Area Sport Fishing Reports
Southern Kenai/LCI

Archived Sport Fishing Report

August 26, 2014

Homer Area

Week of August 26- September 2
Issued August 26

Emergency Orders

• The Cook Inlet and North Gulf Coast sport, personal use & subsistence Tanner crab fisheries will not open for the 2014-2015 season.
• The Ninilchik beach from the north bank of Deep Creek to a marker located approximately 3.2 miles north of the Ninilchik River at 60º 05.66’N. latitude is closed to the taking of all clam species effective through December 31.
• The bag and possession limit for razor clams from the remaining eastside Cook Inlet beaches, extending from the mouth of the Kenai River to the southernmost tip of the Homer Spit, is reduced to the first 25 razor clams dug per day effective through December 31.

Regulation Reminders

• Effective September 1, the Anchor River, Ninilchik River, Deep Creek and Stariski Creek are restricted to one unbaited, single-hook through October 31.
• The waters upstream of ADF&G markers on the Anchor River, Deep Creek, Ninilchik River, and Stariski Creek are closed to all salmon fishing, including catch and release, but open to Dolly Varden and steelhead/rainbow trout.
• Lingcod season is open through December 31. Anglers are reminded that the bag and possession limit is 2 fish and the minimum legal size is 35 inches.

Salt waters

Halibut

• Halibut fishing success has been fair to good with many anglers catching their limits.
• Many anglers had success using herring or squid on circle hooks.

Salmon

• Trolling success for feeder king salmon is reported as poor to fair along Bluff Point and the south side of Kachemak Bay.
• Anglers are reporting fair to good catches of coho salmon near Bluff Point and offshore locations in Cook Inlet.
• Popular trolling set-ups for king salmon include herring, hootchies, tube flies, and spoons. Try using dodgers or flashers for extra attraction.
• As a part of the Chinook Salmon Research Initiative, the Department has begun a project looking at the genetic stock composition of the marine king salmon fishery. There are port samplers stationed at the Homer Harbor and Anchor Point tractor launches conducting quick interviews and collecting biological information, scales, and genetic clips from sport caught king salmon. If you fished for king salmon in Cook Inlet, regardless of success, we’d like to talk to you! More information on the Chinook Salmon Research Initiative can be found at: http://dfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=chinookinitiative.main. Thanks to all anglers who have participated so far!

Other Saltwater Fishing

• Fishing off the end of the Homer Spit can be a fun way to pass the time. Species available include walleye pollock, Pacific cod, and a variety of flatfish species, Dolly Varden, and coho salmon.
• The coho salmon run in the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on the Homer spit is mostly over but some anglers are still having some success with snagging.
• Fishing success for rockfish and lingcod improved last week. The Department would like to remind anglers that the survival of released rockfish caught in greater than 60 feet of water is substantially improved by releasing these fish at the depth of capture. More information can be found at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingsportfishinginfo.rockfishconservation .

Personal Use

• The Kachemak Bay coho salmon gillnet fishery is over for the 2014 season. Please return your completed permit by Sept. 2, 2014 to the Homer ADF&G office.

Fresh waters

• Fishing success for all species in the roadside streams will be dependent on good stream conditions. Currently, the streams are high and muddy due to recent rains and will continue to change with more rain throughout late summer and fall.
• Coho salmon fishing in area streams is reported as good. Try fishing early in the morning or at the mouth of the stream during the incoming tide.
• Expect good fishing for Dolly Varden in the roadside streams. There are several locations along the Sterling Highway and the south end of the North Fork Road that provide good access to Dolly Varden fishing in the Anchor River.
• Try fishing for Dolly Varden with small bright spinners, fly patterns that resemble fish such as muddler minnows, or egg patterns.
• Steelhead trout should begin entering the roadside streams but fishing success will improve over the next couple of weeks.

Lake Fishing

• The Kenai Peninsula stocked lakes fishing conditions are good. Most of these lakes are stocked with rainbow trout which, this time of year, are taken on dry or wet flies, small spoons, spinners, or bait. A brochure listing the locations of the stocked lakes is available on the Sport Fish web site and at ADF&G offices.

Shellfish

• The next series of clamming tides run September 7-13. For razor clams try beaches on the west side of Cook Inlet where razor clams tend to be larger and more abundant than beaches on the east side of Cook Inlet.
• All shrimp and crab fisheries in Kachemak Bay are currently closed.