September 02, 2014

North Gulf Coast Area

Week of September 2 (last weekly report for the season)
Issued September 2, 2014

Emergency Orders and regulation reminders

• It is illegal to use a rockfish for bait while fishing for lingcod. If you catch a rockfish and a big lingcod grabs a hold of it, the lingcod must be released.
• It is also illegal to use a gaff on any fish that is intended to be released.

Halibut

• Halibut fishing continues to be fair to good, but fall storms are keeping boats from the best fishing areas. If you have good weather you will likely have some decent fishing.
• Halibut start to move into deeper water this time of year, so fish a bit deeper for a change.

Salmon

• Silver salmon fishing continues to be hot at the head of Resurrection Bay.
• There is also some good coho salmon fishing around Cheval Island and Pony Cove right now.
• There is a shoreline fishery for silvers, off the Seward City beaches, for the first time in several years.
• Shoreline fishermen can improve their chances by wearing polarized glasses and spot fish to cast towards.
• Shore fishermen should also fish the flood tide (incoming tide).

Other salt water fishing

• Lingcod fishing outside of Resurrection Bay continues to be good (Res Bay is always closed to lingcod fishing). Be sure your lingcod are of legal size.
• Rockfish are easy to catch and have a fairly conservative bag limit, so target your rockfish last.
• The rockfish daily bag limit is 4 per day, of which only 1 may be a non-pelagic (demersal) rockfish.
• Use deepwater release methods to release incidentally caught rockfish. Avoid venting rockfish intended for release. Vented rockfish do not survive as well as those released at capture depth. For details on deepwater release, see the ADF&G Rockfish Conservation webpage at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingSportFishingInfo.rockfishconservation
• Study your rockfish identification, so you do not harvest more rockfish than they are allowed. Please read regulations and limits for the area that you are fishing.

Shellfish

• Check out page 63 of the 2014 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary for regulations on this fishery, and page 62 for shrimp pot requirements. Permits can be obtained at the Fish House in Seward.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• See sport fishing regulations for details about legal gear and legal area. Fresh water fishing for salmon in the freshwaters of Resurrection Bay is limited. See page 58 of the regulation booklet for details.
• If the water in this area is clear, some nice coho can be caught. Watch out for bears.

Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, Arctic Grayling

• Dolly Varden are heading into streams to eat salmon eggs and spawn later in the fall. They can be fun to catch using a fly rod or tossing hardware with a spinning rod.

Northern Pike

• Northern pike are not native to Southcentral Alaska. Please report the capture of any pike in unconfirmed waters to ADF&G. Do not release any pike you have caught, and call us for a positive ID.

Lake Fishing

• If you hike into Lost Lake take your fishing rod – this lake is stocked with rainbow trout.