Fast, muddy water and a slow trickle of king salmon made for difficult fishing on the Anchor River on opening weekend.
On a positive note, however, there was plenty of room to warm up those casting arms, as cold weather and marginal fishing conditions kept the angling crowds at bay.
Those crowds should be back this weekend for Memorial Day, and with any luck, the fishing should improve.
From May 15 through 20, just 246 kings made their way past the Alaska Department of Fish and Game sonar near the confluence of the north and south forks. That number is down considerably from the previous two years.
Fish and Game will be studying the sonar count closely this year as it marks the return of smolt that were reared in the river during the large flood of 2002. All other salmon species runs have shown a high resilience to the effect from the floods, however, and it is too early to tell if the flood has damaged this year’s king run.
This weekend, anglers will probably have the best luck using eggs and Spin-N-Glos.
Deep Creek and Ninilchik River are in better shape and will open this weekend as well.
Halibut
There’s a new leader in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby. Sandra McPike of Delaware, Ohio caught a 162.6-pound flat fish on Sunday, aboard the “Mako” of Capt. Scott’s Sportfishing. She also leads the new “Lady Angler” category.
Good weather and the annual halibut migration in Cook Inlet is helping anglers land bigger fish as the top five placers in the derby are all bigger than 120 pounds.
Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon
Fishing has been slow for kings but should improve as the run builds. Herring is the preferred bait and Vibrex spinners will work better as the run improves.
For best results, fish the incoming tide and drift eggs.
Other kings
Anglers in Seldovia and Halibut Cove are starting to see a few kings as well. Trolling herring and lures works well early in the run.
Good clam tides
The next series of good clamming tides will run through Monday.
Diggers are reporting many small razor clams and few large clams south within several miles of the Clam Gulch access. Go further south or north for adult-sized clams in this area. Make sure to have your fishing license with you when digging.
A healthy snow pack in the hills should melt off soon as the days get longer and warmer. Big tides next weekend could also entice the kings to make a run for the fresh water.
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