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Fishing the North Coast: Where are the salmon?

Kenny Priest/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 07/15/2010 09:18:49 AM PDT



Skipper Phil Glenn of Celtic Charter Service, right, along with his client Josh from Humboldt County display a couple halibut that were caught on Saturday off the coast of Eureka. Josh's halibut, pictured left, weighed in at 51 lbs. The other halibut tipped the scales at 75 lbs and was caught by Aaron, also of Humboldt County. (Photo courtesy of Amy Kennedy)



That seems to be the million-dollar question and the answers are about as elusive as the salmon. It's been rough sailing for salmon fishermen along the North Coast and theories abound on why the salmon appear to be missing. The one thing there is no shortage of is theories on why we're not catching the kings. According to Mark Heisdorf, an Associate Biologist with California Dept., of Fish and Game, the main culprit has been the weather. "We haven't had many fishable days this season, mostly due to the wind. We've also had issues with the water being too warm, then being too cold to hold salmon. Another reason we're not seeing big numbers of salmon being caught is due to lack of effort. There just isn't many fishermen who are putting in the time to find the fish," Heisdorf added. Another major factor for the lack of fish according to Heisdorf is the low abundance. "It wasn't that many years ago when we had 800,000 adult Sacramento River salmon swimming in the ocean and now only 245,000 are expected to return to the river this year. That's a huge void in the ocean," Heisdorf said.
Local charter boat captains Phil Glenn and Gary Blasi both agree the weather has played a huge role in the lack of salmon catching. "The salmon are somewhere, they just aren't in our reach yet and that's mostly due to the weather not allowing us to get out and hunt for them," Glenn said. "My gut feeling is they will be here. I've fished all the usual spots where I've had success in past years

and they just aren't there. But hopeful they'll show up soon," Blasi added. Angling expert John Corbett of Pro Sports Center in Eureka, who's been fishing out of Eureka for years, says the fishing cycles are all late this year. "The late rain coupled with all the wind we've been having has pushed everything behind. The weather pattern we're in now normally takes place in May, so my guess is the salmon will eventually show up. I heard some salmon were caught down south last week, so hopefully they 12 year-old Aaron Friedley, right, along with his dad Cliff, caught the first tuna of the year out of Humboldt last Thursday. The guys were fishing aboard Cliff's boat, the " Foreel" and were approximately100 miles offshore when they ran into the tuna. (Photo courtesy of Cliff Friedley)


are on the way here," Corbett added.
http://www.times-standard.com/fishin...st/ci_15522796