July 2024
Issue 79
It’s Prime Time to Cast a Line!
Alaska offers some of the best sport fishing opportunities in the world for salmon, halibut, rockfish, grayling, rainbow trout and many other species of fish. Summer is in full swing, and we want to encourage you to take advantage of this amazing time of year and get out and fish.
Before you head out, be sure you have your 2024 sport fishing license. Visit our online store if you need to purchase one. Or download the ADF&G mobile app and you can store your licenses, tags and permits in your mobile device.
If you have a comment or story ideas for Reel Times, we encourage you to send them our way. You can send comments to ryan.ragan@alaska.gov.
We’ll see you on the water.
Summer Coho Fishing in Southern Southeast, Alaska
By Jake Calvitti, Assistant Area Management Biologist, Ketchikan
When I think of coho salmon fishing, the first things that come to mind are aggressive fish and acrobatic fights. Coho or silver salmon are usually thought of as the last salmon species to return to their natal rivers every year. Most freshwater anglers begin targeting them in late August or early September. In my experience, the biggest obstacles to catching fall cohos are weather and humpies. Go too early in the season and the rivers are inundated with spawning pink salmon. Go too late and the rivers are more likely to be flooded from the fall rain. But what if I told you there was a way to target cohos in streams during the long, warm days of summer before most of the other salmon arrive?
Southern Southeast Alaska offers unique opportunities to catch summer-run coho salmon. These fish return to streams long before their fall-run relatives. Summer coho begin showing up in some systems as early as the end of June and continue to enter freshwater throughout July. A shorter growing season means summer run fish tend to be smaller than fall fish. What these fish lack in size, they make up for in personality. Warm waters this time of year can lead to extremely aggressive fish. They will readily take just about any brightly colored fly or lure you can throw at them. Everything from colorful streamers to flashy spinners and even egg patterns can be used. I’ve found that fast retrieves usually get their attention best, but there are times when a more subtle approach may be needed. When water temperatures are up, these fish can even be aggressive enough to take surface flies and lures. Surface presentations may not be as effective as other means but can be a fun challenge when the fishing is good. Nothing beats the excitement of watching a fish track down your fly and explode on the surface! For fly fishers looking to get in on the topwater action, try swinging polywogs or mouse patterns. Spin casters can try small poppers or spooks. Once you set the hook, get ready for some acrobatic excitement as these fish love to jump.
Coho salmon seem to like slow moving water. Look for them in deep pools, eddies, and lakes. These summer coho are also available to saltwater anglers. They are frequently caught by anglers trolling and mooching for king salmon in the early summer. Expect them to start showing up in inside waters in mid-June and even earlier on the outer coast. Some river systems that have summer coho in the Ketchikan area are Ward Creek, McDonald Lake, Margaret Creek, Reflection Lake, Salt Creek, and Leask Creek. Prince of Wales Island also has numerous summer runs, including Thorne River, Karta River, Hatchery Creek, Logjam Creek, 108 Creek and Black Bear Creek. Whether you are looking to fill the freezer or just want to try your hand at some light tackle excitement, I encourage you to experience this unique fishing opportunity.
Target Coho Salmon Using a Slip-Bobber Set-Up
Targeting coho salmon in freshwater using a slip-bobber set-up is a highly effective way to put a few of these feisty fish on the bank.
Coho should begin showing up in some freshwater streams later this month. Prepare to do battle with these fish by first setting up the proper rig.
The “How to fish for coho salmon at Campbell Creek” video on YouTube shows how to set-up a slip-bobber rig. While the method is used on a local creek in Anchorage, the strategy can be used in other streams where fishing for coho with bait is permitted.
The Kings and I – Part II
By Wilson Puryear
I must admit that I have struggled with how best to frame this story. With only three of my intended five fish caught, for the remainder of 2023 and the early months of 2024 the only word that came to my mind when thinking about the Five King Challenge was “failure”. But slowly, eventually, I came around to the notion that I didn’t need to take things so hard. It is not our failures in life that define us; it is how we respond, move forward, and learn from them that does. If you approach every challenge with the mindset that you will either succeed or learn from the experience, then you never truly fail.
After embracing this paradigm, I realized that I had learned a lot during my month and a half chasing Chinook salmon, and I would like to leave you with five of my big takeaway lessons. While these are largely presented as they relate to angling, I would argue that they can and should easily be applied to other avenues in life.
Be prepared to adapt
One of my greatest takeaways from the Five King Challenge was the importance of not limiting oneself to only one manner of fishing. By assuming that fishing with bait was the best and only worthwhile way to target kings, I approached the challenge with a narrow methodology that may have ultimately kept me from catching another fish or two. If asked for my king salmon fishing recommendations now, I would suggest that one familiarize themselves with the usage and applications of all manner of lures, from spinners, spoons, and plugs, to twitching jigs, squid skirts, and flies, in addition to experimenting with different types of bait and how to present them. If you catch a fish using one type of presentation or technique, then you know that it works and that it is something you can always fall back on; try to catch your next fish on something different. Don’t be afraid to mix and match techniques either, fishing a twitching jig under a slip bobber or a Fat Freddy fly behind a Spin-n-Glo, for instance. By constantly experimenting with new methods, you will learn what works best for you and under what conditions. Then, if the time comes when the chips are down and you really need to catch a fish, you will have the widest tool kit, skill set, and knowledge base available to allow you to do so.
Get enough sleep
Fishing both incredibly early-morning tides in Homer and late nights at the Kasilof and Eklutna Tailrace, I begrudgingly came to the realization over the course of my challenge that I’m not a college student anymore and that I can no longer cope with repeated all-nighters. Not only was carrying on without adequate sleep somewhat dangerous (I often had to pull over and grab a few hours’ shut eye during the course of my afternoon travels back home), it also had a negative effect on my morale and desire to continue fishing when things were slow. I need sleep; we all do. After all, nothing is fun when you’re sleepy and you cannot perform at your best when you’re tired. While many of us in Alaska often put sleep on the back burner during our all-too-short summer, make sure to prioritize getting your rest. It’s important.
Keep a journal
I’ve always been a bit incredulous of journaling, both for fishing and life in general, but I have come to realize that keeping even a simple notebook with a few sentences’ worth of information per entry can have an outsized impact on success in the future. It can allow you to readily reference the details of dates, locations, conditions, situations, and outcomes that might otherwise be lost in the haze of distant memory. Jot down a quick summary of a day’s important events while the details are still fresh in your mind; you will be that much better of an angler (and, I’ve learned the hard way, a writer) if you do.
Commit to the task at hand; don’t chase greener pastures
Often during my time fishing the locations on the Kenai Peninsula I thought to myself that if I were to pick a theme song for my challenge, it would have to be The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” Whenever fishing was slow at the Kasilof, I would constantly worry that I was missing out on better fishing in Homer and vice versa. Inevitably, I would pack up and head to the other location after only fishing a few hours, my decision based largely on avoiding the temporary unpleasant feeling of slow fishing instead of being patient and waiting for the next tide cycle or buckling down and grinding a few more hours on the river. All of this running back and forth cost me valuable fishing time, not to mention fuel. Instead of this, I should have focused on “eating the elephant one bite at a time”, dedicating adequate time to concentrate on completing one step of my challenge before running off to try completing another. After all, you can’t do more than one thing well at a time.
Embrace the journey
As someone who has always been more of a “destination” man – placing greater significance on the final product than the process – this has been one of the most challenging, and most important, lessons for me to learn. Our society emphasizes attaining tangible goals and often encourages us to pursue these goals in a single-minded fashion. But as the opening ballad to the film Jeremiah Johnson says, “[things] ought to have been different, but you often times will find that the story doesn’t always go the way you had in mind.” You have to be prepared to find joy and meaning in the incidental experiences in life, or else you are destined for recurring disappointment when the pursuit of your goals doesn’t always go as planned. Catching a Ninilchik steelhead larger than the king later pulled from the same river, learning at what hour of the morning various bird species begin their song from spending night after night at the Eklutna Tailrace, and watching a 4 a.m. sunrise break over the peaks of Kachemak Bay while standing knee-deep in the sea in the close company of eight harbor seals are among my most treasured memories of my time pursuing the Five King Challenge. The world is full of small treasures, and while you have to find them where you can, you can find them in more places than you think.
I imagine that those of you who have read this far are all wondering the same question: will I try to complete the Five King Challenge again this year? Perhaps, but probably not. Something tells me that it’s a little too early to try again; that I have other trials to face and lessons to learn first. I plan to do any king salmon fishing closer to home this year, and focus instead on other fishing challenges that I would like to accomplish, catching a halibut from the beach or finally fishing the Russian River and catching a bag limit of sockeye, for instance. After all, fishing – like life – is full of achievements and opportunities to pursue, and my personal Five King Challenge isn’t going anywhere. I have a feeling that it and I are not yet done with one another, but that, as they say, is a story for another day.
Until that day, I hope that you may find some small guidance in the lessons I learned last summer and can apply them to the pursuit of your own goals in life, fishing or otherwise.
Good luck and tight lines!
Coastal Cutthroat Trout – The Phantom of Prince William Sound
Interested in learning about coastal cutthroat trout in Prince William Sound? Check out this great article that appears in the July edition of Alaska Fish and Wildlife News written by Sport Fish Assistant Area Management Biologist, Donnie Arthur.
Online Resource to Help Identify Rockfish
With over 40 different species of rockfish found in Alaska, identifying each species can be challenging. We’ve added a rockfish identification section to our website to help you in your rockfish ID efforts.
You’ll find pictures and descriptions of rockfish specieshere.
Meet Our Staff: Adam Lake
We asked Adam Lake, who works as a Fish and Wildlife Technician IV with the Division of Sport Fish in Douglas, to tell us a little about himself and his role at ADF&G.
What are the general duties of your position?
As the lead technician for the Marine Harvest (or Creel) Program in Southeast Alaska, the summer fishing season presents no shortage of assignments! While no two days are quite the same, some of my most common in-season duties include regional data quality control; logistical support including hosting trainings, preparing and publishing sampling calendars and dock assignments, and maintaining inventory lists; troubleshooting our iPads and in-house application used for data collection; and collecting dockside interviews. I frequently work with our regional techs on answering questions regarding sampling techniques or some of the less-commonly encountered error checks in our application. Off-season duties often consist of finalizing edits from the current year, updating and preparing the upcoming year’s training materials based on regulation and program changes, and assisting with hiring of technicians throughout the region.
For those that aren’t quite as familiar, creel surveyors interview anglers as they return to the dock, collecting a series of baseline marine sport harvest information. This includes questions like how long folks were fishing, what and how many species were caught and released, and the general location of harvest. We also collect biological samples from retained fish, including lengths from most species, a tissue sample for genetic research and scales for aging from king salmon, and the heads from adipose-clipped kings and coho for coded-wire tag extraction and analysis. For more details about the Marine Creel program, be sure to read the Reel Times article “How Does ADFG Collect Sport Fishing Data in Southeast Alaska?” in issue 53, May 2022!
What do you love most about your job?
There’s a whole lot I love about my job! Working out-of-doors, getting my hands dirty working with fish, traveling to other areas in Southeast to collect fisheries data; what’s NOT to love?!? But honestly? The best part for me is working with the public. Getting the opportunity to work with the most active participants in our fishery, both learning from them (and hopefully teaching them something new!) and knowing I play a part in that is so rewarding. Especially when you see kids and families coming off the water smiling and laughing after enjoying time together with their fresh harvest of fish or crab!
What are some of your favorite things to do in your spare time?
Since the onset of the pandemic, I’ve been getting more involved in angling life-listing (think bird watching but with hook-and-line-caught fishes). Essentially, using a variety of fishing methods to catch as many species as possible, including micro-gear. Although there isn’t an “official” definition, micro-fishing generally refers to catching small and often overlooked species reaching only a few inches in length at maturity. While Alaska doesn’t have the dace, darters, and minnows of the lower-48, there are still plenty of opportunities: like the tidepool sculpin (Oligocottus maculosus), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), or the Alaska blackfish (Dallia pectoralis) to name a few. My current goal is to complete the Five Salmon Family Challenge not as adults, but rather as fry or smolts on micro tackle, such as the size 30 midge pictured here that I tied last winter. Perhaps it comes as no surprise, I’ve had the most difficulty with pink and sockeye; maybe next year!?
What is your favorite fishing memory?
This is a tough question, because each trip comes with its own unique memory! One of my more memorable recent trips was with a good friend and neighbor targeting Sablefish. Neither of us had gone after black cod before, so after some asking around for tips and tricks, we found ourselves at our spot with sunny skies, calm waters, and high hopes. Whenever I fish, I always set a timer, and both of us were astonished to find our first fish in the boat after less than 14 minutes (13 minutes, 41 seconds to be precise)! We limited out before lunch, and even ended up with a nice halibut to top us off: perhaps one of my most productive trips ever.
What is a fun or unusual fact about you that people might not know?
Inspired by several bilingual colleagues over the years and prompted by living in Juneau with a high flow of international travelers, I’ve started to learn languages other than English. My primary focus has been German, but Swedish and Norwegian aren’t far behind that. I’ve also done my best to learn how to confidently say “I’m sorry, I don’t understand or speak [language]” in six languages. Okay, so maybe confidently is a relative term… The interest in German comes from the anniversary trip my wife and I are planning in a few years.
Recipe of the month – Lemony Alaska Pink Salmon Bucatini
Enjoy this recipe for Lemony Alaska Pink Salmon Bucatini from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Enjoy!
If you have any questions about the Reel Times newsletter, please contact Ryan Ragan at ryan.ragan@alaska.gov