Coho fishing slow in Resurrection Bay as only a handful of fish clear Bear Creek weir

Anglers working Resurrection Bay for silvers in late August are finding slow going, with only a handful of coho past the Bear Creek weir this season.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's North Gulf Coast fishing report for Friday, Aug. 21, written by Area Management Biologist Brittany Blain-Roth, said of the Resurrection River: "Coho (silver) salmon fishing has been slow but more fish should continue to move in over the coming weeks."

A weak finish has happened before. ADF&G's 2024 regional summary reported just 693 coho through the weir by Oct. 17, short of broodstock needs, with egg takes drawing on only 60 female coho. That count came seven weeks later in the run than this year's, and this year's report does not call the return inadequate.

Bear Creek Weir, operated by the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, counts returning adults and supplies eggs for a program that releases about 240,000 coho smolt a year, part of the 400,000 to 500,000 smolt ADF&G and the association stock into Resurrection Bay annually. The state targets a return of 20,000 adult hatchery coho and roughly 25,000 angler-days; policy reserves the bay's coho and chinook for recreational use.

Seward's charter fleet and beach anglers depend on that return, and slow August fishing cuts into trips and the spending that follows. Researchers studying Gulf of Alaska salmon caution that run timing and productivity have shifted with ocean conditions, so a slow August does not guarantee a later peak.

The best coho fishing remains outside the bay toward Montague Island, with schools around Harris Bay; fish entering Resurrection Bay are bound for Seward Lagoon or Bear Lake. Halibut fishing is fair outside the bay, and anglers report strong catch rates on black rockfish near the bay entrance and the Chiswell Islands, where an emergency order caps rockfish at three a day and six in possession through Sept. 15.

The Resurrection River up to Nash Road is open to all salmon except kings, with unbaited single-hook artificial lures or flies only and no snagging. Dolly Varden are showing in Seward-area creeks behind spawning salmon, taking egg imitations and beads.