The weather finally got the best of the Eureka sport salmon fleet. What had been a wide-open bite for the past week was cooled by Wednesday’s rough waters. Only a few of the bigger boats chose to cross the bar into the nasty ocean on Wednesday, and the salmon were not in the biting mood. Prior to Wednesday, boats fishing just outside of the entrance were scoring quick limits of big fat kings. A few were also being caught by boats trolling the edge of the south jetty, and the occasional salmon was being caught by anglers fishing from the jetties. The common theme around here remains the bait; both the inside and outside of Humboldt Bay is absolutely stuffed.

With more rough water in the forecast, it may be some time before we know if the fish just went off the bite, or if they’ve finally moved on.

The current session of the sport salmon season along the North Coast will run through August 16. The last session of the season will run September 1 through September 5. For more information regarding the seasons and regulations, visit here.

The salmon have been biting like crazy right outside of the entrance according to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing. “The fishing was really good this past week. Some days the fish were piled on the south side and some days they were north of the entrance. There is still lots of bait around, mostly sardines and anchovies. The last few days it’s been an early morning bite that lasts for a couple hours; then it definitely dies off. The bite has been picking up again in the afternoon, and it’s probably influenced by the tide. The grade of fish has been nice, with the salmon averaging right around 12 to 13-pounds. There’s also been quite a few in the high teens caught daily and the occasional fish in the twenties.”