Area Sport Fishing Reports
Prince William Sound
Archived Sport Fishing Report
July 01, 2014
Prince William Sound and the
Copper River Delta Area
Week of July 1 through July 7
Issued July 1, 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 opens today!
• Ibeck Creek is closed to all sport fishing upstream from a point 3 miles above the Copper River Highway.
Fresh waters
Salmon
• Sockeye should still be moving up the Eyak. Try the holes near the Mountain Slough cutoff and at the bridge at 6 mile.
• Coghill River sockeye salmon are looking good this year and would be a good bet over the 4th.
• If main bay is too busy for you, Eshamy and Jackpot should have a good number of reds stacking up. Remember, no snagging inside the fresh/salt water markers.
Trout, Dolly Varden, Grayling
• Cutthroat trout fishing is pretty good 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 are 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 fishing is still picking up and anglers have been having pretty good luck out of Whittier, without having to travel too far. Passage Canal and Blackstone Bay have both been productive.
• Pacific Cod and rockfish catches have been good in Montague Strait and out in the Gulf by Seal Rocks and Hitchenbrook.
• 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
• It’s been a good year for Flemming Spit kings… there should still be a few out there.
• Whittier Kings are back as well and were looking good last weekend…if you are looking for some saltwater kings and don’t have a boat, here’s your chance!
• The Main Bay hatchery sockeye salmon run is looking great and should keep up for the 4th. 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.