Area Sport Fishing Reports
Haines/Skagway
Archived Sport Fishing Report
October 27, 2015
Fall 2015 fishing opportunities
Coho salmon
Coho salmon catch rates on the Chilkoot River were very good last weekend for the few anglers present. Boating anglers at the lake outlet did especially well.
Coho salmon catch rates on the Chilkat River were poor, with continued turbid waters, and fishing effort was very low.
The Chilkat River is settling down to normal height. Coho fishing should improve as the water clears with cool temperatures. The National Weather Service provides a graph of the Chilkat River water level for the past week and a forecast for the next 2 days. Declining and stable low water levels usually result in good fishing conditions.
Results from 3 weeks of ADF&G foot surveys show enough fish on Chilkat River spawning grounds to meet the escapement goal. Catches in troll fisheries on the outer coast and in Icy Straits indicated very late run timing this year, so we expect more coho salmon to arrive through October.
Char and Trout
Dolly Varden fishing has been good near chum spawning areas on the Chilkat River and on the Chilkoot River. Bait is prohibited when fishing in Chilkat Lake or Mosquito Lake and their inlet and outlet streams. See the Haines area sport fishing regulations for specifics.
Sockeye salmon
The Chilkoot River sockeye salmon run is finished. The Chilkoot River weir counted 71,000 sockeye salmon from early June through September 8, when the weir was removed for the year.
Sockeye salmon counts at the Chilkat River fish wheels are finished. The season total sockeye count is twice the long-term average. The last day of fish wheel operation was October 5.
Sockeye salmon counts at the Chilkat Lake weir finished at 135,110 fish, which is within the escapement goal range (70,000 to 150,000 sockeye salmon).
Pink salmon
The Chilkoot River and Lake pink salmon run is finished.
The Chilkat River pink salmon run is finished. This year's total fish wheel catch of 12,440 pink salmon was the highest since 1999.
King salmon
In District 15, the bag & possession limit is 1 king salmon 28 inches or longer. This area includes Lynn Canal waters north of Eagle Beach along the Juneau road system, Chilkat Inlet, Chilkoot Inlet, and Lutak Inlet near Haines, and Taiya Inlet near Skagway.
Non-Alaska residents must record each harvested king salmon immediately on the back of their fishing license to comply with the non-resident annual limit of 3 king salmon.
The department's preliminary Chilkat River king salmon assessment is that the run met the escapement goal of 1,750 to 3,500 large kings (5 yrs old and older). Post-season analysis of 2015 catches and escapement samples will allow ADF&G to forecast next year's run by February 2016.
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. No future king salmon smolt releases are planned at this time.