Steelhead have been pouring into the Klamath for the last couple weeks, and the fishing is excellent right now. Even with the water being a little on the dirty side from the rain, it hasn’t slowed down the bite. Cooler water temps have also helped. There’s a good mix of half-pounders and adults from the Glen all the way up past Blue Creek. Up until now, the angling pressure has been extremely light, though that probably won’t be the case over the holiday weekend.

Fishing conditions could be in for a change as early as the weekend, however. With the breaching of the final two dams, there is some dirty water coming down. How that will affect conditions remains to be seen. When the water will arrive is tough to predict as well. In the past, water releases out of Iron Gate typically took about two and a half days to arrive on the lower river, so that’s a pretty good indicator.

The daily bag limit is two hatchery steelhead or hatchery trout per day on both the Klamath and Trinity rivers, with a possession limit of four. Anglers must have a Steelhead Fishing Report and Restoration Card in their possession while fishing for steelhead trout in anadromous waters. More information, can be found here.

Weekend marine forecast
Conditions will begin to improve late Wednesday as north winds will decrease and some mild offshore and southerly winds develop later in the week and the steep seas diminish. Out 10 to 60 nautical miles, Friday’s forecast is calling for south winds up to 5 knots and waves out of the northwest 5 feet at eight seconds. Saturday is calling for south winds up to 5 knots and waves northwest 5 feet at 12 seconds. Sunday, winds will be out of the south up to 5 knots and waves northwest 4 feet at 10 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.

Pikeminnow Fishing Derby ends Saturday
There are just a few days remaining to bring home some cash as the Eel River Pikeminnow Fishing Derby ends after Saturday, Aug. 31. As of a couple days ago, over 265 fish have been caught, including 100 over 12 inches and the biggest fish (so far) measuring 29 inches. Visit https://tribresearch.org/pikeminnow/ to learn more, sign up for the derby, and submit your catch to the contest before it ends.

Low Flow River Closures begin Sept. 1
North Coast rivers that are regulated by low flow closures, including the Eel, Mad, Mattole, Redwood Creek, Smith and Van Duzen begin angling restrictions on Sept. 1 and will run through April 30 2025. As a reminder, in 2022, a low-flow angling restriction was added to the section of the Eel River from the mouth to Fulmor Road (Eel estuary) at its paved junction with the south bank of the Eel River. When a low-flow closure occurs in this section of the Eel, it will be closed to hook-and-line fishing; other legal fishing methods are allowed during this timeframe.

The Department of Fish and Game will make the information available to the public by a telephone recorded message updated, as necessary, no later than 1 p.m. each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as to whether any stream will be closed to fishing. The rivers can be opened up at any time. The low flow closure hotline for North Coast rivers is 707-822-3164. NOTE: The main stem Eel from the South Fork to Cape Horn Dam and the Mattole River will be closed until January 1, 2025.

Areas subject to low flow closures:
Mad River: The main stem Mad River from the Hammond Trail Railroad Trestle to Cowan Creek. Minimum flow: 200 cfs at the gauging station at the Highway 299 bridge. The Mad River from the mouth to 200 yards upstream is closed until Jan. 1, 2024.

The main stem Eel River: New in 2022, a low-flow angling restriction was added to the section of the Eel River from the mouth to Fulmor Road at its paved junction with the south bank of the Eel River, Sept. 1 through April 30. The stream flow will be monitored as follows: Minimum Flow: 350 cubic feet per second at the gauging station near Scotia.

The South Fork of the Eel River: The South Fork of the Eel River downstream from Rattlesnake Creek and the Middle Fork Eel River downstream from the Bar Creek. Minimum flow: 340 cfs at the gauging station at Miranda.

Van Duzen River: The main stem Van Duzen River from its junction with the Eel River to the end of Golden Gate Drive near Bridgeville (approximately 4,000 feet upstream of Little Golden Gate Bridge. Minimum flow: 150 cfs at the gauging station near Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park.

Mattole River: The main stem of the Mattole River from the mouth to Honeydew Creek. Minimum flow: 320 cfs at the gauging station at Petrolia.

Redwood Creek: The main stem of Redwood Creek from the mouth to its confluence with Bond Creek. Minimum flow: 300 cfs at the gauging station near the Highway 101 bridge.

Smith River: The main stem Smith River from the mouth of Rowdy Creek to its confluence with Patrick Creek; the South Fork Smith River from the mouth upstream approximately 1000 ft to the County Road (George Tyron) bridge and Craigs Creek to its confluence with Jones Creek; and the North Fork Smith River from the mouth to its confluence with Stony Creek. Minimum flow: 600 cfs at the Jedediah Smith State Park gauging station.

Saturday is statewide Free Fishing Day
The last chance of the year to fish for free arrives over the Labor Day holiday weekend. Free Fishing Day is offered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Saturday, Aug. 31. While no fishing license is required on free fishing days, all fishing regulations, such as bag and size limits, gear restrictions, report card requirements, fishing hours and stream closures remain in effect. Every angler must have an appropriate report card if they are fishing for steelhead or sturgeon anywhere in the state or salmon in the Smith and Klamath-Trinity river systems. For more information, visit wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Fishing/Free-Fishing-Days

Tuna Update
Another week of solid tuna fishing on the coast. A few other ports joined the party as Fort Bragg and Shelter Cove finally got their shot and have been hammering the albacore. Fish were also caught as far south as Santa Cruz, and the Bay Area boats got in on the bite as well. Crescent City was probably the hot port, with fish reportedly being caught ten miles out Monday. And then the wind came, bringing with it a marine hazard risk warning for Wednesday and into the evening with 15-foot waves predicted. Wind and seas will start to come down Thursday, and Friday through the weekend look like conditions will be prime for more tuna. But will they want more? How many times can you go back for more at the all you can eat buffet? They answers are yes and numerous.

As mentioned above, the warm water finally moved within reach of the Fort Bragg and Shelter Cove ports last weekend. The water is now within ten miles of Fort Bragg and will be the go-to port this weekend, so expect a crowd it you go. Closer to home, the wind blew the water a little further off of Crescent City than expected. As of Thursday, the edge is now close to 40 miles out. The same conditions exist in Eureka, though the water is a little closer. Expect boats from both ports to take a look as the offshore ocean forecast is looking excellent for the weekend.

The oceans:
Eureka
“The tuna water is still hanging around,” said Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “It looks like it’s roughly 30 miles, we’re going to go take a look on Saturday. The Pacific halibut bite has been decent, with the best fishing coming off of Trinidad in 250 feet of water. The good news is the black cod have gone away for now. Rockfish at the Cape is still really good, with limits coming pretty easily. The lingcod bite is good too, and if you target them, you’ll be able to get what you need.”

Shelter Cove
“With the warm water moving closer, we were finally able to run for tuna over the weekend,” said Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “Scores were pretty decent, but the fish seemed to be spread out over a very large area. It was a mixed grade of peanuts with a few fish up to 25-pounds. The rock fishing has been pretty solid the last few days with limits of lingcod as well.”

Crescent City
According to Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine, the only change this week is the tuna water has moved offshore quite aways. He said, “After being within 10 miles earlier in the week, the wind pushed it back offshore close to 40 miles. When the boats can get out, the rockfish and lingcod bite remain excellent, no change there. The California halibut bite has slowed down as well as the effort. There have been a couple Thresher sharks caught off of South Beach in the last week. The perch bite is still going strong off of Kellogg Beach.”

Brookings
“Albacore tuna were within 15 miles of Brookings this past weekend, with most private boats getting decent numbers of fish,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “Jumpers were reported as close as 8 miles. The next tuna window appears to be Friday. A gale warning kept most boats at the dock Tuesday and Wednesday. Pacific halibut action has been fair. Calm weather this weekend could boost catch rates. Ocean salmon closes this week. Action has been slow, with mainly coho, which must be released, showing up in the catch. Lingcod and rockfish is very good on calm weather days.

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, the Rogue has been fair to good for salmon, although lots of fish shot upriver with the weekend rains. “Hatchery coho are now being caught, along with kings to 30 pounds. Summer steelhead are being caught near Agness.”

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.