If you’re looking for fresh kings with the potential for a big one, the Chetco estuary is the place to be. Salmon have been staging in the tidewater since the latter part of September. And they’ll continue to do so until ample rain allows them to make their way upriver. Following last Saturday’s rain, which bumped the flows from under 100 cfs to nearly 500 cfs, some salmon were able to navigate out of the tidewater. But there should be plenty more heading in from the salt to take their place. “The biggest king caught last week was around 45 pounds, with several near 30 and an impressive number of jacks,” said Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. “After fishing well for a week, the fishing slowed over the weekend as rain allowed many of the salmon schooling there to shoot upriver. Catch rates went from two to three fish a rod last week — mostly jacks — to just a handful of fish overall on Sunday and Monday. One adult salmon a day, wild or hatchery, may be kept per day on the Chetco, with an annual limit of two wild fish. Anglers must “rack their rods” once an adult is kept. The river remains closed above mile 2.2 because of low flows.

Over on the Smith River, the tidewater fishing hasn’t been as good. But that may not be for a lack of fish. The rain that fell on Saturday pushed the flows up to 600 cfs, which is plenty for the fish to move out of the estuary and into the heart of the river. According to Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, there aren’t many fish staging in the estuary right now. “There’s been one or two fish caught per day,” said Carson. “There’s been a few boats trolling sardines and anchovies as well as bank anglers tossing Kastmasters and Cleos. The Sand Hole has some fish in it but the seals were making their life miserable,” added Carson.

Weekend marine forecast
Gales are expected over the outer waters through Thursday evening, with small craft advisory conditions over the nearshore waters. Winds will begin to decrease on Friday. As of Wednesday afternoon, Friday’s forecast is calling for winds out of the N 10 to 15 knots with NW waves 7 feet at 8 seconds. Saturday, winds will be out of the N 10 to 15 knots with N waves 5 feet at 7 seconds. Sunday the winds will be light, coming from the N 5 to 10 knots with NW waves 5 feet at 8 seconds. These conditions can and will change by the weekend. For an up-to-date weather forecast, visit www.weather.gov/eureka/ or https://www.windy.com. To monitor the latest Humboldt bar conditions, visit www.wrh.noaa.gov/eka/swan. You can also call the National Weather Service at (707) 443-7062 or the office on Woodley Island at (707) 443-6484.

The Oceans:
Eureka
There hasn’t been much offshore activity out of Eureka since last week. Last Thursday and Friday were fishable days, but the ocean has been rough since then. Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing made trips to Cape Mendocino where he reports the fishing was excellent. “Last Thursday the fishing was really good, with limits of rockfish and plenty of lingcod for the customers,” said Klassen. “Friday was a little tougher for whatever reason. We ended up with all the rockfish we needed, but were a few lingcod shy of limits.” The offshore weather looks a little iffy for the rest of the week, but it may be fishable over the weekend.

Shelter Cove
Rockfish continues to be the target species out of the Cove. Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing has been jumping around looking for the hot spots. “We fished Gorda a few days and it was wide-open with a wide variety of rockfish and lings to 25-pounds,” said Mitchell. “We also spent a couple days around the Hat and Old Man where it was considerably slower than the northern waters. We ended up scratching up limits both days. There was also one salmon landed and a few silvers as well with very little effort.”

Brookings
Halibut fishing continues to be good when boats can get three to four miles offshore to 200 to 220 feet of water according to Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. He said, “Enough fish remain on the quota for the season likely to last through Oct. 31. Rockfish and lingcod are biting in shallow water. Crab season closes at the end of the day Thursday until Nov. 30.”

Upper Klamath/Trinity quota update
According to Dan Troxel, an Environmental Scientist on the Klamath River Project, the Upper Klamath quota for adult king salmon will be met as of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. This triggers the closure of the adult Chinook salmon fishery on the main stem of the Klamath River from 3,500 feet downstream of the Iron Gate Dam to the State Route 96 bridge at Weitchpec. 

The Upper Trinity follows a week later, with no adult retention beginning Oct. 25. No closure date has been provided for the Lower Trinity. The Upper Klamath and Upper Trinity will remain open for harvest of jack (two-year-old) Chinook salmon (less than or equal to 23 inches). All adult Chinook salmon caught must be immediately released and reported on an angler’s North Coast Salmon Report Card. For more information, visit www.cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2020/10/13/upper-klamath-river-adult-chinook-salmon-quota-met.

The Rivers:
Lower Klamath
The salmon action has slowed on the lower Klamath but there are still some fish to be had. The few boats still fishing are finding most of their success near Blue Creek. There isn’t much pressure this time of the year, but the fishing can be good as some of the late-run kings start to stage in front of the bigger creeks. The daily bag limit is two jack Chinook 23-inches or smaller and two hatchery steelhead.

Trinity
According to Junction City Store owner Frank Chapman, the section from Junction City to Del Loma is seeing a good number of kings. “There’s lots of jacks and a few adults around,” said Chapman. “Most of the adults I’ve seen are older but there are a few fresh ones mixed in. There are some steelhead around too, but not a ton.” Reportedly, salmon are in the lower river as well, but the bulk of the salmon are being stopped behind the CDFW weir at Kimtu.

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.