If you’ve been missing the thrill of hooking and landing ocean-fresh, large king salmon, you’ll want to keep your eyes on the Chetco River estuary.
Salmon have been staging in tidewater since early September, waiting for enough rain to push upriver. According to Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing, fishing at the mouth of the Chetco is already approaching peak-season catch rates — an encouraging sign for what could be a strong fall run.
“Big numbers of kings are staging near the mouth, moving in and out with the tides,” Martin said. “Aside from steady action in the estuary, bottom-fishing anglers are encountering salmon frequently out of Brookings.”
Trolling anchovies or herring, with or without 360 flashers, has been producing the best results. The strongest bites have been coming at daybreak, just before high tide, and during the middle of the outgoing tide.
It’s still early for significant numbers of salmon upriver, but Martin expects to see jacks showing up in the tidewater soon. A mix of wild and hatchery adults and jacks are already being caught along the jetties.
Chetco River Salmon Regulations
- Daily bag limit: 2 adult salmon, with no more than 1 adult wild Chinook.
- Anglers may harvest adult hatchery Chinook until they reach the daily limit. Once the daily adult limit is reached, jack salmon fishing must stop.
- RM 2.2 to Nook Creek, Sept. 1–Nov. 3: Angling is restricted to fly fishing with a strike indicator or bobber fishing only.
- Full regulations: Oregon Southwest Zone Fishing Regulations
Weekend marine forecast
Ocean conditions aren’t looking great for the weekend, with swells ranging from six to nine feet. As of Thursday, out 10 nautical miles, Friday’s forecast is calling for winds out of the north 5 to 10 knots with west waves 9 feet at 12 seconds and southwest 2 feet at 14 seconds. Saturday, winds will be out of the north 10 to 15 knots with northwest waves 7 feet at nine seconds and southwest 2 feet at 13 seconds. Sunday looks a little better, with winds coming from the north 10 to 15 knots and northwest waves 5 feet at nine 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.
Ruth Lake Fall Bass tournament coming Oct. 3
The Alderpoint Volunteer Fire Department is hosting the Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial Bass Tournament on Saturday October 3rd at Ruth Lake. Check in is Friday night between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Ruth Lake Marina or at Journey’s End between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. This is a catch and release tournament with a 13-inch minimum length. Blast off is 6 a.m. or at first safe light. For more information, call Thomas Bruce at 707-223-6258 or Roger Coleman Jr. at 707-223-3858.
The Oceans:
Eureka
According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, the saltwater season is starting to wind down. There hasn’t been much effort in the last week or so, and the ocean hasn’t been great either. There’s been a few days where you could of went for halibut, but the bite has slowed. Once the ocean settles down, we’ll hopefully be able to make some trips to the Cape as well as target Pacific halibut. The tuna water is still in the same general area, but it has moved about 10 miles out.
Shelter Cove
The rock fishing continues to be really good, reports Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. He said, “The lingcod are starting to get more aggressive and we’re seeing easy limits each time out. The weather hasn’t been really nice, so no one has been offshore. It’s actually been pretty quiet.”
Crescent City
“The ocean hasn’t been real nice, so not a lot of fishing effort lately,” said Chris Hegnes of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “Even when the boats can get out, there’s only a handful trying. It’s getting to be the time of the year when things slow down and anglers look forward to crab season. From what I’m hearing, the rockfish and lingcod bite has been good while the Pacific halibut bite continues to be slow.”
Brookings
Lingcod and rockfish action has been good, even during the mostly windy weather out of Brookings reports Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “Schools of rockfish are close to shore near Chetco Point and south of the harbor, with even bigger schools from Bird Island north,” said Martin. “Halibut fishing remains slow. Only a handful of halibut have been caught the entire season. Sport crabbing has been excellent.”
The Rivers:
Lower Klamath
Salmon fishing remains good on the lower Klamath, especially earlier in the week. Fresh kings, adults and jacks, are still making their way into the river. The best bite continues to be upriver, with not a lot of fish stopping on the lower end. That’s been the story for the last couple of weeks. Flows are starting to drop as of Wednesday evening due to the reduction in flows coming from Lewiston Dam on the Trinity. By Friday morning, flows will be down to about 2,550 cfs on the lower river from 3,200 cfs, which should help slow the fish down.
The recreational fall-run adult salmon quota on the Klamath River below the Highway 96 Bridge near Weitchpec was met as of Sunday, Sept. 13. The lower main stem of the Klamath River below the Highway 96 Bridge will remain open to the harvest of jack salmon (2-year-olds) measuring 23 inches or less. All adult Chinook salmon caught in this reach must be immediately released.
Anglers may still target adult Chinook salmon in other reaches of the Klamath Basin, including the main stem of the Klamath River above Weitchpec and the entire Trinity River, until those fisheries are closed.
Lower Rogue
According to Martin, the Rogue Bay is still producing kings and hatchery coho, while action also has been good upriver near Agness. “Fresh kings are arriving daily, and quickly moving through the bay and upriver,” said Martin.
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.
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