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BY: K2JWD6 / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORY: News Features

From the article Oregon albacore running at near-record numbers:

California’s 2009 salmon season goes quietly
California’s only saltwater salmon fishery of the summer came and went with a whimper last week. The Klamath Management Zone Ocean Fishery, which ran for 10 days (Aug. 29 to Sept. 7), was routinely a bust for most boats fishing between the California/Oregon border and Horse Mountain.

“It was horrible for most people,” says Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sportfishing in Eureka, Calif. “They should’ve been staging in the river mouths, but those fish weren’t where they usually are. We can usually find them in shallow water close to the beach, but we had some really warm water in close this year, so that might’ve kept them out of the spots we usually find ’em.”

Blasi found his best success in deep water off the continental shelf, fishing in 1,000 to 1,200 feet of water with 300 to 400 feet of downrigger cable out, likely working on fish migrating toward Oregon’s Rogue River.

“The first few days we got three or four fish total, so we ran straight out for 14 miles into deep water,” he says. “There’s a ton of bait out there, whales all over the place, but, man, I’ve never had to fish for them that deep and that far offshore. It was a weird deal.”

Posted in News Features