Fishing the North Coast:  Sport salmon season likely to open May 16

Kenny Priest/For the Times-Standard

HASA dinner coming April 30
Though not official as of Wednesday evening, word has it the Pacific Fishery Management Council is leaning towards alternative 1 for sport salmon anglers in the CA KMZ. According to Jim Yarnell, who is in Vancouver, WA representing the Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers, the area from CA/OR border south to Horse Mountain will likely run from May 16 through May 31, June 16 through June 30, July 16 through August 16, and September 1 through September 5 in 2016. It will be open seven days per week for all salmon except Coho, two fish per day and a minimum size limit of 20 inches total length for Chinook. The final decision should be coming on Thursday and can be found on either of these web sites: www.pcouncil.org or www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/oceansalmon.asp

Tough bite continues at the Cove
Reports have been as tough to come by as the salmon. Quite a few local kayakers were on the water this past weekend and I didn’t hear of any salmon landed. The lone bright spot was on Friday, when a pretty decent bite took place. Captain Jared Morris of C’Mon Sportfishing was on the spot, landing six keeper salmon for his four clients.

Weekend marine forecast
Shelter Cove could see a bit more wind and slightly larger swells this weekend. It’s predicted to blow out of the north 10 to 15 knots on Saturday, with swells 8 feet at 14 seconds. Winds will again be out of the north on Sunday 5 to 10 knots. Waves will be out of the northwest 10 feet at 13 seconds. The Eureka-based forecast looks very similar. These conditions can and will change. For an up-to-date forecast, visit http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-124.39273&lat=40.26662

Extreme shoaling in Humboldt Bay entrance
According to Capt. John Powell of the Humboldt Bar Pilots, the severe winter storms have added to the already serious issue of shoaling in the approach and entrance channels of Humboldt Bay. The Humboldt Bar Pilots have temporarily suspended all deep draft vessels into Humboldt Bay until maintenance dredging can be performed. The dredging operation, which is done by the U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers, is scheduled to begin the second week of May. “I have been working on Humboldt Bay for over 36 years and have never seen shoaling to this extent. We found a spot in the channel that was between 14 and 15 feet where it should be 48 feet,” said Powell.

Wet year designation for Trinity River
The official water year designation for the Trinity River in 2016 is "wet" as determined by the April first reservoir inflow forecast of 1,600,000 acre feet, which allows for releases to the river of 701,000 acre feet according to the Trinity River Restoration Program. The recommended flows are expected to increase beginning April 21, reaching their highest levels on May 9-14. Flows will then gradually decrease through the end of July. There will be two peaks in flows this year, May 9 and May 13. The Trinity Management Council (TMC) flow release hydrograph recommendation is awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of Interior. For more information, visit www.trrp.net/restore/flows/current.

Ruth Lake Bass tourney
Unhooked Bass Anglers is holding their Season Event #4 Bass Tournament on Saturday, April 16 at Ruth Lake. Check in at Journey’s End Bar and Grill is Friday, April 15 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Livewell checks and check in will be Saturday at Ruth Marina from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m. Blast off begins at 6:45 a.m. and weigh in is 3:00 p.m. Entries are $100 per team/ Big Fish option is $20. This is a catch and release tournament, live wells and life jackets are required. All boats are required to be inspected for invasive species before launching. For more information, call Jared Gadberry at 707-502-4966.

HASA dinner April 30
The annual HASA fundraiser dinner will be held Saturday, April 30, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The popular event has changed venues this year and will be moving from Redwood

Acres to the Arcata Community Center, 321 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Arcata. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for children. Food will be provided by Ramone’s and some great items will be auctioned and raffled off. Each ticket will get you a HASA annual 2016 membership as well as entry into our door prize. Dinner, auction and raffle tickets are available from any HASA board member or from the following merchants: Ace Hardware, McKinleyville; Bucksport Sporting Goods, Eureka; Englund Marine, Eureka; Englund Marine, Crescent City; Mad River Tackle, Arcata; Pacific Outfitters, Eureka; RMI Outdoors, Eureka; and W&W RV & Sporting Goods, Eureka. For more information, email hasa6191@gmail.com or call (707) 845-4106.

The Rivers:

Main Stem Eel
The main stem Eel is in great shape, flowing at 3,900 cfs as of Wednesday afternoon. Very few anglers have been on the water, but from what I hear there are some downers as well as a few fresh fish around.

Smith River
The Smith is getting pretty clear and could use some more water reports guide Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman’s Guide Service. “The fishing this past week has been decent, we’re seeing two to three hookups per trip. It looks like we have a pretty good bump in flows coming on Thursday, which should be really good for the weekend,” Coopman said.

Send in your fish photos
Land a big salmon, trout or perch lately? Or maybe your friend or relative has reeled in their first fish.  Email your fishing photo to kenny@fishingthenorthcoast.com and I’ll run them with the “Fishing the North Coast” weekly column and also post them on the digital version on times-standard.com. Just include the name of the person in the photo, where and when it was taken and any other details you’d like to share.