Tongass National Forest

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Ocean Fishing

The marine waters surrounding the Tongass provide world-famous angling opportunities. Anglers travel to southeast Alaska to ply the ocean for salmon, halibut, and rockfish. How you fish for salmon depends on the kind of salmon you wish to catch. If it's king salmon that you are after, trolling with herring, spoon, or mooching with a cut-plug herring seems to work best. Most anglers use downriggers and on occasion troll at depths of 100 feet or more. Depending on run strength, fishing location, and time of year, it can take as many as 40 rod hours to catch one king salmon. Even considering the time required, for many anglers in Southeast, there is no greater fish to pursue than king salmon.

Some anglers flyfish for salmon from boats next to kelp beds, but this method takes time, practice, and local knowledge to be successful. Folks fishing for salmon in this manner have the most luck with pink and coho. Pink salmon return to local marine waters in large numbers in late July. Coho show up in numbers in middle to late august. These two species are by far the most popular salmon in southeast Alaska. Both take spoons, trolled flies, and cut-plug herring in anywhere from 10 to 60 feet of water on most days. Coho are particularily acrobatic and on occasion have been known to jump into the boat when hooked!

After salmon, people think of halibut when they think of Alaska. Giant "flat" fish that reach 400 pounds or more, halibut are chased by sport anglers from Ketchikan on the south end of the Tongass, to Dutch Harbor in the Aleution Islands, and all points in between. Most halibut fishing occurs from boats, although fish are occasionally taken off of piers, when fishing is allowed. Halibut may be caught in water less than 100 feet deep, but the norm is somewhere between 200 and 300 feet. Halibut will eat a variety of live bait, like herring, salmon bellies, and octupus chunks. If the currents are favorable and you can get a jig to the bottom, halibut will also take jigs. A typical halibut weighs between 15 to 40 pounds.

In addition to salmon and halibut, people catch a variety of rockfish in southeast Alaskan waters. Some of the more brilliantly colored rockfish, like the yelloweye rockfish shown on the photo album page, are mistakenly referred to as snapper. Most bottom fish caught on hook and line in southeast Alaska (with the exception of ling cod) belong to a genus of fish called Sebastes and are closely related to each other. Like other members of the Sebastes genus, yelloweye have an enclosed swim bladder that does not remove gas quickly. This adaptive feature saves yelloweye energy in deep water, because they dont have to swim to maintain their position in the water column. But when they are hooked and reeled to the surface, gas in the bladder and eyes of rockfish expands and causes severe tissue damage. This means if you are fishing deep, you are killing rockfish when you reel them to the surface, and you should therefore plan on keeping your fish, even when they are small. One other thing of note regarding rockfish- they live to a very old age, perhaps even 100 years. Long-lived fish like yelloweye typically don't reproduce as fast as some fish that mature quickly. Please be aware of rockfish biology when bottom fishing and be prepared to stop when you reach your limit of rockfish.

Weather

Water conditions change dramatically in southeast, depending on exposure to prevailing winds and the open ocean. One thing you can count on: the weather will change quickly and can become life-threatening if you are operating a small boat and you are not prepared. With thousands of miles of coastline and numerous islands, there are many safe anchorages in a storm. If you have never boated in Alaska and you are planning on either bringing your own boat or renting a skiff to operate, do your homework and always respect the water and the weather.

Visit the Alaska State Fishing Regulations

USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest Accessibility Statement
Last Modified: November 29, 2007