Ketchikan Fishing Report September 17^th- September 23^rd

Chinook Salmon

Chinook salmon fishing has been very slow this time of year, however a few feeders have be caught in the local area. Chinook salmon were caught south of town near Mountain Point, Cone Island and north of town near Survey Point and Camano Point.

Chinook salmon regulations:

• Alaska residents: bag and possession limit of three king salmon 28 inches or greater in length; no annual limit. The use of two rods per angler is allowed from October 2007 through March 2008. bag and possession limit of two king salmon 28 inches or greater in length; no annual limit.
• Nonresidents: bag and possession limit of two king salmon 28 inches or greater in length in May and one king salmon 28 inches or greater in length for the remainder of the year; an annual limit of four king salmon 28 inches or greater in length for the entire year. These regulations apply in all marine waters of Southeast Alaska unless otherwise announced. The nonresident annual limit of four king salmon also applies in all freshwaters between Cape Suckling and Cape Fairweather.

For more information on the 2007 Chinook salmon regulations please visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/statewide/eonr/nr.cfm?id=786

Reminders:

Thomas Basin remains open all year with the boundary between Ketchikan Creek and Thomas Basin established at the upstream side of the Stedman Street Bridge. Only single hooks and no snagging is allowed within Thomas Basin.

For more information on fishing for salmon in the Ketchikan area please visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Region1/ktn_guide/pdfs/ktn_salmon.pdf

Coho
Coho salmon are making a good showing with anglers averaging 2 hours per fish. Coho fishing is expected to build during the next two weeks. North of town the anglers effort was 2 hours per coho salmon and 2 hours south of town. Last year it took 5 hours per coho with a  five –year average of 2 hours per fish. For more information on coho salmon fishing in the Ketchikan area visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Region1/ktn_guide/pdfs/ktn_salmon.pdf

Pink
Pink salmon fishing has tapered. No pink sallmon were encountered during our dockside sampling program last week.

Halibut
Fishing for halibut has been decent.  Anglers averaged one halibut for every 8 hours fished.The best fishing for halibut has been at Pt. Alva, 20 Fathom Bank, and Vallenar. For more information on halibut fishing in the Ketchikan area visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Region1/ktn_guide/pdfs/ktn_halibut.pdf

Lingcod  Open
Fishing for lingcod in the Ketchikan area was opened May 16 and will remain open through November 30th.  During this period, the bag and possession limits will be one lingcod per day and two in possession, with no size limit for all non-guided resident anglers.  For lingcod harvested by guided and nonresident anglers, a 30-inch minimum and 40-inch maximum size limit will be in effect.  The Nonresident lingcod annual limit will be one fish. Nonresident anglers fishing are reminded that upon landing and retaining a lingcod they must enter the date and location of catch, in ink, on the back of their sport fishing license or harvest record reporting form before continuing to fish. Additionally, guided and nonresident anglers may land lingcod only by hand or with a landing net.  Lingcod regulations can be found on page 11 of the 2006 Southeast Alaska Sport Fishing Regulation Summary.

For more information on lingcod regulations visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/statewide/eonr/nr.cfm?id=647

Rockfish
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced on April 6, 2007 the sport fishing  bag  and possession limits, and the mandatory retention of non-pelagic rockfish.  Nonresident angler annual limits of yelloweye rockfish have also been established for the 2007 season. The following regulations become effective 12:01 A.M. May 16, 2007.

• All non-pelagic rockfish caught must be retained until the bag limit is reached.

• The resident bag limit is three non-pelagic rockfish only one of which may be a yelloweye; possession limit of six fish, two of which may be yelloweye.

• The nonresident bag limit is two non-pelagic rockfish only one of which may be a yelloweye; possession limit of four fish, two of which may be yelloweye; with an annual limit of two yelloweye rockfish. Nonresident anglers must record all yelloweye rockfish harvested, in ink, either on the back of their sport fishing license, or on a nontransferable harvest record immediately.

• Charter operators and crew members may not retain non-pelagic rockfish while clients are on board the vessel.

These regulations apply in all marine waters of Southeast Alaska as a means to reduce total mortality, keep regulations consistent to avoid angler confusion, and improve enforcement.

The Board of Fisheries established management provisions for a subgroup of non-pelagic rockfish (demersal shelf rockfish) to be imposed within the sport fishery for controlling harvest (5 AAC 47.065). The board acted upon concerns regarding recent harvest levels of demersal shelf rockfish within the sport fishery during 2001 and 2005.  The Board allocated 16% (66 metric tons) of the total allowable catch of demersal shelf rockfish to the sport fishery.  An approximate harvest of 71 metric tons during the 2006 season dictates that further restrictions are required. The measures being imposed during 2007 are intended to reduce harvest and total mortality to within the 66 metric ton allocation.

Dolly Varden
Dolly Varden fishing along the roadside/shoreline should continue to improve as water temperatures warm and Dolly Varden migrate from overwintering lakes. Lake outlets and streams that connect to the salt water are prime places to harvest these fish in the spring.

For more information on fishing for Dolly Varden in the Ketchikan area visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Region1/ktn_guide/pdfs/ktn_trout.pdf

Trout
Local streams are producing fair runs and catches of trout this summer.

For more information on fishing for steelhead and trout in the Ketchikan area visit: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Region1/ktn_guide/pdfs/ktn_trout.pdf

General
Anglers are reminded to check the Region 1 Southeast Emergency Orders and News Releases site for in-season regulation changes for king salmon, lingcod and rockfish, and the prohibition on filleting of king, coho and lingcod until returning to port.

All anglers are responsible for knowing the current regulations for the area that they will be fishing.  Regulation handbooks and copies of the most current regulatory changes are available at the Ketchikan ADF&G office and on this web site.  Inquires about in-season changes can also be addressed by contacting Kelly Piazza, Ketchikan Assistant Area Management Biologist, at the Ketchikan office (907) 225-2859.

Catch Rates - Hours per Fish

Ketchikan	Chinook		Hours per fish
Week	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Ave 02-06	2007
4/23-4/29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4/30-5/06	-	12	59	-	40	35	33	-
5/07-5/13	125	29	42	68	43	37	41	10
5/14-5/20	100	111	22	42	27	10	23	28
5/21-5/27	45	22	50	29	25	94	33	30
5/28-6/03	31	16	27	18	21	313	24	48
6/04-6/10	19	20	40	23	20	67	28	26
6/11-6/17	14	16	9	17	12	14	13	14
6/18-6/24	9	8	8	14	11	8	9	8
6/25-7/01	11	9	7	7	8	12	8	20
7/02-7/08	9	10	10	6	11	11	9	14
7/9-7/15	9	26	9	12	8	17	12	19
7/16-7/22	10	30	18	25	16	23	21	25
7/23-7/29	63	37	30	60	26	80	39	52
7/30-8/05	125	125	45	85	27	34	47	122
8/06-8/12	500	125	143	63	29	37	54	78
8/13-8/19	250	167	111	357	59	53	94	70
8/20-8/26	167	500	200	84	152	71	126	160
8/27-9/02	250	500	333	233	93	54	129	2109
9/03-9/09	500	333	500	238	238	114	225	987
9/10-9/16	-	500	333	357	196	179	270	461
9/17-9/23	333	-	125	500	714	79	203	280

Ketchikan	Halibut		Hours per fish
Week	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Ave 02-06	2007
4/23-4/29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4/30-5/06	-	10	-	-	5	-	17	-
5/07-5/13	-	-	12	15	7	7	11	50
5/14-5/20	-	21	16	14	7	6	10	58
5/21-5/27	20	6	-	28	14	8	13	16
5/28-6/03	7	5	11	128	14	11	11	9
6/04-6/10	9	5	19	11	10	9	9	12
6/11-6/17	16	5	7	7	6	10	7	7
6/18-6/24	8	10	6	6	12	5	7	4
6/25-7/01	10	4	5	5	6	6	5	3
7/02-7/08	3	6	4	5	11	6	6	5
7/9-7/15	5	4	11	3	3	5	4	5
7/16-7/22	5	7	5	4	4	5	5	4
7/23-7/29	7	6	7	5	4	8	6	3
7/30-8/05	8	6	5	13	5	5	6	5
8/06-8/12	6	5	5	5	4	10	5	5
8/13-8/19	12	6	5	11	3	4	5	4
8/20-8/26	7	4	6	7	3	5	5	4
8/27-9/02	7	7	8	4	5	6	6	4
9/03-9/09	7	15	6	7	4	6	6	4
9/10-9/16	8	10	5	8	7	9	7	6
9/17-9/23	8	-	6	5	7	3	6	8

Ketchikan	Coho		Hours per fish
Week	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Ave 02-06	2007
4/23-4/29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4/30-5/06	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/07-5/13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/14-5/20	-	-	-	-	-	333	1667	-
5/21-5/27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/28-6/03	-	1000	1000	-	1111	-	1724	-
6/04-6/10	1000	1000	250	769	1667	-	725	154
6/11-6/17	1000	333	83	233	1000	1000	235	44
6/18-6/24	56	143	33	44	667	100	70	9
6/25-7/01	27	9	14	39	20	32	18	9
7/02-7/08	63	9	5	12	15	19	10	10
7/9-7/15	6	5	5	9	4	7	6	8
7/16-7/22	3	6	3	12	3	4	5	4
7/23-7/29	4	6	3	6	3	12	5	5
7/30-8/05	5	8	3	11	3	4	4	3
8/06-8/12	3	3	3	3	2	20	3	5
8/13-8/19	5	3	4	7	2	4	3	3
8/20-8/26	3	5	4	5	3	5	4	3
8/27-9/02	2	3	4	5	3	5	4	3
9/03-9/09	2	2	3	3	2	3	3	3
9/10-9/16	2	2	1	2	2	5	2	2
9/17-9/23	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2

Ketchikan	Pink		Hours per fish
Week	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Ave 02-06	2007
4/23-4/29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4/30-5/06	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/07-5/13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/14-5/20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/21-5/27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/28-6/03	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6/04-6/10	-	-	-	5000	-	-	25000	-
6/11-6/17	1000	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6/18-6/24	77	-	29	370	1429	-	130	32
6/25-7/01	14	10	11	71	95	120	22	8
7/02-7/08	15	4	4	16	37	58	8	3
7/9-7/15	5	3	4	3	6	9	4	4
7/16-7/22	4	2	2	2	3	3	2	4
7/23-7/29	6	2	1	2	2	3	2	2
7/30-8/05	3	1	2	2	3	6	2	1
8/06-8/12	5	2	2	2	3	5	3	2
8/13-8/19	2	3	3	2	4	9	3	4
8/20-8/26	2	5	7	8	8	15	8	8
8/27-9/02	6	10	8	6	8	32	9	10
9/03-9/09	21	67	16	29	15	43	25	25
9/10-9/16	50	333	100	179	44	192	108	205
9/17-9/23	143	-	250	714	357	667	515	-

Ketchikan	Chum		Hours per fish
Week	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Ave 02-06	2007
4/23-4/29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4/30-5/06	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/07-5/13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5/14-5/20	-	-	200	-	-	-	1000	-
5/21-5/27	-	1000	1000	179	-	2500	625	-
5/28-6/03	-	-	1000	-	-	5000	4167	-
6/04-6/10	1000	-	143	769	5000	3333	568	-
6/11-6/17	100	-	53	357	-	-	229	265
6/18-6/24	143	1000	67	182	667	455	198	37
6/25-7/01	21	143	53	82	526	476	118	35
7/02-7/08	63	42	21	29	54	217	39	35
7/9-7/15	14	45	26	21	93	49	36	44
7/16-7/22	13	28	26	30	61	20	29	15
7/23-7/29	36	26	83	18	52	263	39	32
7/30-8/05	29	77	59	13	43	333	38	28
8/06-8/12	29	143	50	68	76	769	89	124
8/13-8/19	53	125	63	26	112	323	67	85
8/20-8/26	48	500	111	67	303	556	161	106
8/27-9/02	53	500	100	24	208	1000	85	211
9/03-9/09	91	1000	91	40	204	303	110	92
9/10-9/16	200	500	200	147	1250	769	314	132
9/17-9/23	-	1000	333	164	2000	667	413	701