Area Sport Fishing Reports
Prince William Sound
Archived Sport Fishing Report
August 06, 2014
Prince William Sound and the
Copper River Delta Area
Week of August 5 to August 12
Issued August 12, 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.
Freshwaters
Salmon
• Sockeye salmon fishing in the Eyak River has tapered off and the silver salmon should be arriving soon.
• A few silvers have been reported in Ibeck but fishing has been extremely slow.
• The sockeye fishing in the sound is on the tail end. If you are looking for late season sockeye fishing you might try Eshamy as that run of sockeye is fairly late this year. Please observe new freshwater/saltwater snagging boundary signs. Jackpot and Gunboot might also be worth checking out.
Trout, Dolly Varden, Grayling
• Anglers are reminded to check the Prince William Sound regulations on the legal size limit for retained trout.
• Cutthroat trout fishing continues to be good along the Copper River highway and in trout waters throughout PWS. Leech patterns, small spinners, and egg patterns are good options.
• 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. Egg patterns fished behind pink and chum salmon is a great approach to catching these fish.
• Thompson and Ruth lakes have been stocked and will provide some great family fishing/camping opportunities. Fishing should be good. Try using small flies, spinners or bait below a bobber.
Saltwaters
Halibut, Lingcod, and Rockfish
• Halibut angling continues to be productive throughout most of Prince William Sound. Good numbers are coming out of the sound near Perry Island. The big ones continue to be caught most commonly in the gulf or near ocean entrances.
• Fishermen are reporting good success for most of the common bottom species near Montague Island. Rockfish angling is quite productive 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
• It has been a good year for lingcod fishing in Prince William Sound. Anglers have reported catching large lingcod in the southern parts of the sound. Some folks are even having some luck in Blackstone Bay. Large jigs fished 10 feet off the bottom near and on top of steep rocky ridges and reefs work quite well for lingcod.
Salmon
• Silvers are showing up in the sound, but to increase their catches fishermen have to travel further towards the gulf to get their bag limits.
• Sockeye are tapering off at Main Bay, but there are still a few sockeye to be had. For more information, check the commercial fishery announcements for Prince William Sound:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareapws.salmon
• Pink salmon fishing continues to be productive at Allison Point with most anglers reporting catching their limit in a few hours. The meat quality has tapered off, so you may have to be a little picky to find nice ones. Silvers are showing up, but anglers have to get through the high number of pinks to have a shot at the chrome silvers.
• Anglers have been having success closer to Whittier trolling and casting for pinks and chums. Silver fishing in Whittier has still been slow but should be improving.
Shellfish
• Shrimping continues to be productive throughout Prince William Sound with anglers reporting better catches with deeper sets (350 - 600 ft).
• Don’t forget your shrimp permit – everyone needs one.