Fishing Update / Doc Warners - Alaska Fishing Adventures

Fishing Update
June 25 - July 2, 2011

Last week several of us went up to Neva Lake. Some of us took the time to row out to fish Cutthroat and watch Red salmon spawning while others used the rope swing. The Cutthroats were very active and four were caught within a few minutes, regardless of what flies were used. For those who just want to slow down, I highly recommend the two mile walk to the lake … just to get away from it all. On the way back we looked for salmon in the stream at Neva Creek (South Creek). There were salmon at the mouth and the Reds had already moved through and we expect this to be a very good area for fly fishing here in a couple of weeks as Pinks, Chums, and Silvers move into the freshwater.

The fishing has continued to be spectacular. With so many salmon in the area many of our guests are literally dropping lines in the water right at the dock. The catch of the week goes to the Golightly's for catching a large skate. It measured nearly 35 inches across. What a strange looking fellow he was.

Here's some other things for our fishermen to consider:

Three reasons why this might be the best year ever to fish at Doc Warner's:

One – The fishing forecast for salmon is above average. The hatchery in Juneau and Fish and Game predict Pinks, Chums, Reds, and Silvers will be well above average returns. Additionally the King salmon fishery was so good that the non-resident bag limit was increased from three to five per season. From the Juneau Empire "ADF&G states this would be the state's fifth largest total harvest, and fourth highest pink salmon harvest, since Alaska became a state and took over the management of its fisheries in 1960."

Two – The charter fleet is now under size restrictions for halibut and the commercial fleet has seen a quota reduction of about 70% since 2001. This means that self guided fishing has never been better because of more liberal limits and more large fish in the water.

Three – We still have prime spots available in some of our most sought after weeks. It is not too late to get in on the action. Now might be the time to cash in on some of those saved up air miles. Mark.

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