Area Sport Fishing Reports
North Gulf Coast/Resurrection Bay

Archived Sport Fishing Report

June 22, 2016

 North Gulf Coast Area

Week of June 22 to June 28
Issued June 22, 2016

General Area Description: Includes waters from Gore Point to Cape Fairfield.

Emergency Orders and regulation reminders

• The personal use season for shrimp pot fishing in North Gulf Coast area waters opened on April 15 and closes Sept 15. Permits are required to participate in this fishery and are free at select ADF&G offices and vendors.
• Personal use dipnetting for smelt (hooligan) is closed.
• Lingcod fishing remains closed until July 1.
• Snagging is allowed in salt water of the North Gulf Coast. Snagging is not allowed in fresh water.
• Resurrection River downstream of the Seward Highway and Nash Road opened on June 16. Only unbaited, single-hook, artificial lures are allowed; snagging is not permitted in this freshwater portion of Resurrection River.
• For king salmon in Resurrection Bay there is no annual or seasonal king salmon harvest recording requirement. You are still required to have a king salmon stamp if you are going to retain a king salmon.

Halibut

• Halibut are federally managed by NOAA. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=halibut.management
• Halibut fishing in the North Gulf Coast continues to be good.
• The Seward halibut derby started June 1st and goes through the month of June. Some really nice fish are being brought into Seward. The big fish so far is 179.8 lbs however a 162.8 lb fish was caught on June 20. Do not forget to get our derby ticket if you want to participate and read all the rules.
• For more information go to the Seward Chamber of Commerce web page
• http://www.seward.com/welcome-to-seward-alaska/signature-events/halibut-tournament-june/
• A few halibut have been reported from inside of Resurrection (Res.) Bay. More fish should be moving into the bay each week as water warms and prey becomes more available. Places to try inside Res. Bay include near Callisto Head and Fox Island. Targeting halibut inside Res. Bay requires some degree of patience. Pay attention to the tides and the direction food is going to be moving as the tide changes.

Salmon

Kings:

• The king salmon limit in Res. Bay is currently two per day, any size. Try trolling with a small- to medium-sized herring and an oversized flasher or a hoochies for a shot at a feeder king.
• Kings have been caught from shore in Res. Bay near the creek that drains the Seward Lagoon. Large vibraxes or herring under a bobber have been known to produce hatchery run kings from the beaches in Seward. Fishing has been slow, but should continue to improve.

Sockeye:

• Sockeye continue to be returning in good numbers to the head of Res. Bay with limits of sockeye being reported. Catch rates have been reported to vary significantly from tide to tide.
• In saltwater, the bag limit for sockeye is 6 per day/6 in possession.
• In the freshwater section downstream of Resurrection River and Nash Road to an ADF&G marker near the mouth, the bag limit for sockeye is 3 per day/ 3 in possession.
• This section opened on June 16.

Other salt water fishing

Lingcod:

• Lingcod fishing remains closed until July 1 to protect nest guarding males.

Rockfish:

• Rockfish are easy to catch and have a fairly conservative bag limit, so target your rockfish last.
• The rockfish daily bag limit is 4 per day, of which only 1 may be a non-pelagic (demersal) rockfish.
• Use deepwater release methods to release incidentally caught rockfish. For details, see the ADF&G Rockfish Conservation webpage at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingSportFishingInfo.rockfishconservation
• Black rockfish catches have been near the entrance of Res. Bay.

Other species:

• Pacific cod are well spread throughout Res. Bay, and can be easily caught with chunks of herring fished near the bottom in water of 100ft and deeper.
• As of June 1, personal use dipnetting for smelt (hooligan) is closed.

Shellfish

• There have been no reports from the personal-use shrimp pot fishery. This fishery is now open in the entire North Gulf Coast area. To participate in the fishery you must be an Alaska resident with a current sport fishing license or ADF&G Permanent ID card, and a North Gulf Coast shrimp pot fishery permit. Permits can be obtained at the Anchorage, Homer, or Soldotna ADF&G offices and at the Seward Fish House.
• Check out page 10 of the 2016 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary for regulations on this fishery, and page 9 shrimp pot requirements.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• The only fresh water open to salmon fishing is a small section Resurrection River, downstream of the Seward Highway and Nash Road (See map in Southcentral regulation summary on p.g. 78)
• The remainder of the fresh water drainages in Resurrection Bay are closed to salmon fishing at this time.

Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, Arctic Grayling

• Pink salmon fry were observed in the harbor area and at the mouth of a few Seward creeks over the holiday weekend. Dolly Varden will be targeting these out-migrating fish. Try casting small spinners or smolt fly patterns from the beach for a chance at a sea-run Dolly Varden.

Northern Pike

• Northern pike are not native to Southcentral Alaska. Please report the capture of any pike in unconfirmed waters to ADF&G. Do not release any pike you have caught.

Lake Fishing

• First Lake was stocked with catchable-size rainbow trout in May. The fishing should continue to be good at First Lake and it is a great place to take the kids.