Since just after Labor Day weekend, the Klamath River has been king salmon central. The river’s been plugged with jacks (2-year old males), along with some hefty adults. The run started a little late this year, likely due to unusually high water temperatures. Smoke-filled skies, shielding the water from the bright sun, finally began cooling […]
fishing
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Kayaker Describes Harrowing Shark Attack (with VIDEO)
This morning, a shark attacked a lone kayaker fishing in the waters off Southern Humboldt County. According to Cheryl Antony, spokesperson for Shelter Cove Fire Department, at 7:45 a.m. an emergency dispatcher sent her department to look for a victim of a shark attack in a kayak. Antony said that they were able to see […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
HumBug: Caddisflies and Fishing Flies
When I was a boy, my dad introduced me to the joys and frustrations of trout fishing. In his opinion the best bait were what he called “periwinkles,” little bugs that cover themselves with twigs or stones and crawl around in creeks. Skip forward to 1981 and Gary LaFontaine, a noted writer, published a book […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Mink Mystery
I dumped my old imaginary friend. My new one is a woman. She’s great. You’ll meet her in a sec. She helped me solve the greatest mystery of my local beachcombing career — seven skulls of the American mink (Neovison vison) washed up together. (To that one dude reading this who knows the answer: Shut […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Facing the Wind
Local fishermen are on the verge of forever losing local fishing grounds to wind power as California trades one renewable resource (seafood) for another (electricity). The state of California and its citizens are on the front line of the efforts to convert our energy use from the burning of fossil fuels (oil and gas) to […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
The Grand Juror Who Was Banned for Life
The California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously in closed session June 20 to permanently ban former Humboldt Bay Harbor, Conservation and Recreation District Commissioner and current Humboldt County Civil grand juror Aaron Newman from obtaining a recreational hunting or fishing license. The commission’s action is rare. According to California Department of Fish and Wildlife […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Still no Crab
Another round of testing shows that local Dungeness crab are still not filled out enough, prompting a second delay for the commercial season in Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today that the opener has been pushed back to Dec. 31 and may not end up starting […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Panfish Fishing
There is nothing like sharing a love of fishing with someone who has never cast a line. Whether fishing with a child who can barely stand on the lake shore or an adult who was simply never offered the chance to hook a fish, the pursuit of panfish is the perfect way to get new […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Catch of the Day
I have been following Kirk Lombard’s blog, The Monkeyface News, for years now. His delightful writing style is a poetic blend of personal experience, history, humor and even a haiku once in a while. As a forager, freediver and angler along the California coast for more than 30 years, Lombard’s words always seem to resonate […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Huffman Talks Last Chance Grade in Crescent City Town Hall
About 75 percent of the seats in Crescent Elk Auditorium in Crescent City were full for a town hall style meeting with North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman Monday night. In his opening comments, Huffman touched on many local, state and federal issues of concern to residents. He said he is hopeful Congress can soon work […]
Posted inPerfect Trips
Perfect Winter Trips
The North Coast doesn’t really do seasons the way the rest of the world does. We don’t believe in dividing the year into four neat periods, each with their own weather. Instead, mix up our rain and fog, darkness and light in varying quantities and distribute it in ever surprising ways throughout the seasons. Our […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Crab Fishermen in West Coast Ports Pull Pots in Solidarity with Humboldt
A week’s worth of negotiations have failed to break the stalemate between Humboldt Dungeness crab fishermen and the Pacific Group, which locally owns Pacific Choice Seafood. Last week, Pacific Group announced it was lowering its buying price for crab from $3 per pound to $2.75. Fishermen in District 7 — which stretches south from Humboldt Bay’s […]