Area Sport Fishing Reports
Prince William Sound
Archived Sport Fishing Report
August 19, 2014
Prince William Sound and the
Copper River Delta Area
Week of August 19 to August 25
Issued August 19, 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.
• Are you fishing in a drainage crossed by the Copper River Highway from Eyak River to the Million Dollar Bridge? Know your limits and area regulations before heading out.
****Coho salmon caught in this area that are removed from the water must be retained, and become part of your daily limit. This means that once you reach your limit, you may not remove any fish from the water, and you may not remove any coho from the water before releasing it.****
Freshwaters
Salmon
• Salmon fishing in Cordova has switched from sockeye to coho with good numbers showing up in Ibeck and Eyak. Right on Time! No fish back yet at hippie cove though.
• 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
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 Lake (lower lake next to Blueberry Lake) and Ruth Pond 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. The blueberry picking should be good up there too.
Saltwaters
Halibut, Lingcod, and Rockfish
• Halibut angling is slowing down throughout most of the Sound. However some nice sized fish continue to be caught most commonly in the southern reaches of the sound near ocean entrances.
• 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. Large jigs fished 10 feet off the bottom near and on top of steep rocky ridges and reefs work quite well for lingcod.
Salmon
• Pink salmon are distributed throughout the Sound and provide good action when the silver fishing is slow. Here is a link to the commercial fishery announcements for Prince William Sound:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareapws.salmon
• Silvers are looking late at Allison Point. There are some in there if you can get your hooks past the pinks. But again…. Numbers are still low from shore… might want to wait another week.
• Silvers are still slow out of Whittier and the heads of most bays in the sound. If you can’t find them close, you may have to troll a little farther out than most years.
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.