THE FISHING REPORT

Fishing for River Salmon on the Klamath River is really starting
to take off as more and more anglers focus their attention on the
only game in town.  More and more Sacramento River guides are
making the transition because their home river is closed for the
season so you can expect plenty of company. It is still early but
the fishing only promises to get better as September and October
arrive.
Mario Arguilles, long time Klamath River guide, reported that
last week he hooked 19 adult salmon to 22 pounds for his two
anglers. This was by far the best report of the season and should
be a good indication that the fish want to come in. The fishing
slowed over the weekend and Mario and his clients were limited with
4 fish by 9:30 and continued up stream to catch several steelhead.
He is fishing down low in the estuary and trolling spinners. He did
say that there are more fish spread out upstream. The Commercial
Indian fleet is pulling their nets Wednesday and Thursday, allowing
fish to move through the lower river and hold upstream for good
weekend fishing.
August 29th, this Saturday, the north coast will be open to
ocean salmon fishing from Horse Mountain, otherwise known as
Shelter Cove, north to the Oregon border.  The ports of interest
are going to be Shelter Cove, Eureka, Trinidad and Crescent City. 
The only person I could talk to about the opener was Chris at
Englund Marine in Crescent City. He said that there have been a
couple of salmon caught both north and south of the harbor by boats
fishing for rockfish. They are limited to 120 feet while rock
fishing so they aren’t able to cover that much area. He thought the
best place to start would be south of the harbor from Nickel Creek
to the Sisters. He said there was a lot of bait in the area and
things are looking really good. He also mentioned that there is a
closed area in effect from 6 miles north and south of the mouth of
the Klamath River and out 12 miles. His biggest concern is the
weather and he has his fingers crossed.
Albacore made a strong albeit brief showing last week for
anglers that can get away during the week. It seems like the good
weather however was bookended by two weekends of crappy weather.
The fish are there. The Bay was the worst they have ever seen over
the weekend so that halibut scores were nonexistent. When the
weather cooperates, the halibut have been on a solid bite. I am
really surprised that this fishery has maintained its consistence
and quality in the face of last year’s robust season.
Striped bass have all but disappeared for San Francisco bay
anglers. They should reappear up in San Pablo Bay and can be caught
while trolling hair raisers this fall however. The Sacramento
anglers seem to be doing very well around the big city itself. Rio
Linda seems to be the center of this action.
For more fishing reports please contact Hunt Conrad at
prospect Mortgage in Healdsburg, 431-9715.