Halibut in the Bay 7/14

Hit the last of the outgoing for nothing, drifted near the coast gaurd station popsicles for bait

 i appreciate your affinity for simplicity in your reporting. better-luck next time.

You must have been fishing in Humboldt Bay.

Hey, I almost went for a drift near the CG around high tide today...  Maybe I'll see you out there, Xengine... 

Thank you for your report.  Not sure which "bay" you're fishing in!

Humboldt Bay.

On that note any of you northern California kayakers going to try for Salmon this year, would love to try this myself but would almost feel bad killing one of those guys, although they taste so darn good, especially from the ocean, no mud for me.

Humboldt Bay.

On that note any of you northern California kayakers going to try for Salmon this year, would love to try this myself but would almost feel bad killing one of those guys, although they taste so darn good, especially from the ocean, no mud for me.

There are quite a few of us up here and also from down south that plan to hit the salmon season on the ocean this year.  You can catch and release out there if you want - I've tried it.   

I am Abkings evil twin!

Kill it and grill it!!

Humboldt Bay.

On that note any of you northern California kayakers going to try for Salmon this year, would love to try this myself but would almost feel bad killing one of those guys, although they taste so darn good, especially from the ocean, no mud for me.

There are quite a few of us up here and also from down south that plan to hit the salmon season on the ocean this year.  You can catch and release out there if you want - I've tried it.   

It's probably going to be an absolute zoo with those couple weeks being the only salmon fishing in CA this year. Do any of you remember 2006 when there was a short 4th of July opening and then a week or so opened around Labor Day and that was it? I fished a bunch that Labor Day opening and it was an absolute slaughter. There were well over 100 boats out of Eureka every day but I don't remember seeing any kayaks. Abking, have you done this in your kayak before? If so, do you go out of Eureka anywhere? or just the Cove and Trinidad? This sounds really fun by kayak. Not sure I can make it all the way up there when it's open but I would like to. Might need to save all my North Coast trips for steelhead season.

Xengine, I know what you're saying about feeling guilty harvesting such a depressed year class. I don't know why CA Dept. of Fish and Game can't get it together enough to adipose clip the hatchery zombies. That way, we all could enjoy a mark-selective fishery. I would love to know I was releasing a wild salmon for sure and I would enjoy even more bonking a couple hatchery 'nookies and taking their spam out of the gene pool. Plus, like you said, they taste mighty good! 

I've fished for salmon from my kayak out of Humboldt Bay a few times - it's not easy.  The currents around the Humboldt Bay jetties are extreme.  If the fish are in close to the jaws it's do-able, but watching the tides and wind are absolutely vital to surviving!

Trinidad is a possibility, and I'd much rather salmon fish out of Shelter Cove, but it won't be open there.  I haven't fished for salmon out of Crescent City, but that may be an option too.

I'm looking forward to hooking up a chovie and trolling.   

Yeah, I was wondering about Hum Bay but it can be sketchy enough in a small skiff with a good engine. I used to fish the jetties all the time and that water moves around A LOT!! The tidal push there is pretty nuts, too. I had a really bad experience in a canoe fishing the bay once. We ended up getting pushed so far away from our launch while chasing diving birds that it took us 3 solid hours of paddling back against the current. We finally exhausted ourselves and had to beach the canoe and drag it across a good 200 yds of soggy wetlands to the road and then hike over a mile back to the rig. Yup, we were dummies. I didn't even think of Crescent City, that might be awesome and an easy launch out of the harbor?

Crescent City, when flat, is a very easy launch.  Whaler Island is at the south edge of the harbor and there is a small jetty that forms the Whaler Island "Groin" there and is intended to stop erosion from south swells.  I've launched there right into the ocean - skip the harbor all together.

My ear will be to the ground to pickup tips on where the fish are once the insanity starts.

Inside the bay has worked for me in the past, especially when the salmon follow the bait back and forth from the ocean to the bay due to the tide.

On a tangent, was fishing for perch early this year, using clam necks, and hooked a nice steelhead by the power plant.  That was before we got any rain in the winter, and elk river was not passable.

Strange things happen in humboldt bay.  Even heard rumors of stripers caught in that bay, seen pictures of them being caught on south beach incidentally by perch anglers.