Area Sport Fishing Reports
Prince William Sound
Archived Sport Fishing Report
June 18, 2014
Prince William Sound and the
Copper River Delta Area
Week of June 17-23
Issued June 17, 2014
Regulation Reminders and Emergency Orders
• Permits are mandatory for all noncommercial shrimp fisherman. Permits are available at local Fish and Game offices and at select vendors.
• Lingcod season is closed until July 1 to protect nest-guarding males.
• Ibeck Creek is closed to all sport fishing upstream from a point 3 miles above the Copper River Highway.
Fresh waters
Salmon
• Sockeye salmon are distributed throughout the Eyak River and some anglers reported catching their limits at holes near the Mountain Slough cutoff.
• Coghill River sockeye salmon are definitely picking up with the warmer waters we had with such an early spring.
Trout, Dolly Varden, Grayling
• Cutthroat trout fishing started out pretty good last weekend along the Copper River highway. Smolt patterns and small spinners at stream confluences, lake outlets and in estuaries good options this time of year.
• Anglers reminded to check the Prince William Sound regulations on the legal size limit for retained trout.
• Dolly Varden are present in many of the streams throughout Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta. Use fry/smolt imitation flies or small spinners at lake outlets or stream confluences.
Salt waters
Halibut, Lingcod, and Rockfish
• Halibut angling has been good to excellent in deeper water near the entrances. Valdez anglers seem to be having more luck than Whittier, where fishing seems to be spottier. Most folks going out on charters from Whittier are coming back with one of their limit of two, having trouble finding individuals under 29 inches.
• Rockfish angling is quite productive with small jigs near rocky reefs. Remember to move once you catch your limit. Fishing has been pretty good throughout the sound, but particularly on the north end of Knight island.
• AND REMEMBER if you are targeting multiple species, target rockfish last, and use a deepwater release mechanism on all released rockfish (these devices can turn the chance of survival for a rockfish from near zero to near 100%!)
What’s deepwater release?
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingSportFishingInfo.rockfishconservation
Salmon
• At Flemming Spit, hatchery kings have been seen rolling near the cove, and the fishing is definitely picking up.
• Eshamy sockeye should be showing up any day if not already.
• The Main Bay hatchery sockeye salmon return is starting to ramp up. Look for this fishery to continue to improve through the 4th of July. For interested anglers, here is a link to the commercial fishery announcements for Prince William Sound:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareapws.salmon
Shellfish
• Shrimping continues to be productive throughout the Sound with anglers reporting better catches with deeper sets; 350 - 600 ft.
• Don’t forget your shrimp permit – everyone needs one.