The one upside of a summer full of windy, non-fishable weather – a Pacific halibut quota that still has plenty of poundage left to fill. The catch-rates have been so few that CDFW finally last week posted the first catch estimate since the season started back on May 1. As of July 14, California’s share of Area 2A’s quota, which includes Washington and Oregon, is at 21 percent, with only 8,024 net pounds harvested against the 38,220 quota. (500 pounds are set aside for the area south of Point Arena). There’s a real good chance the quota will last through the summer and into fall, especially if the warm tuna water hangs around.

The Pacific halibut season will be open until Nov. 15 or until the quota is reached, whichever is earlier. To monitor the in-season tracking, visit wildlife.ca.gov/conservation/marine/pacific-halibut#31670772-in-season-tracking. The daily bag and possession limit for Pacific halibut is one fish. There is no minimum size limit.

When angling, no more than one line with two hooks attached may be used. A harpoon, gaff, or net may be used to assist in taking a Pacific halibut that has been legally caught by angling.

Marine Forecast
Out 10 nautical miles, ocean conditions look to improve through the weekend. As of Thursday, Friday’s forecast is calling for northwest winds 10 to 15 knots and waves northwest 7 feet at eight seconds. Saturday, the winds will be from the northwest 5 to 10 knots with northwest waves 6 feet at eight seconds. Sunday, winds will be out of the north 5 to 10 knots with waves out of the northwest 5 feet at eight seconds. These conditions can and will change by the weekend. For an up-to-date weather forecast, visit www.weather.gov/eureka/ or www.windy.com. You can also call the National Weather Service at 443-7062 or the office on Woodley Island at 443-6484.

Eel River Pikeminnow fishing derby prizes announced
The prize structure for the Eel River Pikeminnow derby has been finalized, with $2,000 up for grabs.

To enter into the contest you must provide a valid (google) email address and upload a photo of your fish here. Prize categories are as follows:

1. Most pikeminnow (greater than 6 inches) removed over the duration of the contest. (1st-$150/2nd-$100/3rd-$50)
2. Most pikeminnow (greater than 12 inches) removed over the duration of the contest. MUST include tape measure in photo. (1st-$400/2nd-$200/3rd-$100)
3. Biggest fish (length). MUST include tape measure in photo. (1st-$350/2nd-$150/3rd-$100)
4. Drawing for anyone that entered a pikeminnow in the contest. (8 winners at $50/each)

Contest rules are as follows:

• Submit entries using one email address. All entries at the end of the contest for the “most pikeminnow…” will be tallied by participant name.
• Individual contestants can win no more than one prize category
• Cheating or falsification of entries will result in automatic disqualification
• Contestants must follow all CDFW fishing regulations, including no bait, barbless artificial lures only. Single barbless hooks are recommended for all manners of effort including, fly, and artificial lures.
• This derby includes all waters open to angling on the South Fork Eel River downstream of Humboldt County line to the confluence with the mainstem and the mainstem Eel from the confluence with the South Fork Eel to the mouth of the Van Duzen.

The derby is being put on by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, CalTrout, TRIB Research, Wiyot Tribe, Bureau of Land Management, and Stillwater Sciences. The fishing derby will run from July 20 through Aug. 31.

For additional information, visit https://tribresearch.org/pikeminnow/

Sport Crab season coming to a close
The 2024 sport Dungeness crab season in Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties will close July 30. The season is expected to reopen Nov. 2.

The Oceans:
Eureka
It was a quiet week for the Eureka fleet, with boats tied up since the weekend, reports Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “We have some good weather coming up starting Sunday, said Klassen.” “Calm ocean conditions are looking like they’ll stick around all next week. Right now, Tuesday and Wednesday are looking like tuna days with Monday a possibility as well. There’s warm water still sitting off the Cape, roughly 35-40 miles from the entrance. There’s also good water sitting off of Trinidad, roughly 20 miles northwest of Eureka. We’ll have to wait and see how it looks once the wind stops.”

Shelter Cove
“The rock fishing was pretty decent here locally this week as we didn’t have the weather to go very far,” said Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “We spent most of our time right around the whistle. The lingcod fishing was pretty slow, but we we’re still getting limits of crab every day. The tuna water looks to be staying put of the Cape for now and the water is pushing down between us and Fort Bragg. It’s still about a 35 to 40 run for us to the water off of Gorda/Cape.”

Crescent City
The California halibut bite is still going strong reports Dan Moore of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “Boats trolling South Beach are doing well along with anglers fishing off the rock wall across from the launch,” said Moore. “The Pacific halibut bite picked up last week when we had the nice weather. I heard of roughly 8 to 10 fish caught. The rockfish bite is still excellent, with limits coming pretty easily, especially in the morning. The lingcod bite is good overall, but it tends to be more up and down. The Sisters and North Reef have been very productive. The redtail perch bite is still really good off of Kellogg Beach.”

Brookings
More king salmon showed up in the catch out of Brookings, while halibut fishing also improved reports Andy Martin, of Brookings Fishing Charters. “On good weather days, anglers are finding lots of coho and a few kings, while halibut action is solid three to five miles from the harbor,” said Martin. “No boats left out of Brookings for tuna, but boats fishing north, out of Charleston and Winchester Bay, reported big numbers of albacore 30 to 50 miles out. Wide-open fishing with holds full of fish. There appears to be a weather window out of Brookings Sunday and Monday, with a bubble 30 miles out and large swatch of 60-degree water 50 miles from the harbor.”

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, the Rogue Bay has improved, with guides reporting good catches. “Crowds are medium, but likely will grow the first of August.”

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.