Chinook Salmon

Eureka’s Pacific Halibut Bite Heating Up

Eureka resident Richard Moody landed this dandy halibut Tuesday while fishing aboard the Sea Weasel II out of Eureka. Photo courtesy of Gary Blasi/Full Throttle Sport Fishing

With the two-day salmon season now in the rearview, Eureka anglers have again set their sites on Pacific halibut. And that looks to be a good call. While the rest of the North Coast has been void of halibut catches, the Eureka fleet has had a pretty good run the last couple weeks. They aren’t flying over the rails quite yet like a couple years ago, but the catch rates have definitely improved over the last few weeks. After a pretty rough go for us on the salmon, it’s nice to have a go-to fishery that’s producing some solid action. It looks like the only obstacle to putting up some really good numbers is the weather. It’s been marginal at best, and that looks to continue through the weekend.   

Weekend marine forecast
Ocean conditions look iffy for the upcoming weekend. As of Thursday afternoon, Friday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds 5 to 10 knots and waves northwest 6 feet at 11 seconds, along with a chance of rain. Saturday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds 5 to 10 knots and waves northwest 6 feet at nine seconds. The winds will be out of the north Sunday 10 to 15 knots, with northwest waves 6 feet at nine 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.

July 5 is statewide free fishing day
On Saturday, July 5, people may fish California’s waters without a sport fishing license. All regulations, such as bag and size limits, gear restrictions, report card requirements, fishing hours and stream closures remain in effect. On Free Fishing Days, every angler must have the appropriate report card if they are fishing for steelhead, sturgeon, spiny lobster, or salmon in the Smith and Klamath-Trinity river systems. For more information visit, wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Fishing/Free-Fishing-Days

Freshwater Lagoon/Fish Lake trout plants
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website, Freshwater Lagoon was last planted with trout the week of June 1. Fish Lake also received a fresh batch of trout during the week of June 8. Both are open to fishing year-round and the limit is 5 trout per day and 10 in possession. For more information, visit https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FishPlants/Default.aspx?county=Humboldt&time or call (530) 225-2146.

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
The wind continues to keep the Eureka fleet tied up on most days. Conditions were good Tuesday, and there were lots of boats on the halibut grounds and quite a few went south to the Cape. Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing made the left turn and reported some good rockfish action at Cape Mendocino. “The fishing was good, but not great,” said Klassen. “We caught limits of rockfish, but it wasn’t wide-open. The lings were a little tougher to get, we ended up with just half limits. There’s definitely a lot of feed down there right now, which could be slowing down the bite. I haven’t been halibut fishing in a while, but it sounds like the bite is pretty good for a few boats and quite a few limits were reported.”

Shelter Cove
Not much to report out of the Cove this week. Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing was only able to get out a few times due to the weather. “The rock fishing remains solid along with a very good lingcod bite,” said Mitchell. “Most of the action has been around the Old Man. The Pacific halibut bite remains slow.”

Crescent City
“We’ve had some really windy weather this week, so not a lot of boats have been getting out,” said Kevin Hooper of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “When they can get out, boats are finding a good rockfish bite. I haven’t heard of any Pacific or California halibut caught in the last week and a half. The redtail perch bite is really good at South and Kellogg Beach when the wind isn’t blowing.”

Brookings
Fishing for coho salmon has been fair out of Brookings, with large numbers of wild silvers and some hatchery fish being caught close to the surface in 220 to 300 feet of water,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters.  “Windy weather has limited the offshore opportunity, but nicer conditions are expected this weekend. Anglers trolling closer to shore are finding plenty of salmon, but they are nearly all kings, which cannot be kept until June 30. Fishing for halibut is fair on calm weather days. Lingcod and rockfish action has been good. Surfperch are still biting at most beaches around Brookings and Gold Beach. Commercial trollers have been switching gear to albacore, with several boats about to depart to search for tuna.”

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, salmon fishing is already picking up in the Rogue Bay, with a handful of kings caught every day this past week. “A mix of adults and jacks has anglers excited about the end of June and early July, when fishing begins to rapidly improve.”

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.

Slow Salmon Fishing for North Coast Anglers

Two-day season provides a nice boost to local economy

Logan Floyd of Fortuna with a nice king salmon caught Sunday while fishing out of Eureka aboard the Warf Rat II. Photo courtesy of Eric Justesen/707 Sport Fishing

The weekend’s two-day salmon season came and went, and the fishing reports weren’t great from our neck of the woods. I’d best define it as inconsistent. Some limits of kings were reported, but there were plenty of low scores and skunks to go around. There weren’t any real hot spots that produced fish over the two days. Some boats landed on the fish, and did really well. And some trolled for two days with nothing to show for it. The same can be said for Shelter Cove, Trinidad, and Crescent City. The one constant was the number of coho salmon in the area. Just about every boat out reported catching quite a few, and unfortunately, not all were released, per the law.

While we sloshed around for two days hoping to get lucky, the Bay Area, from Bodega Bay south, experienced some of the best salmon fishing seen in many, many years. Or maybe ever. Party and private boats alike put a whooping on the kings out of every port all the way to San Luis Obispo. And there were some big fish in the mix. Plenty of 30-pounders were flying over the rails.

While our fishing may not have panned out like we had hoped, it sure was a nice shot in the arm for our local economy. Gear, bait, ice and fuel were all consumed at a ferocious pace. Not to mention the hotels and restaurants saw a nice uptick in business.

Whether or not this will be our only opportunity of the summer is in the hands of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They will process the harvest data over the next two weeks to determine whether the statewide, 7,000 Chinook salmon summer harvest quota has been met. If it hasn’t been met, we’ll do this all over again July 5-6.

Weekend marine forecast
Rough seas are predicted for the weekend, but should improve by the first of next week. Saturday’s forecast is calling for north winds 15 to 20 knots and north waves 7 feet at seven seconds. The winds will decrease slightly Sunday, with waves from the north 6 feet at seven 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.

California halibut bite remains slow
The California halibut bite hasn’t been great according to Justin Kelly of RMI Outdoors. He said, “The tides haven’t been great and the bay water temperatures are low. The good news is there is a lot of bait in the bay, so fishing should start to get better.”

Cal Poly Humboldt Fishery Dept. looking for tagged perch
If you catch a Silver Surfperch with a tag, Cal Poly Humboldt Fishery Dept. wants your data. Please report your catch to nsg27@humboldt.edu or call 707-826-3951 and collect your reward.

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
“The salmon fishing over the weekend was spotty,” said Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “If you landed on em’ you got em’. We spent the two days mostly fishing straight out and south towards the canyon. There were a lot of silvers around and we only managed one king Saturday. The guys who were at the canyon caught a few, so we headed straight there Sunday. There weren’t many coho around and we managed three nice salmon. The halibut bite was good earlier in the week, some of the charters were catching limits.”

Trinidad
“The rockfish bite is still really good,” said Curt Wilson of Wind Rose Charters. “We’re having to move around a little, but we’re finding a pretty good variety along some nice blacks and blues. The Pacific halibut bite has been a grind. There’s been a few caught here and there, but overall, not much effort. The weather hasn’t been very good either. The crabbing is on the slow side, but we’re sending the customers home with a few each day.”

Shelter Cove
According to Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing, the salmon opener was very busy, but the fishing was very slow. “I’d guess there were under 50 fish caught each day between 70-80 boats,” said Mitchell. “The rock fishing remains really good. We got to fish Rodgers Break for a few days and it was quick limits for the most part. Pacific halibut bite has still been very slow.”

Crescent City
According to Kevin Hooper of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, salmon fishing over the weekend was mediocre at best. He said, “Some guys got em’, but there were a lot of skunks too. There wasn’t any real hot spot, the fish were kind of scattered. The rockfish bite has been really good around the Sisters and Pt. St. George Lighthouse area, but the ling bite has been a little slower. There’s been a few California Halibut caught off the rock wall at South Beach. The redtails are biting too, with Kellogg and South beach being the best spots.”

Brookings
“Hatchery coho salmon season opened over the weekend out of Brookings,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “Large numbers of wild coho with a few hatchery fish mixed in were caught five to 10 miles out from the harbor. Plenty of kings also were caught, but they must be released until June 30. Halibut catches remain sparse, with a few fish a week coming in. Lingcod and rockfish action has been good.”

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, half a dozen salmon were caught in the Rogue Bay on Tuesday, with just a few boats fishing. “Hot weather inland has warmed river temperatures, forcing salmon to hold up in the bay instead of continuing upstream. Wild kings may now be kept in the Rogue Bay.” 

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

With Much Excitement – Salmon season Opens Saturday

Following a two-year closure, salmon season will open Saturday for two days. Anglers are hoping for a couple salmon like the one pictured with Calvin Wagner of Boulder City, Nevada, who boated this nice king back when the season was open in 2022. Wagner was fishing out of Shelter Cove with Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. Photo courtesy of Jake Mitchell/Sea Hawk Sport Fishing.

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

Low Salmon Forecast will Constrain 2025 Season

Ocean and River Salmon Closures Likely

An incredibly low ocean abundance forecast of king salmon, like pictured above, was presented to the public Wednesday by CDFW and fishery agencies. Photo courtesy of Lowell Wallace/Humboldt Charter Company

On Wednesday, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) hosted its annual 2025 Salmon Information Meeting where fishery agencies provided ocean salmon abundance forecast information to the public. And if these forecasts are accurate, Chinook salmon will once again be scarce this year in both the ocean and rivers. It will also likely result in another year of constrained fisheries, or another state-wide closure in an effort to protect stocks.

Both the Sacramento and Klamath river have incredibly low numbers of salmon swimming in the ocean according to CDFW. The forecast estimates for the Sacramento River fall Chinook, the predominant stock harvested in California fisheries, came in at 165,655 adults, one of the lowest forecasts since the current assessment method came into play in 2008. In 2024, the Sac ocean abundance forecast was 213,600, but the post season estimate came in much lower at 102,965.

The Klamath River Chinook forecast was announced at 82,672 adults swimming in the ocean, the lowest forecast since that body of water’s assessment method started in 1997. In 2024, Klamath ocean abundance was 180,700, with the post-season abundance coming in at 118,415.

These ocean abundance forecasts provide science-based advice to the Pacific Fishery Management Council during its annual salmon fishing season setting process that will take place over the next couple months. The first PFMC meeting will be held March 5-11 in Vancouver, WA. The Council will determine whether any in-season actions are required for fisheries scheduled to open prior to May 16. They will also craft three regulatory alternatives for ocean salmon fisheries in effect on or after May 16. Final adoption of alternatives for public review is tentatively scheduled for March 11. There’s a high probability that closures will once again be in place for all of our salmon fishing in 2025. And don’t be surprised if a couple of the ocean salmon alternatives included the words “closed.”

Please see the ocean salmon webpage at https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Regulations/Salmon/Preseason for a complete calendar of events and contact information regarding the Salmon Preseason Process, including other opportunities for public engagement in the season-setting process. For information on the PFMC meetings, visit pcouncil.org/managed_fishery/salmon/

The weather ahead
According to Eureka’s National Weather Service office, warm and pleasant weather is on tap through Friday. “An abrupt change in the pattern will occur Saturday when an approaching trough drives in an associated cold front and brings in light rainfall. The trough will slowly progress in through the weekend, maintaining the chances for light rainfall. Total rainfall still looks low for the weekend, with, chances for over an inch ranging from 40 to 60 percent. Westerly winds will increase Sunday with the trough passing. Chances for wind gusts over 30 mph are high for the ridges and low to moderate for the coastal ridges and headlands. Chances for at least .25 inches of rainfall in 24 hours are moderate to high through much of next week, so there is a good shot of at least additional light rainfall.”

Perchin’ on the Peninsula makes its return in 2025
After a few-year hiatus, the Samoa Peninsula Fire District will be bringing back their Annual Perchin’ on the Peninsula Surfperch Fishing Tournament and Fish Fry/Oyster BBQ Fundraiser. The 11th annual event will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at the Samoa Women’s Club, 115 Sunset Ave, Samoa. The fish fry fundraiser is open to the public and admission is only $10 for adults and $5 for juniors for just the fish fry. Adult fishing tournament entry is $20 and junior entry (under 16) is $10. Fish fry lunch is included with tournament entry. Lunch begins at noon, weigh-ins end at 2 p.m.

Tournament day registration is available at the Samoa Women’s Club. Entries can be purchased online at www.facebook.com/samoafire or Grundman’s, Pacific Outfitters, Bucksport, Ace Hardware in Fortuna, or A-1 Feed in McKinleyville, or Salty’s Bait in Trinidad. Tournament rules are available at all sign-up locations. For more information, call (707) 599-3383 or email samoafire@gmail.com. All proceeds are a direct donation to the Samoa Peninsula Fire District.

The Rivers:
Mad
The Mad was under 10 feet as of Thursday, but is still high and off color. It’s forecast to drop through Sunday morning when the next round of rain is forecast to arrive. It should have a hint of green by Saturday, but still pushy. Over 150 steelhead arrived at the hatchery Tuesday, so there’s still plenty of fresh fish making their way in.

Main stem Eel
The main stem Eel was running at 10,500 cfs as of Thursday, and is still big and dirty. It will continue to drop through the weekend, but the rain coming Sunday will push flows back up above 10,000 cfs by Monday night. It doesn’t look like it will drop down to a fishable flow for at least a couple weeks.

South Fork Eel
The South Fork dropped into fishable shape around Benbow Thursday where flows were 2,400 cfs at Miranda. It will fish through at least Saturday and possibly Sunday, but it all depends on when and how much rain falls at the slide in the Confusion Hill area. It has been off and on spilling mud this week.

Van Duzen
The Van Duzen dipped below 1,200 cfs Thursday and will continue to drop through Saturday. There’s a chance it could fish Friday and Saturday with flows falling below 900 cfs.  Another blowout is predicted for Sunday with flows going to back to 2,000 cfs.

Rob Rowe of Smith River holds a steelhead caught and released last week on a Corky and roe while fishing the Smith River with Wild Rivers Fishing.

Smith
The Smith dropped back into fishable shape Wednesday, when some boats chose to plunk and others drifted from the forks down in the high water. With no rain until possibly Sunday, conditions should be excellent the next few days. The next significant rise is forecast for next weekend. Boat traffic should be light this weekend as the Chetco should begin to fish on Friday. Fresh fish are still making their way through the lower river and a few downers have been caught as well.

Southern Oregon rivers
“Steelhead fishing was fair on the Chetco last week, with guides getting one to two fish a day, and plunkers picking up an occasional fish,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “The river blew out Saturday night and will be high through this week, although it could fish by Friday. The Elk also will come back into play. Rogue River anglers will begin fishing for springers as that river comes into shape.” 

Brookings ocean report
After a week of extremely rough conditions, the ocean should be fishable out of Brookings lingcod and rockfish beginning Thursday reports Martin. “Fishing has been good on calm weather days. Surfperch also are biting throughout the Brookings area.”

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.