The Situk's Rodeo Hole reopens Wednesday, the kings already gone upstream

The Rodeo Hole and the rest of the closed water below the Situk River weir reopen to sport fishing at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, restoring access for Yakutat anglers after five weeks of closure.

Fish and Game surveyed the water and found nearly all the king salmon had already moved upstream of it, so there was no longer reason to keep it closed. The closure had shut the Rodeo Hole in July, after a weak king return, to keep anglers fishing for sockeye from incidentally hooking kings holding in the pools below the weir. With the kings gone from that stretch, that risk is gone too. Crews are set to start pulling the seasonal weir this week.

The whole Situk drainage stays closed to king fishing. Kings can't be targeted, and any hooked by accident must be released without being taken out of the water.