Area Sport Fishing Reports
Southern Kenai

July 15, 2019

Week of July 16 - July 22

Freshwater Fishing

• Pink salmon and Dolly Varden are in the Anchor River, Deep Creek, and the Ninilchik River in good numbers.
• Try small spoons and spinners, small orange and pink beads, or smolt-patterned streamers during the early morning or the last few hours before high tide. 

Saltwater Fishing

Salmon

• Coho salmon along with lots of pink salmon are showing up around Kachemak Bay, particularly near Point Pogibshi.
• Trolling a hoochie, small spoon, or herring behind a flasher is an effective rig for coho salmon. Mooching or jigging them up is also possible.
• King salmon fishing has been very slow in Kachemak Bay, as well as, in the nearshore waters of Whiskey Gulch. Try fishing deeper under schools of pink salmon to find king salmon.
• Coho salmon are starting to come into the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon. Some anglers have reported catching limits on the incoming tides. Try drifting cured salmon egg clusters suspended under a bobber.

Halibut

• Halibut fishing continues to be good in offshore locations in the Cook Inlet and outer Kachemak Bay areas.
• Halibut can be caught at any depth in Kachemak Bay, but most anglers target fish around 100-200 ft. The waters around Flat Island had lots of small halibut over the last weekend. Most anglers drift in this area due to strong currents.
• Anglers are reporting high Spiny dogfish bycatch in Central Cook Inlet which has required anglers to move to new locations to avoid them.

Other Saltwater Fishing 

• China Poot dipnetting and snagging has slowed some and was more hit or miss over the past weekend. New fish should continue to arrive over the next week.
• Anglers are travelling well outside of Kachemak Bay for consistent success with lingcod and non-pelagic rockfish. Most anglers drift over rocky pinnacles with jigs when targeting lingcod.
  • Remember bag limits for lingcod are only two per day and two in possession. The minimum size to retain a lingcod is 35 inches with the head attached (or 28 inches with the head removed).

Emergency Orders

Please review the Emergency Orders and News Releases below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip. 

• Emergency Order 2-RCL-7-01-19 and 2-RCL-7-02-19 CLOSED all EASTSIDE Cook Inlet beaches to clamming for all species from the mouth of the Kenai River to the southernmost tip of the Homer Spit for 2019.

For additional information, please contact the ADF&G Homer office at (907) 235-8191.