Fishing the North Coast: Big tides could fill North Coast rivers with salmon
There are two things that trigger late fall salmon to begin their annual migration up our North Coast rivers - rain, or large amounts of water running out to sea created by big tides. This week, we'll have the latter as rain isn't in the forecast, but large tides are. The larger-than-normal tides began on Tuesday and will run through Monday. Thursday and Friday's tide will be the biggest, going from a high of 8.4 feet down to a minus of 1.7 feet. This should bring in fresh salmon from the ocean into rivers like the Eel, Mad, Smith and Klamath. However, the lack or rain the past couple weeks has closed sections of these rivers that are regulated by low flows, except for the Klamath. Currently, only the estuaries of the Eel, Smith, and Mad are open to fishing.
Weekend Weather
According to Reginald Kennedy of Eureka's National Weather Service, this weekend could bring a few light showers to the North Coast, but it won't be enough to open up the rivers. The next system that could potentially bring substantial rain to the area is forecasted for next Thursday and Friday. According to Kennedy, we could see as much as a half-inch of rain. Let's hope so.
Rockfish, Halibut seasons coming to the end
The recreational rockfish season for boat-based anglers as well as the Pacific Halibut season will come to a close on Monday, Oct. 31. According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, the weekend weather should be decent enough to try for halibut and possibly running to the Cape for one last shot at rockfish. "It looks like we'll have six to eight foot swells for the weekend, but not much wind. If the swells are far enough apart, we should be fine. Boaters should be advised that the bar crossing could be dangerous this weekend in conjunction with the high tides. You'll want to cross the bar within 45 minutes or so after high tide," Klassen added.
California North Coast Tides - News
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