Kenny Priest

Shelter Cove salmon starting to show
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, MAY 25, 2017
Shelter Cove

The Shelter Cove salmon bite is finally starting to show signs of life. On Monday, a private boater landed four kings just outside the Hat in roughly 150 feet of water. The kings were caught close to the surface and were loaded with krill. On Tuesday, Captain Jake Mitchell of Sea Hawk Sport Fishing boated his first four kings of...
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Weather permitting, halibut and rockfish on the bite
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, MAY 18, 2017
Shelter Cove

When the weather has cooperated, both the halibut and rockfish bite out of Eureka has been pretty darn good. Marc Schmidt of Coastline Charters on Tuesday ran out to 300 feet and was able to put three keeper halibut on board before 9 a.m. Conditions weren’t great, but the fish were right where he left them the last trip and...
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Main Stem Eel update
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, MAY 12, 2017
Eel River

“The main stem Eel is looking better every day,” said Paul Grundman of Rio Dell’s Grundmans Sporting Goods. “The water level has dropped considerably this week, and it should be fishable by the weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t some downrunners around and you may even run into some fresh ones as well.” As of Wednesday, flows were...
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Dredger on the way to Humboldt Bay
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, MAY 11, 2017
Humboldt County Coast

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company’s 315 foot dredger “Terrapin Island” is making its way to Humboldt and will be arriving around May 19 to begin dredging operations in the bar and entrance channels of Humboldt Bay. Mariners are advised to use caution when transiting near the dredge. The dredge will be restricted in their ability to move and the...
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Weather window puts boats back on the water
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, MAY 11, 2017
Humboldt County Coast

After being off the water since late last week due to gale force winds, boats were back at it on Wednesday. The small weather window, which looks like it may close by Friday, had boats on the halibut grounds and a few made their way down to Cape Mendocino. I didn’t catch any reports from the Cape, but I’d be...
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Halibut evade and rockfish pickup
Kenny Priest
by Kenny Priest, MAY 5, 2017
Crescent City Coast

Chris Hegnes of Crescent City’s Englund Marine reports the rockfish season got off to a slow start, but it picked up on Wednesday. He said, “One of the local charter boats went out to Big Reef and did really well on lingcod. They caught a few over 20 lbs, and had three limits of nice fish within an hour. I...
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