Area Sport Fishing Reports
Prince William Sound

Archived Sport Fishing Report

July 09, 2014

Prince William Sound and the
Copper River Delta Area

Week of July 8 to July 14
Issued July 8, 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.
• Ibeck Creek is closed to all sport fishing upstream from a point 3 miles above the Copper River Highway.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• Sockeye salmon fishing in the Eyak River continues to be productive, but may not be for long.
• The Coghill River sockeye salmon has been fair, but not great… might be a better bet heading to Main Bay.
• Eshamy Creek remains a bit slow for sockeye but should pick up soon.
• If you are looking for a good children’s opportunity for salmon, its not in the Prince William Sound, but there are a couple hundred king salmon mulling around the Seward Lagoon just waiting to be some kid’s first king salmon story.

Trout, Dolly Varden, Grayling

• Cutthroat trout fishing continues to good along the Copper River highway and in trout waters throughout PWS. 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 fair to good in most areas throughout the Sound with a lot of pressure over the 4th…. . Anglers have been consistently limiting out on small-medium fish by heading to the southern regions of the sound between Knight, LaTouche, and Montague, whereas fewer but larger fish have been found in some spots close to Whittier near Cochrin Bay and Perry Island.
• In general, a decent bet for halibut is fishing in the gulf or near ocean entrances.
• Rockfish angling is quite productive close to Whittier and throughout the sound with small jigs near rocky reefs.
• 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
• Lingcod fishing opened last week. Fishing has been slow so far out of Whittier, but should start picking up. Large jigs fished 10 feet off the bottom near and on top of steep rocky ridges and reefs work quite well for lingcod.
• Valdez Lingcod fishing, on the other hand started off strong.

Salmon

• Hatchery king salmon continue to mill around the saltwater near Flemming Spit, and in the Whittier boat harbor.
• The Main Bay hatchery sockeye salmon return is in full swing and anglers continue to report good catches. Here is a link to the commercial fishery announcements for Prince William Sound:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareapws.salmon
• Pink salmon fishing has been good at Allison Point with most anglers reporting catching their limits in a few hours.

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.