The Pacific halibut bite continues to be slow along the North Coast, but it is showing signs of life. As conditions improved mid-week, boats out of Trinidad and Crescent City both saw an uptick in fish coming back to port. The same cannot be said for Eureka. Persistent wind and sloppy conditions have kept boats mostly tied to the dock. Boats finally made it offshore Wednesday, but there weren’t many biters to be had. Marginal conditions are in the forecast for the next several days, so that means consistent time on the water will be hard to come by. But there is a silver lining to all this wind. The halibut catch has been so minuscule CDFW has yet to update the in-season catch estimates. At this rate, there may be enough quota to get us to the mid-November season closure.

Weekend marine forecast
Northerlies will continue to decrease into Wednesday, but will remain in small craft criteria for all zones except the northern inner waters. Each afternoon there will be a slight uptick in winds coming from the north. As of Thursday afternoon, Friday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds 15 to 20 knots and waves northwest 6 feet at seven seconds. Saturday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds 10 to 15 knots and waves north 6 feet at seven seconds. The winds will be out of the north Sunday 15 to 20 knots, with north waves 5 feet at six seconds and west 2 feet at 13 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 steady
The California halibut bite has been good lately, but not wide-open. According the Justin Kelly of RMI Outdoors, the quality of fish has been good, and there hasn’t been many shakers. “The best bite has been in the second channel and third channels in the north bay,” said Kelly. “Shiner perch and herring seem to be the ticket right now.” Minus tides with big swings are forecast to begin this weekend.

As a reminder, the California halibut bag and total possession limit was reduced from three to two in California waters north of Point Sur, Monterey County last June. The minimum size limit is 22 inches total length. The reduced California halibut limit is designed to protect the resource amid increased recreational fishing pressure due to limited fishing opportunities and changes in other ocean fisheries including salmon.

July 6 is statewide free fishing day
On Saturday, July 6, 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/Sequoia Park Pond trout plants
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website, Freshwater Lagoon has been planted with trout weekly beginning with the week of May 19 and will continue through the week of June 23. The Sequoia Park Pond was planted during the week of May 16. 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.

The Oceans:
Eureka
Boats finally got back offshore Wednesday, but the Pacifici halibut bite continues to be slow. According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, only a handful were caught. “There were quite a few boats out, but it sounded like scores ranged from zero to two per boat,” said Klassen. “The water was pretty choppy and dirty, which doesn’t help the bite. Ocean conditions look marginal through Saturday before the wind returns Sunday. Hopefully having a few days strung together will help our chances.”

Shelter Cove
Not much to report out of the Cove this week. Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing was able to get out just one day due to the weather. “We fished around the whistle, but it was kind of slow,” said Mitchell. “We were able to get limits of rockfish, but just two lingcod.”

Crescent City
The Pacific halibut bite has finally picked up this week,” said Kevin Hooper of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “We’ve seen a few come in, which has been good to see. The rockfish bite is still good and should only improve as the conditions get better. It looks like the California halibut are finally arriving in better numbers. There were several caught this week by anglers tossing jigs off the rock wall across from the boat launch. The redtail perch bite has picked up as well with Kellogg Beach being the top spot.”

Brookings
“Salmon fishing has improved out of Brookings, although it is still fair to slow,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “Hatchery coho, along with wild coho, are being caught three to five miles offshore. King fishing is best at first light near the buoys and mouth of the Chetco. The water is still cold, less than 48 degrees, which has slowed the bite. Halibut fishing is still slow. Lingcod and rockfish action has been good.”

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, spring salmon fishing is slow on the Rogue as anglers transition from upriver anchor fishing to trolling the bay. “A few kings are being caught. Upriver near Shady Cove and Lost Creek Dam, springer fishing is good for anglers back-bouncing roe in the deeper holes.”

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 www.fishingthenorthcoast.com. For up-to-date fishing reports and North Coast river information, email kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com.