Kenny Priest

Next Tuesday marks day one of our ocean sport fishing season on the North Coast as both rockfish and halibut will finally open, bringing with it tons of excitement, optimism and relief. Following a year in which we had a limited abalone season and total closures of both salmon and razor clams, we could all use a little saltwater therapy....
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In an interesting twist of events, the Klamath River will likely provide better fishing opportunities than the mighty Sacramento this season. That’s quite a turnaround from last year when fears of extremely low salmon returns prompted a full closure for ocean salmon within the KMZ and fall kings on the Klamath and Trinity. But it turned out the adult returns...
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After suffering through a complete shutdown of our salmon season in 2017 within the KMZ, one thing is for certain – absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. Halibut and rockfish are fun, but salmon is king in Eureka – always has been, always will be. And not being able to fish for them last year really stung. Needless...
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Twenty-five days and counting. That’s how long North Coast saltwater anglers will have to wait before the lengthy offseason is over and we ‘re back on the water. May 1 will bring two openers – Pacific halibut and rockfish. The 2018 Pacific halibut fishery will have four open periods, May 1-June 15, July 1-15, August 1-15 and Sept. 1-Oct. 31,...
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Last weekend’s storms brought a little more rain than expected, with enough falling to  . keep the majority of the coastal rivers high and off color leading into the final week of steelhead season. As of Wednesday, only the Smith, Chetco, and the very upper reaches of the South Fork Eel were green. And it looks like those are the...
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Other than the Smith and Chetco, all of the coastal rivers are currently running a little high and off color. And with more storms barreling their way towards the North Coast, the end is in sight for the winter steelhead season. The barrage forecasted for the weekend is predicted to turn the coastal rivers into raging muddy messes. And with...
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