Area Sport Fishing Reports
Kodiak

Archived Sport Fishing Report

July 21, 2015

Kodiak Area

Week of July 19 to July 25

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.
• Effective June 23, the bag limit for sockeye salmon is increased from 5 to 10 fish in the Dog Salmon River drainage.
• Effective June 25, sport fishing for king salmon is closed in Monashka Creek and the waters of Monashka Bay.
• Effective July 3, sport fishing for sockeye salmon is closed in the Pasagshak drainage.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• Hatchery returns of king salmon to the American and Olds Rivers are now effectively over.
• Department of Fish and Game counting weirs on the Buskin, Afognak, Karluk, Ayakulik, Olga, Dog Salmon, Saltery and Pasagshak rivers are now operating to count returns of sockeye salmon. The Buskin and Afognak rivers runs usually are 95% complete by early July, while the Saltery River run typically peaks during mid-July. Due to a historically poor weir count, sport fishing for sockeye salmon has been closed in the Pasagshak River drainage.
• King salmon runs to the Karluk and Ayakulik Rivers are effectively over. Both drainages remain closed to fishing for king salmon.
• Pink salmon fishing has been excellent over the past week in near shore salt waters and in most Kodiak road zone streams. In the past week Kalsin Bay beach and the Olds River were excellent locations for catching ocean bright pink salmon.
• 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 present in large numbers this week in most Kodiak freshwater drainages. Dollies can also currently be caught in near shore salt waters along beaches adjacent to most Kodiak freshwaters drainages. Over the past weekend, Dollies were being caught off Kalsin, Roslyn and Monashka beaches. The beaches of Roslyn and Myrtle creeks are traditional favorites for local anglers.

Lake Fishing

• July is an excellent time to fish rainbow trout in the stocked lakes along the Kodiak road zone. 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 reportedly remained productive during the past week, and many anglers report catching larger fish in the 40-60lb. range. Buoy #4 still a good bet for halibut.

Salmon

• Trolling for pink and silver salmon has been excellent during the past week, with Buoy #4 reported as excellent fishing.
• 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 improving, at Buoy #4 and other locations.
• Charter vessel catches of king salmon typically peak for the year during late July and early August.
• 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 no longer returning to Kalsin and White Sands beaches.
• 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.
• Lingcod season opened on July 1.