It’s a good time to be a saltwater angler right now, especially if Eureka is your home port. Options on the table right now are Pacific halibut, rockfish, and tuna. And they’re all biting! It’s been a pretty sluggish season for halibut, but the bite really started to pick up steam in August. Recently, the best action has been straight out from Trinidad, which is exactly where the Eureka fleet has been heading. Most of the charters are reporting limits of halibut up to 60 to 70 pounds. The rockfish bite around Cape Mendocino has been excellent as well. Limits of a wide variety of fish are coming easily for all who make the run south. The lingcod bite has been a little up and down. But if you specifically target them, you can do really well. The tuna water is still hanging around too. It’s currently about 25-30 miles southwest of Eureka, and we know the spot is holding fish. Outside of Fort Bragg and Shelter Cove, this is one of the better options on the coast. And it looks like we’ll have some decent weather through the weekend, and even better the beginning of next week. If you haven’t got your saltwater fix as of yet, you’ll want to keep an eye on Eureka.

Weekend marine forecast
Steep wind waves in the outer water are forecast to subside Wednesday, with light northerly winds around 5 to 10 kts expected for the remainder of the week. Out 10 to 60 nautical miles, Friday’s forecast is calling for north winds 10 to 15 knots and waves out of the north 4 feet at five seconds and west 5 feet at 12 seconds. Saturday is calling for north winds 10 to 15 knots and waves north 5 feet at seven seconds and northwest 4 feet at 11 seconds. Sunday, winds will be out of the north 5 to 10 knots and waves north 5 feet at nine seconds and south 2 feet at 13 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.

The Oceans:
Eureka
“We have some pretty good options out of Eureka this week,” said Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “The Pacific halibut bite has been really good straight out of Trinidad for a while now. There’s been some nice ones caught, with the average being between 20 and 60 pounds. The rockfish action at the Cape is still going strong. Limits are coming pretty easily, and there’s a nice variety to catch right now including blacks, blues, coppers, and vermilions. The lingcod bite has been a little more inconsistent, but they are there. Boats that target them are doing well. The tuna water is still hanging around. It’s about 25 to 30 miles southwest now, but it’s moving up and in. We fished that general area Saturday and did well in 58-degree water. Some bigger fish have showed up, with about a 15-pound average and a few over 20 pounds.

Shelter Cove
The tuna bite was pretty good this past week reports Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “Most of the effort was from 15 to 25 miles out from the 00 down to the 30 line. Boats were averaging about 20 to 25 tuna per trip. The weather looks like it will remain fishable for the next few days before it could come up for the weekend. Rock fishing was pretty solid this week for the few that that chose that option.”

Crescent City
“We finally saw an uptick in Pacific halibut this week,” said Dan Moore of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. “We’ve seen five or six come in this week, with most coming off the reef in 200 feet of water. The California halibut bite is still going strong along South Beach. Cold water did push in, but there’s still warm water at the beach. Some Threshers are being caught there as well. The rockfish action is still good, anglers fishing the Sisters and North Reef are getting easy limits. The perch bite has been good all year at Kellogg Beach. Anglers are also catching quite a few at South Beach. The tuna water has moved way offshore, about 70 or so miles this week.”

Brookings
“Tuna moved further offshore this past week, with boats having to run 60 miles one-way to get into albacore,” said Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters. “Scores were still good, with most boats getting a couple dozen or more. Halibut fishing is hit-and-miss. A few fish are being caught a day, but less than a halibut per rod. Ocean salmon is now closed out of Brookings. Lingcod and rockfish action has been good.”

North Coast river closures
All North Coast rivers subjected to low flow fishing closures, including the Eel, Mad, Redwood Creek, Smith, and Van Duzen were closed to fishing. 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, the Mad River from the mouth to 200 yards upstream and the Mattole River will be closed until January 1, 2025.

The Rivers:
Lower Klamath
Water conditions on the lower Klamath took a turn for the worse this week when the dirty water arrived from the dam removal process going on upriver. There are fish in the river, but the bite has been really off. Water conditions should start to improve soon, but it remains to be seen if the fish will want to bite or just move quickly upriver.

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.

Lower Rogue
According to Martin, the Rogue Bay has started to slow. “The early rains are already drawing salmon upriver. Hatchery coho also are arriving early. Summer steelhead fishing is good 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.