After a two-year hiatus, the recreational ocean salmon fishery will open statewide for two days on June 7-8, 2025. Even though the ocean abundance of Sacramento and Klamath Chinook are well below average, there’s still a good chance to catch a king based on good return numbers of other Chinook stocks last fall. Taking into account the low Chinook abundance, CDFW will implement a statewide quota of 7,000 Chinook salmon for a series of potential short seasons scheduled between June and August. If the quota isn’t reached in the June 7-8 opening weekend, the summer season will reopen statewide July 5-6, July 31-August 3, and August 25-31, or until the harvest guideline is reached.
CDFW has hired field staff to monitor vessels returning to launch and dock sites to collect catch and effort information and coded wire tag data that is essential to managing California’s salmon fisheries. CDFW will be collecting heads from hatchery salmon, which contain coded wire tags that have information about the salmon’s hatchery of origin, release strategy, brood year, and run type. Anglers are required by law to relinquish the head of any adipose fin-clipped salmon upon request by a CDFW representative.
Here on the North Coast, expect every boat ramp to be plugged, and boats loaded with smiling anglers headed out Saturday morning. What will they find? No one really knows as the windy conditions have kept boats tied up and unable to do any advanced scouting. But no one really cares. After two consecutive years of salmon closures, we’re all just looking forward at the chance to catch and keep a salmon.
Important reminder:
When fishing for halibut, rockfish and salmon, or any combination of the three, the more restrictive gear and depth restrictions apply. When targeting salmon, or once salmon are aboard and in possession, anglers are limited to using barbless hooks when fishing for other species.
When targeting rockfish, cabezon, greenling and lingcod, or once any of these species are aboard and in possession, anglers are limited to fishing in waters shallower than 120 feet when fishing for other species.
General sport salmon regulations:
The minimum size limit is 20 inches total length. The daily bag limit is two Chinook salmon per day. No more than two daily bag limits may be possessed when on land. On a vessel in ocean waters, no person shall possess or bring ashore more than one daily bag limit. All salmon must be brought ashore prior to the end of any open season. Retention of coho (silver salmon) is prohibited in all ocean fisheries off California; information on how to distinguish coho from Chinook salmon can be found here. While salmon fishing north of Point Conception, anglers are required to use barbless hooks, and once salmon are aboard, barbed hooks may not be used to target other species. Anglers are encouraged to visit the Ocean Salmon Project’s webpage for details and complete regulatory information, or call the Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline at 800-662-9825.
Weekend Marine Forecast
Gale force winds have turned the ocean upside down, but that all looks to change Saturday for the salmon opener. Saturday’s forecast is calling for winds out of the west up to 5 knots and waves northwest 5 feet at 8 seconds. The forecast is a little better on Sunday, with winds coming out of the NW up to 5 knots and northwest waves 3 feet at eight seconds and 4 feet at 11 seconds. These conditions can and will change by the weekend. For an up-to-date weather forecast, visit weather.gov/eureka or windy.com. You can also call the National Weather Service at (707) 443-7062 or the office on Woodley Island at (707) 443-6484.
Humboldt Bay weekend tides
The tidal exchanges when boats will be headed out in the morning should be relatively low, which should make for safe bar conditions. Recreational anglers can provide bar reports on VHF channel 68 while the Coast Guard emergency channel is 16 on the VHF.
Saturday June 7: Low 4:36 a.m. (.31 ft.) and High: 11:19 a.m. (4.6 ft)
Low: 3:50 p.m. (2.8 ft.) and High 10:20 p.m. (7.1 ft.)
Sunday June 8: Low 5:15 a.m. (.18 ft.) and High: 12:12 p.m. (4.8 ft)
Low: 4:32 p.m. (3.1 ft.), High 10:54 p.m. (7.2 ft.)
Fish for free this weekend in Oregon
Oregon will be having a Free Fishing Weekend June 7 and 8. On those two days, no license, tag or endorsement is required to fish, crab or clam anywhere in Oregon. This applies only to waters already open to fishing, crabbing or clamming. All other regulations, such as bag limits, still apply. More information can be found here.
California Halibut Derby on Humboldt Bay coming July 19
The Nor-Cal Guides and Sportsmen’s Association will be holding the first annual California Halibut Derby on Saturday, July 19. The fishing event will be held within the waters of Humboldt Bay. Check-ins, Weigh-ins and Awards Ceremony will be held at Woodley Island, 601 Startare Drive at the East-I Lot Grass Area.
This is a slot size derby, a measurement will be drawn in the morning before the derby and posted to the event’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Adult payouts will be $500 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd place, and $150 for 3rd place. Youth Payouts – $100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place, $50 for 3rd place. Youth payouts will be in the form of gift cards. All Youths registered in the Derby will receive a rod and reel combo! Raffle prizes will include fishing trips, rods and reels, fishing tackle and gear, merchandise and more.
Big Fish Prize: entries will be California Halibut 30” and above. ONLY ONE Big Fish can be entered per entrant. In case of a tie, winner will be determined by weight. For the big fish, adult and youth divisions will be combined. Winner to be announced at event.
Entry Fees for adults is $60 (comes with a $30 NCGASA Membership). Youth entry fees are $40, 13 years and under (comes with a $10 NCGASA Membership)
*If you are a current NCGASA member, you will receive $20 in raffle tickets at check-in.
You can register online at https://ncgasa.org/shop. Entrants will need to be signed up and paid for by July 18 at midnight. Derby information and rules can be found here.
The Oceans:
Eureka
Like every other port on the North Coast, there hasn’t been much activity out of Eureka because of the wind. “The Eureka fleet hasn’t been offshore all week,” said Skipper Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “The wind has been blowing and it’s just been too rough. Looking ahead to salmon, it looks like the wind will die down for the weekend. The last time we were on the water, the salmon signs looked pretty good. We were marking all kinds of bait, seeing some nice edges with birds, and seen salmon swimming on the surface. But all of that may be gone due to the wind. The good news is there’s lots of upwelling keeping the water temps cold. We’ll probably head straight out to 180 feet and see if there’s any fish. If not, we’ll head south to the canyon where there’s usually all kinds of life.”
Trinidad
We haven’t fished since last Sunday due to weather reports Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters. He said, “The rockfish bite is really good, way better than last year. Same with the lingcod. And we’re not having to travel very far. There’s a lot of unknowns with the salmon opener Saturday. There was a lot of life out there before the last round of wind, but that could have changed. I imagine the water will be dirty, so I’d be looking for some cleaner water out in 30 to 40 fathoms,” added Wilson.
The Trinidad Harbor boat launch is offering a “Salmon Season Mooring Special” for $135. You can launch your boat on Friday and pick it up on Monday. There are limited spots available. To reserve your mooring, call or message 707-677-3625.
Shelter Cove
Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing reports he was only able to get out a couple days this week and they stayed pretty close to the buoys, but still managed to get limits of rockfish and lings pretty quickly. “The weather looks pretty good this weekend for the salmon opener,” said Mitchell. “So far, I haven’t seen hardly any salmon sign, but we did have some dirty water show up a couple days ago so hopefully something will show up. There will be lots of boats out trying so we should be able to find something.”
Crescent City
“It’s been windy all week, and nobody has really been out,” said Chris Hegnes of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “All signs are pointing to a good salmon opener. The water temps are good, and there’s lots of bait around. There are anchovies right on the beach. And a few salmon have been incidentally caught rock fishing. A good place to start would be between the Sisters and the South Reef in 30 fathoms. There’s been a few California halibut caught off the rocks at South Beach by guys tossing swimbaits.”
Brookings
Coho season opens Saturday out of Brookings reports Andy Martin, of Brookings Fishing Charters. “Fishing for kings has been slow, with anglers encountering coho while targeting chinook salmon,” said Martin. “Coho have also been seen by halibut anglers fishing deeper water the past two weeks. Coho season runs through late August. Two hatchery coho a day may be kept.
Halibut fishing is fair out of Brookings, with a few fish a day being caught when the weather is calm. Best action has been in 200 to 250 feet of water along the border, with combinations of herring and squid working best. Lingcod and rockfish action has been good.”
Lower Rogue
According to Martin, the Rogue is now open to wild kings, but windy weather kept anglers off the water. “Expect a few boats trolling the bay this weekend with light winds expected. Late springers are being caught at first light upriver by plunkers, but low, clear water has made for slow fishing the rest of the day.
Kenny Priest (he/him) 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
