Catch up with what's happening at Alaska Sportfishing Expeditions in Ketchikan, Alaska. Week of July 25, 2021.
Welcome back to this week's edition of the Ketchikan fishing minute for the week of July 25th, 2021.
As mentioned in our previous episode, this week saw the return of cruise ships back to Ketchikan which made things feel like summer life was back to normal after the craziness we've experienced over the last 16 months.
Although we love using the fishing minute to show off the weekly highlight reel and to tell you about the experiences of some of our guests, we know some of you fishing aficionados don't want all the fluff and are dying to get the nitty-gritty detailed report on what's going on.
With that in mind, we thought it time that we break down the technical side of the operation for those fanatics that just want information.
Over the last week, we've had a mix of weather including a little rain and some sunshine.
It's still a little early to tell if we had enough waterfall to move fish towards the river but we're keeping our fingers crossed.
As we mentioned in previous reports, too much sun can slow the salmon migration and then move fish quickly through the fishery in heavy rain leaving little opportunity for them to be caught.
Our self-guided fishermen continue to do well this week in local areas including Valner, Survey point, Grand island, and Camano picking up both summer cohos and pinks.
As we wrap up the month of July, pinks are flooding in as we approach the peak of their run typically taking place about Mid-August.
Anecdotally, the summer coho run has also been one of the best we've seen in four to five years.
Summer coho tends to be smaller and less plentiful than fall coho, averaging around four to five pounds instead of the eight to nine-pound average we see in the fall.
As for the morning bite versus evening bite, what they say about the early bird but in our case the early bird isn't catching more worms they're catching more salmon.
Jeremy and the doc crew at Silverking lodge are often experimenting with different setups and trying new things.
Jeremy has often been fond of saying that lure and tackle manufacturers are masters at catching fishermen, and not necessarily fish.
If the adage is true, Jeremy has been caught himself a time or two as his tackle box often carries an assortment of the bizarre and untested.
This season's hot item has been a small commercial pink bug that has been slaying pinks and cohos alike, although a green bug has seemed to catch a few more coho than the pink.
Also, the coho killer has been good for those who have them.
The coho killer isn't something that is provided as part of the package tackle but is available in the store for those who are interested in adding one or two to their box.
Didn't we mention something about catching fishermen?
Use of the bugs for fishing has also upped our catch of ocean bright chums on their way back to the hatchery at Nate's bay.
The tried and true cut plug herring have also been catching fish.
This was good news for lodge owner Kirk Thomas who is constantly arguing with Jeremy over the superiority of a good old cup plug.
Clover Pass resort staff members found a little time for some fishing on their own this week, as well with Carson hooking into his first fish out on the ocean.
The fact that it's his first fish and it's already the end of July should tell you how hard Carson has been working so far this summer.
Carson hooked into his fish using a deep six diver, a flasher, and a hoochie.
This week we got a special surprise at the Cedars lodge when retired skipper Chip porter stopped in to say hello to Pat and his daughter Jessica.
Like many of our guests do once, they find a skipper they tend to stay with them for many years and Pat caught a lot of fish with Chip before Chip retired.
Lucky for Pat, we found him another great skipper so he didn't have to retire from fishing when Chip retired and he enjoyed a little more free time.
Chip is responsible for the fabulous photography that makes its way into the ASE calendar each year.
Whether you're catching fish on a cut plug or trying out some new contraption that caught you during your last trip down the tackle aisle, we can't wait to hear about it and to share it with all the rest of you on the next Ketchikan fishing minute.