Area Sport Fishing Reports
Anchorage

Archived Sport Fishing Report

May 01, 2014

Week of May 1 to May 6

Issued May 1, 2014
Regulation Reminders

• Ship Creek is closed to fishing from the Chugach Power Plant Dam upstream to Reeves Boulevard April 15 – June 14.
• Campbell Creek (entire drainage) is closed to fishing April 15 – June 14.
• Chester Creek (entire drainage) is closed to fishing April 15 – June 14.
• Bird Creek (entire drainage) is closed to fishing January 1 – July 13.
• Symphony Lake is closed to fishing May 1 – June 30.

Emergency Order Currently in Effect
• None

Fresh waters

Salmon

• Ship Creek is the only stream in the Anchorage area currently open to king salmon fishing.
• For those seeking to get out of helping wash dishes or raking the yard, tell your partner the kings are running in Ship Creek. If you catch anything, let me know.
• All other waters in the Anchorage Management Area are closed to king salmon fishing.
Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, Arctic Grayling
• All of Campbell Creek, Chester Creek, and portions of Ship Creek are currently closed to fishing to protect spawning rainbow trout.

Lake Fishing

• Local lakes run the gamut right now: Jewel Lake is almost ice free while Cheney Lake is still fairly ice tight.
• Your best bet this weekend would be for Arctic char and rainbow trout in Jewel Lake and Delong. All area lakes will likely be ice free within the week, so check them out. Feel free to contact us at 267-2218 with more fishing report information.
• The stocking trucks have not yet started to roll.

Northern Pike

• As the ice recedes from the shoreline northern pike will be moving into shallow, weedy areas at night to spawn. Late evening hours are a good time to spear them, or to shoot them with bow and arrow. A reminder, if you are bow-hunting for pike, the arrow has to be attached to a string and the string to your bow. Try Lower Fire Lake and Otter Lake on JBER for pike.

Salt waters

Hooligan

• Dipnetting seasons for hooligan (or “smelt”) in Southcentral Alaska opened on April 1, but dipnetters will likely find fishing slow until hooligan runs build around mid- to late-May.
• This is a personal-use fishery and only Alaska residents can participate. No permit is required, but you do need an Alaska resident fishing license or ADF&G Permanent ID card with you while dipnetting.
• For Turnagain Arm waters, look for larger numbers of fish to arrive on next week’s big tides. Fishing should remain good through the end of the month. The presence of many seagulls and eagles on the banks or in the skies along Turnagain Arm down by Twentymile River is the best indicator of the presence of catchable numbers of these oily little fish.
• Open season for hooligan in salt waters is April 1–May 31; in fresh waters, it is April 1–June 15. There is no bag or possession limit for personal use smelt, and no permit is required. Hooligan may be taken by dip net in any fresh or salt water.
• For your safety, and for the safety of others, please park well off the highway. Do not trespass on the railroad tracks or the railroad right-of-way. Please be respectful and take all your trash with you, don’t throw it on the ground. Please do not trash the dipnetting site.
• For more information on hooligan dipnetting and hooligan dipnetting regulations, see Page 13 of the 2014 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations summary booklets.