Sitka Fishing Report: June 19, 2019
Kings Salmon – B minus
Kings made a significant comeback from a very slow 2018 as we continued to recover from the effects of the warm water event called “the blob” which began in 2013 and lasted nearly three years. There were stretches when king fishing got hot followed by a few days of hit or miss. The average size of the fish was much improved over 2018 with many in the high teens and 20s, at least a handful of fish over 30 pounds, and a 45-pounder caught by Alex Macleod. A king estimated to be at least 50 pounds was released by the Smith group fishing with Captain Ryan on July 1. They had already punched all their kings and were mooching herring for lingcod when the whopper came along. We expect a trend of improving king fishing in the coming years as the blob effects fade.
Halibut – A
Fishing for halibut remains a nearly slam dunk event on the ocean. Though we didn’t find a consistent “20-minute limit” spot like June 2018, the results at the end of an hour were almost always good in depths from 400 to 700 feet. We also found a fair number of blackcod and Pacific cod mixing in with the halibut. It wasn’t unheard of this June to catch a few or even a limit of nice halibut while mooching for salmon in very tame depths of 140 to 220 feet.
Rockfish and Lingcod – A
What can we say? Rockfish remain a slam dunk fishery. If you want to spice your day with 15 to 30 minutes of fast action, nothing beats a trip into the shallows for black rockfish. Lingcod are easily found but getting lings that fit into the 30 to 35-inch slot limit is a bit more challenging.
Weather – A
We had very little rain, no well-organized low pressure, lots of calm days and a few days of strong northwest wind that were a bit uncomfortable but highly fishable. We were able to fish where we wanted, when we wanted on nearly every day of the month.
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