Area Sport Fishing Reports
Haines/Skagway

Archived Sport Fishing Report

June 15, 2015

Summer 2015 fishing opportunities

King salmon

King salmon fishing effort was light last week at the Haines small boat harbor.

King salmon fishing effort was also light last week at the Skagway small boat harbor.

Chilkat Inlet is closed to king salmon sport fishing through July 15. ADF&G is managing sport, commercial, and subsistence fisheries in Chilkat Inlet conservatively to meet the Chilkat king salmon escapement goal. The Chilkat king run monitoring project near 9 Mile Haines Highway has seen a few kings in the very early part of the run.

In the remainder of the Haines and Skagway area, the bag & possession limit is 1 king salmon 28 inches or longer. This area includes Taiya Inlet near Skagway, Lutak and Chilkoot Inlets near Haines, and Lynn Canal as far south as the latitude of Little Island Light. Non-Alaska residents must record each harvested king salmon on the back of their fishing license to comply with the non-resident annual limit of 6 king salmon.

About 200,000 hatchery-reared smolt were released in Pullen Pond in June 2015. These fish will return to the Skagway and Haines area as legal size kings in years 2017 through 2019.

Sockeye salmon

Sockeye counts were low last week at the Chilkoot River weir. The run typically gains momentum in July.

Char and Trout

Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout can be caught in clear water streams and lakes through the summer. The Chilkoot River water is high but remains clear. The Chilkat River is high and will be silty for the summer. 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.