Kenny Priest

Spring, along with the accompanying nice weather, has arrived. And with it, comes a new set of angling opportunities. As the number of storms begin to decrease, we’ll begin to see some much-improved ocean conditions. With that, anglers will head to the jetties and beaches in search of rockfish and redtail perch. The California halibut fishery will also begin to...
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The Pacific Fishery Management Council officially pulled the plug on California’s ocean salmon season April 10. Pictured is Calvin Wagner of Boulder City, Nevada who landed a nice king while fishing out of Shelter Cove back in 2022. Photo courtesy of Jake Mitchell/Sea Hawk Sport Fishing At the March Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting, the Council voted on and approved...
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As if we haven’t had enough rain this winter, another potent storm is about to take aim at the North Coast. From the South Fork Eel north to the Smith, we’re looking at anywhere from 2 to 3 inches of rain combined with snowmelt to impact the rivers. All of the rivers will see a substantial rise in flows, turning...
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After a sometimes tense-filled week of meetings in Fresno, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) released its ocean and inland salmon season options Monday. The PFMC took a precautionary approach in setting the season alternatives, though some would argue they didn’t error on the side of caution enough. While more Chinook salmon returned from the ocean to spawn last year...
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Following a year of a complete salmon shutdown across the board, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) is again taking a precautionary approach in setting the 2024 ocean salmon seasons, even though ocean abundance forecasts have increased over the prior year for both the Sacramento River and Klamath River Fall Chinook. When the PFMC released its first, and not final, ocean...
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The main Eel was starting to turn green Wednesday, but was big. Thursday’s rain dashed any hopes of the river dropping into shape anytime soon. Flows are predicted to reach 43,000 cfs at Scotia by Saturday morning. Will need a couple weeks of dry weather before it drops into fishable shape.