Area Sport Fishing Reports
Haines/Skagway
Archived Sport Fishing Report
May 18, 2015
Summer 2015 fishing opportunities
King salmon
Chilkat Inlet is closed to king salmon sport fishing through July 15. In 2015 we expect a weak Chilkat River king salmon run. ADF&G is also managing commercial and subsistence fisheries conservatively to meet the Chilkat king salmon escapement goal.
In the remainder of the Haines and Skagway area, the bag & possession limit is 1 king salmon 28 inches or longer. This area includes Chilkoot Inlet on the east side of the Chilkat Peninsula, Lutak Inlet, and Taiya Inlet near Skagway. Non-Alaska residents must record each harvested king salmon on the back of their fishing licenses to comply with the non-resident annual limit of 6 king salmon.
In the first week of the department creel survey at the Haines small boat harbor, there was light king salmon sport fishing effort and no harvested king salmon during the surveys.
About 250,000 hatchery-reared smolt will be released in Pullen Pond in June 2015. These fish will return to the Haines and Skagway area as legal size kings in years 2017 through 2019.
Char and Trout
Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout can be caught in clear water streams and lakes through the summer. The Chilkoot River water remains clear while turbidity in the Chilkat River is increasing from glacial silt. Bait is prohibited when fishing in Chilkat Lake or Mosquito Lake and their inlet and outlet streams.
Sea-run Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout are feeding in salt water. They can be caught near shore through the summer in the Haines and Skagway area.