King, coho, and pink salmon all running below average at Prince of Wales Island

Anglers on Prince of Wales Island are seeing a mixed midsummer outlook, with kings, coho, and pinks all running below average at the same time, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's July 22 fishing report.

King salmon fishing has been poor to fair on both coasts all season, with no improvement noted as of Wednesday. Coho are showing up in saltwater, but harvest is running at roughly half last year's pace; summer-run coho are also present in several freshwater drainages, including Hatchery, Logjam, and Ratz creeks and the Thorne, Sarkar, and Karat rivers. Pink salmon numbers look low, though Craig Schwanke, the ADF&G area management biologist based in Craig, offered a conditional reason for optimism: "Their numbers should build up as July progresses and they should start entering creeks when the rain arrives." A dry stretch has kept water levels down across the island's drainages. All salmon species are present in Prince of Wales saltwater despite the below-average numbers.

Bottom fishing remains good around Prince of Wales, and freshwater anglers can still find trout, Dolly Varden, sockeye, chum, and summer coho in island drainages.

Marine boat anglers returning to Craig and Klawock may encounter ADF&G creel technicians on the docks this summer. Sport-caught lingcod, nonpelagic rockfish, and king or coho salmon may not be filleted, mutilated, or de-headed at sea; these fish must remain whole until the vessel is tied up at a docking facility where the fish will be offloaded, unless consumed or preserved on board.

Several regulation reminders from the report are worth noting. Nonresident king salmon anglers must immediately record the species, date, and location on their harvest record upon landing and retaining a fish. Nonresident lingcod anglers face a closure on the west side of Prince of Wales south of 56° latitude at Cape Decision from Aug. 1 through Aug. 31. All sport fishing vessels are required to carry at least one functional deepwater release device, which must be used to release rockfish to the depth at which it was hooked or to at least 100 feet.