Kenny Priest

After being open for just over a week, salmon fishing on both the Smith and Chetco has proven to be challenging. By the sound of things, the end is likely near for the run of late-fall kings on the coast. Only a couple small storms hit the coast and dropped enough rain to open the two rivers to fishing. While...
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Trying to follow along with last week’s rain predictions was similar to buying stocks on the day of the crash. What a rollercoaster ride! But when it was all said and done, the rain finally fell and filled the rivers to our north with some much-needed rain. The Humboldt rivers, including the Mad, Eel and Van Duzen, are all getting...
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What was once a promising looking week of rain has taken a dramatic turn towards dry. Both the Smith and Chetco were expected to receive substantial rises on Saturday, which would have potentially opened both to fishing. As of Thursday morning, those predictions did an about face. Storms that had their sights set on the North Coast are now trending...
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The always-popular recreational Dungeness crab season is expected to open statewide this Saturday, Nov. 7. The season’s first traps can legally be deployed at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday morning. Anglers, weather permitting, will get their first peek into the number of crabs on the sea floor as the quality and domoic acid testing has already begun. The early round of...
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The lack of rain isn’t doing the run of late-fall kings any favors but it is keeping the California halibut fishery alive. Without an influx of freshwater from the rains and with enough food to keep them happy, there’s no reason for the halibut to leave. Though the effort has dwindled, there are still enough halibut in the bay to...
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In an all too familiar pattern, October is again looking like it will be void of substantial rainfall. Aside from a few weak systems, it seems we won’t see enough rain to put a rise into any of our North Coast rivers or open them up to fishing anytime soon. This is nothing short of torture for coastal salmon anglers...
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