Area Sport Fishing Reports
Kodiak

Archived Sport Fishing Report

July 20, 2016

 Kodiak Area

Week of July 18 to July 24
Issued July 19, 2016

Emergency Orders and regulation reminders

• Effective July 6, in the Ayakulik River drainage, king salmon sport fishing is restricted to catch and release. All king salmon caught must be released without being removed from the water. In addition, bait is not allowed for any sport fishing.
• 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 June 1, Monashka Creek and Bay are closed to sport fishing for king salmon. In addition, the use of bait is prohibited in Monashka Creek.
•  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 4, the bag limit for sockeye in the Afognak River (Litnik) is increased from 5 to 10 fish per day.
• Effective June 9, the bag limit for sockeye in the Buskin River is increased from 2 to 5 fish per day.
• Effective July 6, the bag limit for sockeye in the Saltery River is increased from 5 to 10 fish per day.
• Effective July 14, sportfishing for sockeye salmon is re-opened in the Pasagshak River drainage.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• Department of Fish and Game counting weirs on the Buskin, Saltery, Pasagshak, Afognak, Olga, Dog Salmon Karluk, and Ayakulik rivers are 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, the Saltery Creek goal is 15,000 to 30,000, and the Afognak River sockeye goal 20,000 – 50,000 fish. The Pasagshak sockeye goal is 3,000 fish.
• In anticipation of relatively poor returns in 2016, sport fishing for king salmon in the Karluk River drainage (including Karluk Lagoon) is closed. In addition, the use of bait for all sport fishing is prohibited downstream of Karluk Lake and single hooks must be used.
• Poor returns were also expected this year for the Ayakulik River king salmon run, but the escapement goal was achieved recently. King salmon fishing is open to catch and release only and bait is still restricted.
• In recent years, returns of stocked king salmon have been poor to Monashka Creek. Poor returns are expected again this year and Monashka Creek and Bay are subsequently closed to king salmon fishing to aid in collection of brood stock for enhancement of road system king salmon runs. In addition, in Monashka Creek, bait may not be used and only single hooks are allowed.
• The freshwaters of Pillar Creek are open to fishing from the highway downstream; however, all saltwaters of Monashka Bay are closed to king salmon fishing, including the beach in front of Pillar Creek.
• King salmon returns to the American and Olds rivers are past their peak right now and few new fish are coming into the rivers. Fishing will likely be slow and the fish are getting dark as they get close to their spawning phase.
• More than 8,000 sockeye have been counted in the Buskin River already, but it is past the peak of the run and will be declining through the month of July.
• Afognak River (Litnik) has more than 30,000 sockeye counted and is near the end of the run. The bag limit has been increase to 10 sockeye per day.
• Sockeye are in at Saltery Cove and more than 22,000 have been counted through the weir. The run is building and typically peaks in the 2nd week of July. The bag limit has been increased to 10 fish per day.
• The Pasagshak sockeye run has started out weak, but more fish have been returning lately, the fishery was re-opened for sockeye fishing and the escapement goal was achieved. The bag limit for sockeye is 2 per day.
• After Kodiak salmon counting weirs begin operating anglers can find daily updated counts at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/ .

Dolly Varden

• Dolly Varden are showing up in most of the road side creeks. Popular places to fish dollies are the American River, Buskin River, and the near-shore or intertidal areas of Myrtle and Roslyn creeks. Dollies can be found in any of Kodiak’s rivers through the month of July and into the fall.

Lake Fishing

• July is an excellent time to fish rainbow trout in the stocked lakes along the Kodiak road zone, as most of the lakes are warm and the fish are actively feeding. 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. Be sure to check the local sport fishing regulations for a current list of stocked lakes as harvest of rainbow trout is only allowed in lakes that are currently stocked.

Salt waters

Halibut

• Halibut fishing has been good by most reports and will likely get better through the month of July. There have been many reports of anglers catching halibut while trolling for king salmon as well as while targeting them in Chiniak and Marmot bays. Popular places to fish halibut in the spring are Whale Pass, Cape Chiniak and Williams Reef. Reports have been coming in that many fish are larger than the last several years, averaging between 30 and 40 pounds and larger.

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 can be difficult to predict.
• Recent reports indicate that trolling has been excellent in the last week. Popular places to troll including Buoy #4, Whale Pass, Cape Chiniak and between Woody and Long islands. Kodiak king salmon average 20 pounds, but fish up to 70 pounds are occasionally caught.
• Silver salmon are showing up in Chiniak and Marmot bays and fishing should pick up through the month of July. Silvers can often be caught just off-shore in places like Buoy 4, and near Woody Island.
• The annual Kodiak King Salmon Derby sponsored by the Kodiak Association of Charter Operators (http://www.kodiakkingsalmonderby.com ) is ongoing.

Other salt water fishing

• Black rockfish are able to be caught near rock-pinnacles and many other sub-surface structures and fishing can be good year round. They can also be caught from shore, with likely places including some of the points in Monashka Bay and the breakwaters at Dog Bay harbor.
• Lingcod season opened July 1 and there are some reports that fishing has been good and the abundance of lingcod has been high.