Fish report
Here's the most recent fishing report from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:
King salmon catch rates in the Juneau area improved the week of Aug. 29 to Sept. 5. It took the average marine boat angler 114 hours to land a king salmon, which was better than the same week last year when it took 500 hours to land a king. The five-year average is 217 hours per king salmon. King salmon in our survey were reported from the back side of Douglas Island and Point Salisbury.
Coho catch rates in the Juneau area that week were slightly poorer than the previous week. Last week, marine boat anglers put in five hours on average to land a coho. Last year during the same week it took 3 hours per coho. The five-year average is 4 hours. Coho salmon were abundant in our survey with the hotspots being North Pass, backside of Douglas Island, and Outer Point.
Halibut catch rates dropped off considerably from the previous week. The average marine boat angler put in 27 hours before landing a halibut. During the previous week it took 8 hours. Last year during the same week it took the average angler 15 hours to land a halibut, and the five-year average is 14 hours. The hotspots for halibut were St. James Bay, Young's Bay, and South Shelter Island.
The bag and possession limits in the terminal salt-water area near Juneau that was open to harvest surplus hatchery chinook salmon reverted back to the region wide limits effective Sept. 1. The bag and possession limit within this area is two king salmon 28 inches or greater in length for all residents. Non-resident anglers are limited to one king salmon 28 inches or greater in length per day. In addition, all nonresident anglers are limited to three king salmon annually. Any king salmon harvested by a nonresident angler must be recorded on the back of their sport-fishing license or on a harvest record card if they are not required to have a license (e.g. children under the age of 16).
The Department of Fish and Game reminds anglers that heading and filleting king and coho salmon is prohibited prior to returning to your port. However, gutting and gilling is allowed. Once you return to port, you may head and/or fillet your catch at a cleaning table or on your vessel after tying up at your slip. This restriction allows our creel survey crew at the docks to examine intact salmon for evidence of coded wire tags and to collect heads from tagged salmon.
For further information concerning sport fishing opportunities or regulations in the Juneau area, please call the Division of Sport Fish at (907) 465-4270.