Fishing Updates

July 4 - July 8, 2005

Fishing is good. The salmon runs continue strong, especially for pinks and silvers. Halibut fishing is still providing lots of fish though none in the 100+ range were landed this week. When we listened to the fish stories around the dinner table it was obvious that the big fish are still there, and they won the tug-of-war with our guests this past week. Catch numbers were down from the previous weeks but that is more an indication of the interests of our guests. We had several large groups where grandpa brought family members and they enjoyed not only the fishing, but sight-seeing, hiking, boating, and lots of other non-fish-catching recreation. The youth and parents were delightful and we look forward to more groups such as this.

The halibut catch was down and this is easily accounted for because of less time actually spent fishing for halibut and tides a little higher than usual. Still, our guests caught lots of fish, with regular catches in the 40-pound to 80-pound range.

Only one king was caught and that catch was made on a halibut set-up. The run is gone and never did turn out as large as forecast.

The chum catch jumped for 37 the previous week to 56 this week. The daily catches were up and fishing pressure was down which suggests that the chum run is arriving a little late. The herring are here in large numbers so there is plenty of feed for all the fish.

A few red salmon arrived in Neva Creek this past week. Fly fishermen were able to land a few though most were foul-hooked and had to be released. In freshwater all fish must be hooked in the mouth before they can be kept. Andy, our local Fish & Game Officer was video taping some people from the cannery as they tried to snag fish. Not a good was to spend your money when Andy pays you a visit.

The pink run is big! They are jumping everywhere. Schools are around and under the dock at the lodge. Their soft mouths and fighting habits result in lots of pinks that are hooked and never landed. Never-the-less the catches are fun. Boats were nearly limiting on pinks in a couple of hours fishing before breakfast.

The silvers are also in here in large numbers. The average size is in the 8-pound range, and we did have a 15-pounder taken last week. The most success for silvers came in the log-dump/grey cabin area. Some guests added a second 4-oz weight to get deeper, below the pinks, and they claimed it worked. They did have good catches of silvers to back up their claims.

The weather continues to be favorable with moderate temperatures and only occasional windy days. We are in typical summer weather patterns for southeast Alaska. Mostly cloudy, some rain, and light and variable winds.

Doc

Previous Reports:

• May 29 - June 3
• June 5 - 11
• June 12 - 17
• June 20-24
• June 27-July 1