Sitka Fishing Report, June 24, 2022
The slow start to June turned around nicely this past weekend and kept rolling for the last three days. Everyone got limits and catch and release opportunities were there for those with an interest. King sizes ranged from the mid-teens up to 30 pounds. If felt like June finally began acting like June, except we’re also beginning to see other salmon species.
On Sunday, the Jim Kraft party landed four of the five species of Pacific salmon: 5 kings, 2 silvers, 1 chum, and 1 pink. Whales were abundant and the baitfish showed up in large numbers. Yesterday, for the last hour on the last day of their trip, I brought the Krafts to a calm sunny place for lunch and a little black rockfish action. We ended up landing a silver that hit a jig at the surface with just 25 feet of water under the boat. As we drifted into 30 feet, Anshuman Beri, who was fishing with a Cabelas “Whooping Stick” and a tiny levelwind bass reel, hooked something large. After a 15 minute battle, we released a 100 pound halibut – quite a thrill. We also had two kings try to take the jig in water that was 25 feet deep. A rare finish to three days of very good fishing.
Halibut fishing has been good for fish close to the 45 inches on the offshore grounds. We’ve also been catching lots of decent chicken halibut mixed in with the salmon. All in all, the fishing has recovered nicely from a short and highly unusual slow stretch last week. The hanging question is whether the early showing of silvers is the beginning of an early build up or just some stray fish that will come and go. We’ll keep you informed.
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