Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
September 2018

A record number of tagged sablefish
are swimming the chilly waters of Southeast Alaska

By Riley Woodford

Almost 10,000 sablefish were caught, tagged and released by biologists in the spring of 2018.

That’s good news for anyone who catches a tagged fish. A fisherman, or rod-and-line angler, who removes the orange plastic numbered tag and returns it to a Fish and Game office is rewarded with a shirt. Providing a little data – the GPS coordinates where the fish was caught and the date – qualifies the tag re-capturer to be entered into an annual cash drawing for a $1,000 first ...   Tagged Sablefish Article Continued

A Tribute to Hunting Mentors

By Rick Merizon

This story is more a tribute of sorts. I’d like to tip my hat to the beautiful season on which we have recently embarked…fall. This is my favorite season of the year and sadly one of the shortest in Alaska. The pungent aroma of yellowing leaves has begun to fill the air, the perennial cronk of sandhill cranes overhead soon will catch our ears while out doing yardwork, and the cool, crisp morning air will make us grip our warm cup of coffee a bit tighter. As most of the salmon runs ...   A Tribute to Mentors Article Continued

Cutthroat Trout in Southeast Alaska Lakes

By Craig Schwanke

As my 6-year-old daughter retrieved her lure, a group of six trout appeared behind it with one fish grabbing the lure as she pulled it out of the water. This was a common occurrence as we paddled the canoe around the small weed lined lake. Many readers would assume we were fishing one of the lakes stocked with rainbow trout in Southcentral or Interior Alaska. However, this was a road system lake on Prince of Wales Island and the fish were wild cutthroat trout.

The cutthroat trout subspecies ...   Cutthroat Trout Article Continued

Kenai Rainbows
Managing Trout on the Kenai Peninsula

By Brian Marston

The Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population in the Kenai River of Southcentral Alaska is one of the state’s largest and is the driving force behind the most highly used trout fishery in the state in terms of angling effort. In this case, rainbow trout are caught by anglers throughout the drainage from tidally influenced waters up to Snow River, a glacially colored tributary that flows into Kenai Lake. Angling for trout in the Kenai River peaks in fall but occurs all year ...   Kenai Rainbows Article Continued

Smoked Canned Salmon

By Mark Stopha

The last time I canned fish was several years ago, when I canned several cases of fresh pink salmon caught on the ocean. In the meantime, I’ve received some excellent smoked canned salmon from my sister in law in Craig, so decided to learn how to make it myself.

I was lucky to run into a family that was fueling their boat at the same time as I was one Friday in August. They told me there was a good coho bite over by their cabin, so I headed over there the following day and caught ...   Smoked canned salmon Article Continued