Fishing Update / Doc Warners - Alaska Fishing Adventures

Fishing Updates

August 28, 2006

The fishing was better this past week than the previous week but the weather was not. I was impressed with the tenacity of our guests as they continued fishing day after day in the rainy weather. In Juneau it rained 7 inches on Friday and Saturday. I think we received about 5 inches.

Silver fishing was great on Monday and Tuesday, then tapered off on Wednesday. It picked up again later in the week but fishing was hampered by winds and rain. The catch jumped from 499 silvers a week ago to 765 this past week. The fish continue to be large, beautiful, and strong. Lots of fun.

Pinks and chums made up a small part of the catch and only one king was caught and released.

Halibut fishing improved about 20% over the previous week and was at the same level at two weeks ago. With the strong winds blowing at Green Buoy we spent more time fishing for halibut in the inlet and found fish deeper than previous weeks. No big fish this week.

The average weight of fillets per guest was up to 61.3 pounds. We have always used the average amount of fish you can take home as a selling point for coming fishing at Doc Warner's. Over the past summer, as catches have varied greatly, I have talked with many guests about what they do with the fish when they return home and why they feel so much pressure to harvest so many fish. Almost without exception the pressure comes from promising family and friends at home that they will bring them fish. This promise turns a wonderful Alaska fishing experience into a pressure-packed, feed the troops job. From personal experience I recommend that you make the same type of non-promises to deliver fish from your Alaska trip that you make for all you other fishing trips. Catch what you will eat, don't worry about feeding the masses, and focus on the experience and fight of the fish not the meat in the freezer.

Each summer the Forest Service counts the number of spawning fish that return to South Creek, by the cannery. Returns this year for pinks reds, and chums are about 50% below normal. Silvers are just beginning to show so we don't know what the escapement will be. The number of pinks in the stream by the lodge is also much smaller than in the past few years. However, there are still enough pinks to provide a successful crop three years from now.

This will be the last report for the 2006 season because I'm heading toward the sunshine next week and won't be at the lodge to write the news.

— Doc

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