Area Sport Fishing Reports
Yakutat

Archived Sport Fishing Report

July 06, 2023

An excellent resource for planning a trip is the gofishak interactive map for Yakutat which provides information on popular fishing locations, species run timing, fishing gear selections and boat and angler access.

Freshwaters

Red Salmon

Fishing for red salmon is excellent right now on the Situk river. There have been over 38k fish counted past the weir so far. There are good groups of fish spread throughout the river.

Saltwaters

King Salmon

Sportfishing for king salmon is open in Yakutat area marine waters. King fishing this last week continued to be spotty. A lot of small "shaker" (sub-legal) fish have been caught and released this last week and are throughout the area so anglers should be aware and measure their kings accordingly. Locations showing better success this week have been Monti Bay, Johnstone Pass, and the Log Dump. Bait is scattered throughout Yakutat Bay. Most anglers troll spoons or herring behind a flasher in about 40-80 feet of water along the shoreline or around pinnacles.

  • Anglers are required to have a king salmon stamp when targeting king salmon.
  • All king salmon less than 28" must be released.

Halibut

Reports from anglers over the last week indicate fishing for halibut has slowed. A few nice fish were landed but the dogfish have moved into the area making it very difficult to get to the halibut. The dogfish will most likely be a problem for the foreseeable future. Some ways to avoid them are to fish further into the back of the bay where they are less present. If you choose to fish out front try avoiding the use of chumbags and try using bigger baits on the bottom.

Lingcod

Fishing for lingcod has been excellent. Try using jigs, darts, or mooch cut-plug herring near rocky structures or pinnacles.

Rockfish

Fishing for rockfish should be excellent in the Yakutat area. Try working small jigs or darts or mooching herring near any rocky structures or pinnacles under the water for the best results.

For further information, please get in touch with the Yakutat Area Sport Fish management biologist Jason Pawluk at (907) 784-3222.

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