine forecast
Seas will continue to be rough through Friday, but Saturday looks like it will be fishable. Friday’s forecast is calling for 5 to 10 knot winds out of the northwest and waves north 8 feet at seven seconds and northwest 4 feet at 12 seconds. Saturday looks better, with northwest winds 5 to 10 knots and waves northwest 4 feet at six seconds and west 4 feet at 11 seconds. The wind will pick back up Sunday, coming from the north 15 to 20 knots. Waves will be out of the north 7 feet at seven seconds and west 7 feet at 13 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 office on Woodley Island at 443-6484.
USCG Captains Course offered in Eureka starting June 17
Canopy Wind and Vineyard Offshore have teamed up to provide up to 15 full-tuition scholarships for the upcoming OUPV/Master up to 100-ton Captain’s course being held in Humboldt Bay from June 17-28. This course is not typically offered in Northern California, so this is a great opportunity to help educate some local folks who are looking to increase their employment opportunities. Please be sure you meet the requirements of the course before applying. These seats will be first come first served. Feel free to pass along to anyone you think may be interested. For more information, call 866-300-5984.
The Oceans:
Eureka
Sunday provided the best offshore conditions of the season, and the Eureka fleet took full advantage. According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, it was probably the best day weather-wise of the season. “Conditions on the halibut grounds were much-improved, and the scores reflected that. Quite a few halibut were caught off the stacks in roughly 300 feet of water. The water cleaned up a little and there wasn’t much swell, so that made a big difference. The conditions weren’t quite as good Monday, but there were some fish caught by the boats that tried. There are some really nice fish around, with quite a few in the upper 60’s to 70 pounds. Plenty of boats made their way to the Cape for rockfish, and I heard it was good fishing. Sounds like there were more lingcod around too. It looks like the wind will keep us off the water at least through the week. There is some warm water starting to show off the coast. It looked like we had 60-degree water within striking distance. Fort Bragg has some tuna water sitting off their coast as well, so hopefully we’ll get an opportunity for some albacore soon.”
Trinidad
“The flat ocean on Sunday provided some much-improved rockfish action,” said Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters. “The water cleaned up just enough and the rockfish bite was much better. The calm seas helped as well. There were some Pacific halibut caught Sunday, mostly straight out in 300 feet of water with a few coming in deeper water.”
Shelter Cove
Fishing out of the Cove has been hit and miss according to Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “We’ve had a lot of dirty water, which has made the fishing slower, said Mitchell. “On the days when the water is cleaner, we’ve done much better. We’re getting limits of rockfish every day but lingcod limits have been harder to come by. We’ve been spending most of our days at the Old Man.”
Crescent City
Sunday’s break in the weather provided anglers the opportunity to finally get out and hit some of their favorite rockfish and lingcod spots reports Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “The Sisters was one of the areas that saw a lot of action, and the fishing was good for both rockfish and lingcod. I didn’t hear of any Pacific halibut being caught. The California halibut bite is still pretty slow, but a few have been caught by kayaks and small boats trolling anchovies or herring along South Beach.”
Brookings
“Salmon action is still slow in the ocean out of Brookings,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “A few halibut are being caught. Lingcod and rockfish action has been good on calm weather days. Nice weather is expected this weekend. Surfperch action remains good.”
Lower Rogue
According to Martin, spring salmon fishing is hit-and-miss on the Rogue, with good catches one day followed by a few days of slow fishing. “Wild king salmon may now be kept. Hatchery springers are still showing in the catch. A few boats are now trolling the bay, but best catches have been upriver still.”
Kenny Priest operates Fishing the North Coast, a fishing guide service out of Humboldt specializing in salmon and steelhead. Find it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and fishingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com
Fishing the North Coast with Kenny Priest 