Trip to Northern California July 26 - Aug 5, fishing closed?

Zak

Zak

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Hi All,

We are taking a family road trip to see the redwoods at the end of July through Aug 5. We'll be staying in Arcata. I was going to bring a fly rod suitable for rivers and beach. But when I looked at the nonresident short term licenses on CA's webiste, I saw this:

Required for any person taking salmon in the Smith River System or Klamath-Trinity River System.
Ocean recreational, and in-river salmon fisheries in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers in California, are closed for a second consecutive season. For more information, refer to the following news releases:
​
Please assess your need for a North Coast Salmon Report Card before buying. All purchases are nonrefundable.​

Is all recreational fishing on coastal northern California closed? Should I even bring a fly rod?

Thanks!
 
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The lagoons down there, Freshwater, Stone, Big have some good fishing. Freshwater has big bass and stocker trout. The other two have searun cuts and some years, landlocked steelhead. I loved sight fishing with a leech and watching them change their coarse and bee line for my fly. Rockfish and salmon can be caught off S jetty of Humboldt Bay. I'm out of the loop on the river closures down there. Is that only the Klamath system?
 
Zak said:
Hi All,

We are taking a family road trip to see the redwoods at the end of July through Aug 5. We'll be staying in Arcata. I was going to bring a fly rod suitible for rivers and beach. But when I looked at the nonresident short term licenses on CA's webiste, I saw this:

Required for any person taking salmon in the Smith River System or Klamath-Trinity River System.
Ocean recreational, and in-river salmon fisheries in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers in California, are closed for a second consecutive season. For more information, refer to the following news releases:
​
Please assess your need for a North Coast Salmon Report Card before buying. All purchases are nonrefundable.​

Is all recreational fishing on coastal northern California closed? Should I even bring a fly rod?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I used to work with a guy that claimed to be catching sea run cut throats at the mouth of Little River, but that has always been known as the dirtiest stretch of water in the county. The Mad is right there but it's damn near dry right now. You could take the fam for a drive out 299 and hit the Trinity. The Steelhead are all up in the upper section right now and that would be quite a drive from the coast. I've been catching a lot of 6-12" rainbows in the main stem lately. Nothing to write home about but planty of fun with a light rod. It's a beautiful place to fish. The biggest downside is that right now you have multiple one way traffic stops on the way due to all the summertime roadwork. If you decide to do that, let me know. I can PM you some locations with easy access from the highway.
 
As far as I know, the Trinity should be open but you cannot target or retain salmon. Jetty fishing can be productive but it can also be really sketchy out there, I was pretty hesitant to fish out there unless the swell was flatter than a pancake.

The lagoons are really cool. Big Lagoon and Stone Lagoon are separated from the ocean by a sandspit. Big Lagoon breaches several times a year, Stone Lagoon every few years. When they breach steelhead and coastal cutts swim in and get stuck and then spawn in the feeder creeks. Both of these are wade fishable if you go out on to the sand spit. HOWEVER!!!! If you hike the sand spit at Big Lagoon, it's gotta be very well timed with the tides or you'll get stuck. Also, the last time I was down in Humboldt a few weeks ago, Big Lagoon was way lower than I've ever seen it. I don't know if there was a late-season breach or what. Stone Lagoon is a safer bet. Early in the morning is best.

Freshwater Lagoon does not breach to the ocean and is stocked with LMB and RB. I hear there are some absolute TOAD LMB in there but have never personally caught one.

All of the other coastal streams like the Mad River, Redwood Creek, etc, will probably be under low flow closures.

Another thing to consider is that the water will be heating up and the Mad River and Lagoons are notorious for cyanobacteria/blue-green algae, so be awfully careful with kids and pets.

Probably my recommendation would be to fish the Little River estuary and have low expectations. I've heard a black bugger can be good in there. I've never had much luck there but I also haven't fished it very hard. But the Little River hits the ocean at Moonstone Beach which is a FANTASTIC spot, and when you get done with the beach Trinidad has a lot of great spots to grab some food. I recommend the Brisket Cone at the Lighthouse Grill.

Also, go for a hike along Redwood Creek out of Orick. It's fantastic and you'll be near the tallest tree in the world! (You aren't allowed to bushwhack and go find it anymore though)

Have fun and hit me up if you need recommendations for food or anything like that!
 
Travis Bille said:
As far as I know, the Trinity should be open but you cannot target or retain salmon. Jetty fishing can be productive but it can also be really sketchy out there, I was pretty hesitant to fish out there unless the swell was flatter than a pancake.

The lagoons are really cool. Big Lagoon and Stone Lagoon are separated from the ocean by a sandspit. Big Lagoon breaches several times a year, Stone Lagoon every few years. When they breach steelhead and coastal cutts swim in and get stuck and then spawn in the feeder creeks. Both of these are wade fishable if you go out on to the sand spit. HOWEVER!!!! If you hike the sand spit at Big Lagoon, it's gotta be very well timed with the tides or you'll get stuck. Also, the last time I was down in Humboldt a few weeks ago, Big Lagoon was way lower than I've ever seen it. I don't know if there was a late-season breach or what. Stone Lagoon is a safer bet. Early in the morning is best.

Freshwater Lagoon does not breach to the ocean and is stocked with LMB and RB. I hear there are some absolute TOAD LMB in there but have never personally caught one.

All of the other coastal streams like the Mad River, Redwood Creek, etc, will probably be under low flow closures.

Another thing to consider is that the water will be heating up and the Mad River and Lagoons are notorious for cyanobacteria/blue-green algae, so be awfully careful with kids and pets.

Probably my recommendation would be to fish the Little River estuary and have low expectations. I've heard a black bugger can be good in there. I've never had much luck there but I also haven't fished it very hard. But the Little River hits the ocean at Moonstone Beach which is a FANTASTIC spot, and when you get done with the beach Trinidad has a lot of great spots to grab some food. I recommend the Brisket Cone at the Lighthouse Grill.

Also, go for a hike along Redwood Creek out of Orick. It's fantastic and you'll be near the tallest tree in the world! (You aren't allowed to bushwhack and go find it anymore though)

Have fun and hit me up if you need recommendations for food or anything like that!
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
downriver79 said:
I used to work with a guy that claimed to be catching sea run cut throats at the mouth of Little River, but that has always been known as the dirtiest stretch of water in the county. The Mad is right there but it's damn near dry right now. You could take the fam for a drive out 299 and hit the Trinity. The Steelhead are all up in the upper section right now and that would be quite a drive from the coast. I've been catching a lot of 6-12" rainbows in the main stem lately. Nothing to write home about but planty of fun with a light rod. It's a beautiful place to fish. The biggest downside is that right now you have multiple one way traffic stops on the way due to all the summertime roadwork. If you decide to do that, let me know. I can PM you some locations with easy access from the highway.
Click to expand...

Isn't the trin valley ave daily temp about 500F right now?
 
downriver79 said:
I used to work with a guy that claimed to be catching sea run cut throats at the mouth of Little River, but that has always been known as the dirtiest stretch of water in the county. The Mad is right there but it's damn near dry right now. You could take the fam for a drive out 299 and hit the Trinity. The Steelhead are all up in the upper section right now and that would be quite a drive from the coast. I've been catching a lot of 6-12" rainbows in the main stem lately. Nothing to write home about but planty of fun with a light rod. It's a beautiful place to fish. The biggest downside is that right now you have multiple one way traffic stops on the way due to all the summertime roadwork. If you decide to do that, let me know. I can PM you some locations with easy access from the highway.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
Travis Bille said:
As far as I know, the Trinity should be open but you cannot target or retain salmon. Jetty fishing can be productive but it can also be really sketchy out there, I was pretty hesitant to fish out there unless the swell was flatter than a pancake.

The lagoons are really cool. Big Lagoon and Stone Lagoon are separated from the ocean by a sandspit. Big Lagoon breaches several times a year, Stone Lagoon every few years. When they breach steelhead and coastal cutts swim in and get stuck and then spawn in the feeder creeks. Both of these are wade fishable if you go out on to the sand spit. HOWEVER!!!! If you hike the sand spit at Big Lagoon, it's gotta be very well timed with the tides or you'll get stuck. Also, the last time I was down in Humboldt a few weeks ago, Big Lagoon was way lower than I've ever seen it. I don't know if there was a late-season breach or what. Stone Lagoon is a safer bet. Early in the morning is best.

Freshwater Lagoon does not breach to the ocean and is stocked with LMB and RB. I hear there are some absolute TOAD LMB in there but have never personally caught one.

All of the other coastal streams like the Mad River, Redwood Creek, etc, will probably be under low flow closures.

Another thing to consider is that the water will be heating up and the Mad River and Lagoons are notorious for cyanobacteria/blue-green algae, so be awfully careful with kids and pets.

Probably my recommendation would be to fish the Little River estuary and have low expectations. I've heard a black bugger can be good in there. I've never had much luck there but I also haven't fished it very hard. But the Little River hits the ocean at Moonstone Beach which is a FANTASTIC spot, and when you get done with the beach Trinidad has a lot of great spots to grab some food. I recommend the Brisket Cone at the Lighthouse Grill.

Also, go for a hike along Redwood Creek out of Orick. It's fantastic and you'll be near the tallest tree in the world! (You aren't allowed to bushwhack and go find it anymore though)

Have fun and hit me up if you need recommendations for food or anything like that!
Click to expand...
Good call on the brisket, bacon, gravy, cheese, and mashed potato cone! That hit the spot!
PXL_20240731_015603600.jpgPXL_20240731_020726917.jpg
 
Iirc it does. And iirc I had a blackberry cobbler for dinner and another one for dessert last time we were there. It was a fun surf/coastal cutties in the lagoons trip. We like to camp at the big lagoon county park.
 
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