Area Sport Fishing Reports
Kodiak

Archived Sport Fishing Report

June 23, 2015

Kodiak Area

Week of June 21 to June 27

Emergency Orders and regulation reminders

• Marine boat anglers returning to any port on the Kodiak road system from May 31 - August 31 may not fillet, mutilate, or de-head king salmon until they have been brought to shore and offloaded, unless the fish have been consumed or preserved on board.
• Effective June 1, in the Karluk River drainage, including Karluk Lagoon, sport fishing for king salmon is closed. In addition, the use of bait is prohibited for all sport fishing downstream of Karluk Lake.
• Effective June12, the bag limit for sockeye salmon is increased from 2 to 5 fish in the Buskin River drainage.
• Effective June 16, the bag limit for sockeye salmon is increased from 5 to 10 fish in the Afognak and Karluk River drainages.
• Effective June 19, in the Ayakulik River drainage, sport fishing for king salmon closed. In addition, bait is not allowed for any sport fishing and only single hooks on artificial lures may be used.
• Effective June 19, the bag limit for sockeye salmon is increased from 5 to 10 fish in the Ayakulik River drainage.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• Department of Fish and Game counting weirs on the Buskin, Afognak, Karluk, Ayakulik, Olga and Dog Salmon rivers are now operating to count returns of sockeye salmon. King salmon returns will also be counted at Karluk and Ayakulik weirs. Respective escapement goals for these two runs are 3,000 – 6,000 and 4,000-7,000 fish. The current Buskin River sockeye salmon escapement goal is 5,000-8,000 fish, and the Afognak River sockeye goal 20,000 – 50,000 fish. As of June 20, 21,338 sockeye salmon have been counted at Afognak River, and 2,734 have passed the weir on Buskin River. Both runs appear to be posting relatively healthy returns. These runs usually peak during mid-June.
• In anticipation of relatively poor returns in 2015, sport fishing for king salmon Karluk River drainage (including Karluk Lagoon) is closed. In addition, the use of bait for all sport fishing is prohibited downstream of Karluk Lake.
• Poor returns have also occurred so far this year for the Ayakulik River king salmon run. Consequently, effective June 19, king salmon sport fishing is closed. Bait is not allowed for any sport fishing and only single hooks on artificial lures may be used. As of June 20 only 1,013 king salmon have been counted at Karluk River weir and 702 king salmon at Ayakulik River.
• Updated daily counts for Kodiak salmon counting weirs are available to anglers at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/ .

Trout, Dolly Varden, Grayling

• Dolly Varden are frequently caught during June in near shore salt waters, typically along beaches at Pillar and Monashka creeks and Mission Lake. Over the past weekend, Dollies were being caught off Kalsin Beach. By late June, Dolly Varden should be available in salt waters near most rivers along the Kodiak road system, the beaches of Roslyn and Myrtle creeks being two favorite locations for local anglers.

Lake Fishing

• June is an excellent time to fish rainbow trout in the stocked lakes along the Kodiak road zone. Try visiting lower elevation lakes for rainbow fishing, as fish will be more active in warmer waters. Although ADF&G currently stocks only sterile juvenile trout, some lakes with a stocking history dating to the 1950s may also contain spawning populations of adult fish. No reports of stocked rainbow trout fishing were received by the Kodiak office during the past week.

Salt waters

Halibut

• Halibut fishing was reportedly productive during the past week, with Buoy #4 and Cape Chiniak still good bets for angler success.

Salmon

• Trolling for Chinook (king) salmon in Kodiak’s marine waters has become very popular in recent years. Kings can be fished successfully year-round, though fishing tends to be spotty and difficult to predict. Recent reports indicate that trolling over the last week has been slow at Buoy #4.
• Current near-shore trolling for kings along Kalsin Bay beach has been excellent during the past week.
• Other well-known trolling spots along the road system are Cape Chiniak, Cape Gravelle and waters between long and Woody islands. Kodiak king salmon average 20 pounds, but fish up to 70 pounds are occasionally caught.
• Local hatchery-released king salmon are currently returning to Kalsin and White Sands beaches. Fishing for kings from shore at Kalsin has been excellent during the past week.
• The annual Kodiak King Salmon Derby sponsored by the Kodiak Association of Charter Operators (www.kaco.org) began on May 1 and remains open through August 15.

Other salt water fishing

• Black rockfish can currently be caught at depths of 10 fathoms or less near kelp beds along rock pinnacles and other natural or man-made structures. Rockfish are also frequently caught from shore at locations such as the outer reaches of White Sand beach and the breakwater barrier shielding St. Paul Harbor.
• Anglers are reminded that the lingcod season does not open until July 1.