Plenty of Holiday Options for North Coast Anglers

By Kenny Priest fishing@northcoastjournal.com

For anglers across the North Coast, Memorial Day weekend provides an excellent opportunity to try your luck at a variety of fishing locations. With plenty of options on the table, the biggest decision might not be if you want to go — but where. Here are a few of the options that will hopefully make your decision a little easier this holiday weekend:

Jetties for rockfish and lingcod –When the wind isn’t howling, the jetties have been providing excellent rockfish and lingcod action. Small swimbaits or scampi jigs are catching fish as well as herring fished under a float.

Dungeness Crab – Anglers dropping pots outside of the bay entrance are still catching Dungeness crab when the weather cooperates. If it’s too rough, there’s some good locations inside Humboldt Bay. Out in front of the PG&E plant is a good spot as well as the flat off of the South Jetty parking lot. Another top location is either side of the channel leading into the South Bay.

Freshwater Lagoon trout – Planted regularly with catchable-sized trout, there should be ample opportunities for shorebased anglers as well as boat fishermen. An easy rig to fish is a Berkley PowerBait with an egg sinker.

Ruth Lake trout and bass – Nice weather and a family-friendly atmosphere make this a great spot for the weekend. Reportedly, the trout and bass bite are heating up.

Elk River redtail perch – If it’s perch you’re after and the ocean is too rough, Elk River Beach is a great spot to target redtails. Two hours prior to high tide and an hour after typically are the optimal times. Shrimp, clams, and sand crabs all work.

Trinidad Harbor rockfish – A great option for rockfish and crab, especially if the ocean is rough. Launching a small boat from the beach is fairly easy. You’ll want to get an early start before the afternoon wind kicks in.

California halibut – If bank angling is your only option, check out Fairhaven

Beach on the bay side of the Samoa Peninsula. Fishing is best a couple hours before and after high tide. Swimbaits attached to a 3/4-ounce jig head is a good bait choice.

North Coast rivers – Many of the local rivers will re-open to fishing beginning Saturday, May 27. Rivers that will open include sections of the main Eel (South Fork to Cape Horn Dam), South Fork Eel (South Fork Eel River from mouth to Rattlesnake Creek) Van Duzen, Mad, Little River, Mattole and Smith. Be sure and check the regulations prior to fishing.

The Pacific halibut bite has been really good, with easy limits for most boats reports Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “Poor conditions have kept us off the water since Saturday, but prior to that it was good,” said Klassen. “Most of the boats are fishing straight out of the entrance and north to the stacks in 270 to 300 feet of water. Some boats have tried in deeper water and had good success. The grade might be a little better out deeper. The rockfish action at the Cape has been excellent, with boats catching a wide variety including blacks, browns, vermilions, and canaries. The lingcod bite has been a little tougher due to ocean conditions keeping us from fishing deeper water.”

The boat launch is currently closed for maintenance. For updates and current information, you can call the bait shop at 677-3625. Friday and Saturday’s conditions look good for small boats and kayaks to launch from the beach.

“We were able to make it out to the edge of the canyon for rockfish a few times last week,” said Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing. “Limits came pretty quickly on quality rockfish, but we have only been able to scratch up about a lingcod per person on average. We’re still getting limits of crabs as well. We briefly tried for halibut in some new places last week, but no takers. It looks like we’ll have fishable conditions Thursday through Saturday.”

The oceans been rough the last several days, so there hasn’t been much going on, reports Britt Carson of Crescent City’s Englund Marine. He said, “Over the weekend, quite a few Pacific halibut were brought in by anglers fishing near the south reef. Plenty of boats were able to boat limits. The rockfish and lingcod bite remains excellent. The north reef and the Sister have been a couple of the top locations.”

Read the complete fishing report at northcoastjournal.com. l

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