Fishing Stone and Big Lagoon for Steelhead or Perch

Steelhead and Redtail Surfperch fishing at Humboldt Lagoons State Park along the coast of Humboldt County, California. Other videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbptAUNQ5tN2G2RKQpuGOgosiAXjyWVV8

Stone Lagoon is located in Humboldt Lagoons State Park, along the coast of Humboldt County, California. Specifically, it's positioned between Trinidad to the south and Orick at the mouth of Redwood Creek to the north. It's one of four lagoons in the park, along with Big Lagoon, Dry Lagoon, and Freshwater Lagoon. We launched our Willie drift boat at Stone Lagoon in the morning and trolled for trout until we reached the beach so we could try our hand at Redtail Surfperch fishing. The breakers were too rough and our weights were getting pushed around, so we decided to troll back to the boat ramp. We didn't get any bites at Stone Lagoon, so we decided to head south to Big Lagoon State Park. We had heard from friends that fish were holding at the North End.

Big Lagoon is another coastal lagoon located in Humboldt County, California, specifically in the Humboldt Lagoons State Park. It's situated between Trinidad to the south and Redwood Creek (near Orick) to the north, along the coast of Humboldt County. The lagoon is a brackish water body, separated from the Pacific Ocean by a sand spit. Both lagoons are popular spots for kayakers and paddle boarders. Both have boat ramps that are accessible and well maintained. Big Lagoon charges $5 day use fee. Find the payment envelopes at the restroom station.

We had several bites at the North End of Big Lagoon as expected, but nothing was sticking to our Little Cleos with single hooks and small weights. We decided to upgrade to a Hot Shot gold plug and a orange Kastmaster both with treble hooks and we ditched the weights to avoid picking up grass from the bottom. Another boat and a seal disturbed the North End, so we headed to a small cove on the way back and immediately hooked up. We released the male spawned out steelhead once photographed.

#steelheadfishing #biglagoon #driftboat