Lingcod is open outside Seward but closed inside Resurrection Bay

For anglers around Seward, the most important thing about the new lingcod season isn't when it opens — it's where. Retention opened Wednesday in the outside waters and runs through the end of 2026, and the early word from the state is that the fishing should be excellent. But cross back inside Resurrection Bay and the rules flip completely: there, lingcod are closed outright — not just to keeping, but to fishing for them at all.

Lingcod are worth the run outside. Big, toothy ambush predators that hang around rocky structure, they're prized for both the fight and the fillet. There's a wrinkle this season, though: any lingcod you keep has to top 35 inches, measured whole — and a special 2026 order bars filleting or de-heading your catch at Seward and other Southcentral ports. The logic is simple enough. A fish that's already been cut up can't be measured, so the state wants them brought in intact.

Anglers heading outside get a second target, too. Yelloweye rockfish — the big, bright-orange rockfish that can live for decades — opened July 1 and stays open through the year, making for a solid two-species day on one trip. (Rockfish limits are tightened across the North Gulf Coast, including the bay, through mid-September, so it's worth checking the current numbers before you go.)

As for where to point the boat, ADF&G area biologist Brittany Blain-Roth expects fishing to be very good around the opener, and had a specific tip: work the "rocky pinnacles and outcroppings with large twister tail jig, tipped with herring."