Ocean Salmon Season Ends, But the North Coast Bite Rolls On

Well, that was quick.

With the recreational ocean salmon season officially closed in the Klamath Management Zone (KMZ), North Coast anglers will once again turn their attention to Pacific halibut, rockfish, and—hopefully in the very near future—albacore tuna. While there are still plenty of opportunities offshore, it doesn’t make the abrupt end to salmon season any easier to swallow. After all the anticipation leading up to the opener, many anglers were hoping we’d squeeze in at least a few more days before the quota was met.

The good news is there’s no shortage of fish to chase.

Pacific halibut fishing has flown a bit under the radar this season, but the action has been better than many realize. Eureka continues to be the top-producing port, with both private and charter boats regularly returning to the dock with limits. The most consistent bite has been north of the entrance in 240 to 300 feet of water, where anglers willing to put in the time have been rewarded with quality fish.

Rockfish remain the sure thing along the North Coast. Whether you’re fishing out of Crescent City, Trinidad, Eureka, or Shelter Cove, the bite has been consistently strong and should remain that way through the summer. If your goal is to put fresh fillets in the freezer, it’s hard to go wrong with a rockfish trip right now.

Then there’s tuna—the fish everyone is watching for. Weather has been the biggest obstacle, but with El Niño conditions developing, warmer offshore water could be knocking on our door sooner rather than later. That’s already happening farther south, where the Fort Bragg fleet has been enjoying excellent albacore fishing less than 15 miles offshore. If those water temperatures continue to push north, it may not be long before North Coast anglers get their first legitimate tuna shots of the season.

So, while the salmon rods may be headed back into the garage for now, the offshore season is far from over. Halibut are biting, rockfish continue to produce, and tuna season could be just around the corner.

Still, it’s hard not to wonder what might have been. A few more days of salmon fishing would have been welcomed by just about everyone.

Ocean sport salmon season over for KMZ anglers
The recreational salmon season in the Klamath Management Zone (California/Oregon border to Horse Mountain) is now closed after anglers reached the area’s harvest guideline.

Preliminary estimates show:
• KMZ: 3,968 Chinook landed by 4,830 anglers, surpassing the 3,900-fish guideline.
• Fort Bragg Management Area: Reopens August 1-9 only, with approximately 748 Chinook remaining in the area’s harvest guideline.

Anglers planning to fish Fort Bragg should expect a short season, as current catch rates indicate the remaining quota will likely be reached by the August 9 closure.

South of Point Arena, the San Francisco and Monterey management areas will reopen or remain open on August 1 under their respective harvest guidelines.

Pacific halibut quota update
As of July 26, California’s share of Area 2A’s quota, which includes Washington and Oregon, is at 11 percent, with just 4,455 net pounds harvested against the 40,040-pound quota. The Pacific halibut season will be open until Nov. 15 or until the quota is reached, whichever is earlier. To monitor the in-season tracking, visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/Pacific-Halibut#31670772-in-season-tracking. The daily bag and possession limit for Pacific halibut is one fish. There is no minimum size limit.

Marine Forecast
According to Eureka’s National Weather Service, “A ridge of high pressure will strengthen through the weekend, bringing increased chances for gale strength northerlies over much of the waters. There is growing confidence for strong northerlies with sustained gale strength winds of 34 knots and gusts approaching or exceeding 40 knots as troughing to the north squeezes against the strong ridge to the southeast. Subsequent steep seas over 15 feet will develop over the weekend and into early next week. Gale conditions could start as early as late Friday in portions of the southern zones.”

Out 10 nautical miles, Friday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds 5 to 10 knots and waves north 4 feet at eight seconds and southwest 2 feet at 15 seconds. Winds will begin to increase Saturday, coming from the north 15 to 20 knots with northwest waves 4 feet at eight seconds and southwest 1 foot at 14 seconds. Sunday’s forecast looks worse, with north winds 20 to 25 knots and waves northwest 8 feet at eight 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. You can also call the National Weather Service at 443-7062 or the office on Woodley Island at 443-6484.

CDPH Lifts Warning for Sport-Harvested Bivalve Shellfish from Del Norte County
In a press release issued Wednesday, July 15, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) lifted the shellfish safety notification on July 14, 2026, related to sport-harvested bivalve shellfish from Del Norte County.

Statement from CDFW:

“The safety notification for Del Norte County was issued on May 1, 2026, due to dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in mussels. These naturally occurring toxins can cause illness or death in humans. Recent testing shows paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins have decreased to safe levels in bivalve shellfish in this area.

While this warning for clams, scallops and oysters in Del Norte County has been lifted, the annual mussel quarantine remains in effect. The annual quarantine prohibits the sport-harvest of mussels for human consumption and applies to all species of mussels harvested along the California coast, as well as all bays and estuaries, and will continue through at least October 31. Additionally, there is a razor clam advisory for Humboldt County due to domoic acid.

For the most current information on shellfish advisories and quarantines, call CDPH’s toll-free Shellfish Information Line at (800) 553-4133 or view the recreational bivalve shellfish advisory interactive map. For additional information, please visit the CDPH Marine Biotoxin Monitoring web page.”

Sport Crab season coming to a close
The 2026 sport Dungeness crab season in Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties will close after Friday, July 30. The season is expected to reopen Nov. 1.

The Oceans:
Eureka
The Pacific halibut bite has improved, according to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “The bite isn’t red-hot, but it’s been good,” said Klassen. “The most consistent action has been between Eureka and Trinidad in 240 to 300 feet of water. Rockfish action at the Cape has been excellent, and the nearshore black rockfish bite has been wide open. Lingcod are biting as well. We haven’t gotten in on the tuna yet, as most of the action has been farther south, but the water is warm close to shore. With the wind expected to pick up this weekend, conditions will change and mix things up.”

Trinidad
Tony Sepulveda of Shellback Sport Fishing poked his nose offshore Tuesday looking for tuna, knowing that conditions were less than perfect. “Often, people expect to fill the boat with albacore when we run offshore,” said Sepulveda. “I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to be the case Tuesday given the modeled sea surface temperature and chlorophyll readings. But it was so close I felt like we had nothing to lose by giving it a look. We landed eight, but half of them were pushing 30 pounds. Was fun to hear some reels scream so close to home. 
Then the lingcod ripped Wednesday on the remote waters run. Limits in one 30-minute drift with the biggest just shy of 30 pounds. And the jumbo rockfish came on two at a time. The wind machine is now ramping up offshore; it will likely be mid-August before we revisit the tuna water. In the meantime, we’ll be busy with lingcod, halibut, and rockfish.”

Shelter Cove
We finished out the salmon season on a good note reports Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. He said, “The last day was a little tough and we had to put in a lot of time, but we were able to get our limits. A lot of warm water moved in over this last week with the calmer weather, which made for some nice, short tuna runs. But it’s probably not a good sign for our short-season salmon opener this weekend. The wind has started blowing last couple days so hopefully it mixes things up a little. Rock fishing is still pretty solid. Most of the better action has been out in a little deeper.”

Crescent City
“The rockfish and lingcod bite is still really good when the boats can get out,” said Will Moore, of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “Most of the boats are heading south to the South Reef and the Sisters. The Pacific halibut bite has been good, with quite a few being caught past the South Reef in 180 to 220 feet of water. The California halibut bite has yet to materialize. Looks like the wind is going to blow for a while, hopefully we’ll have some tuna conditions when it calms back down.”

Brookings
“While plenty of kings and hatchery coho are still being caught out of Brookings, the salmon action has slowed,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “There remains a good early morning bite just outside of the jetties, and then decent action for coho further offshore. Halibut fishing has been slow to fair. Sport crabbing remains excellent.”

The Rivers
Klamath River
Excellent fishing continues in the Klamath estuary, with big schools of kings pushing in and out with the tides. Boats trolling spinner blade rigs with anchovies are seeing multiple hookups per trip. The best bite has typically come two hours before high tide through about an hour after, though there also seems to be consistent action at first light, regardless of the tide. Upriver, the steelhead action has been good, but it’s typically an early morning bite.

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, the Rogue Bay is now producing big numbers of kings. “Many guides are averaging a fish per rod. Anchovies trolled behind 360 flashers are working well.”

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.