POW fishing info please.

[Gundog]

I am pulling my boat back up to SE Alaska this summer to fish POW. I have 2 windows of dates I can come. I am trying to figure out when the best time to get into some silvers.

My first date range is 7/20-8/11 or 8/22-9/8. I am not sure where on the Island I am going just yet that is why the question I am flexible. We will be camping and running my 21' NR Seahawk. I fished out of Ketchikan last time but we ended up running to POW to find fish most of the time so this time I want to stay on POW.

I also not bringing the women folk just my Dad and 2 friends for some hard core fishing and lieing sessions. I am leaning towards the East side of the Island for the calmer conditions but I may make some trips over to the West if there is a favorable forecast.

Thanks Mike

 

[ak_powder_monkey]

No expert here but I'd go earlier because there will be more kings around a chances are the weather will be slightly better. Sounds like a fun trip though have fun.

 

[kingfisherktn]

I am pulling my boat back up to SE Alaska this summer to fish POW. I have 2 windows of dates I can come. I am trying to figure out when the best time to get into some silvers.

My first date range is 7/20-8/11 or 8/22-9/8. I am not sure where on the Island I am going just yet that is why the question I am flexible. We will be camping and running my 21' NR Seahawk. I fished out of Ketchikan last time but we ended up running to POW to find fish most of the time so this time I want to stay on POW.

I also not bringing the women folk just my Dad and 2 friends for some hard core fishing and lieing sessions. I am leaning towards the East side of the Island for the calmer conditions but I may make some trips over to the West if there is a favorable forecast.

Thanks Mike

If I had the favorable weather I'd pick the west side everytime.

 

[Gundog]

No expert here but I'd go earlier because there will be more kings around a chances are the weather will be slightly better. Sounds like a fun trip though have fun.

I am not sure but I thought I read that we can only keep 1 king a year and since we will be there for a little over 2 weeks I thought I would rather target silvers.

I live next to the Columbia River and fish kings plenty anyway. I would rather fish kings but not if my limit is 1 per year. I don't need a ton of fish but more than 1 would be nice.

I am most interested in Halibut and rock fish I like to eat them the best. I also bring my crab and shrimp pots.

I thought I read somewhere about a hatchery silver run in Thorne Bay about that time does anyone know about that?

Are there any terminal hatchery king fisheries on POW that may have a season durring those dates? I know there is one earlier in the year around Ketchikan.

Thanks for any info you can give me if you don't want to post about it can you send me a PM please. I am not a guide and I am bringing friends & family not customers. I know some people like to keep good info off the net.

Thanks Mike

 

[Wyo2AK]

POW Silvers

POW Silvers

I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what I know... I was in Thorne Bay with a coworker on a work trip last August 25-28. Managed to work in some fishing for silvers on the Thorne River and did really well (several fish per day fishing an hour or two before and after work). It was raining A LOT (enough that even the locals were commenting on it) and the river was pretty high. From the sounds of things fishing on the Thorne had been really good the previous week or two before the water got so high - would have liked to have seen that!

So just based on that, if you're trying to catch the silvers mostly in the salt, perhaps go during the earlier time window before they start heading upstream? That said, all the fish we caught were still chrome, and we caught some heavy fish.

 

[270ti]

I fish/live on the west coast of POW... The West side will blow your mind if you get on the fish..


July 20-Aug 11 will land in you in prime fishing for most years, and we usually have decent weather. But you never know as things can change with salmon. Craig is the port you'll want to go out of.

Your best move is to wait outside of Craig in the early AM. Wait for the charter boats and follow them the first few days. They are usually on a hot bite that time of the year. Catching limits of 24 coho's in 2-5 hours is common for the charter boats that time of the year, and I've done it in under an hour. You'll catch good kings right in with the cohos. Halibut is excellent out of Craig too.

 

[SEOceanking]

West side POW

West side POW

I also live on the west side POW.

I agree that west side POW is the place to be. (Although I would say Klawock is the port to go out of!) There are more fish and the "weather" will be about the same either side of the island.

For silvers there will be plenty of fish and plenty of spots to get out of the wind. The better halibut are on the "outside" where your 21ft boat may feel small on the wrong day but there are plenty of good fish around on the "inside" you just have to know how/where to find them. If the wind is out of the west you can fish outside in semi-comfort when the wind is blowing 30 (the ride in will be long though!). Your earlier date would offer better chances at kings but IMO the later date would be better for silvers. Sometimes earlier in the year (not last season but the season before) I have had to run farther north than I would like. Last August fish were everywhere.
I could help point you in the right direction once your around. (I don't like to follow the guides around I call them instead!! .. at least the ones I call "friends!"...and actually I often don't go where they say the "hot bite" is. One of the greatest things about this state IMO is the fact that a guy can find enough fish that he doesn't need to fish with "the pack."

I tried to insert a couple picts if they work. One of the wife and I with an hours worth of Cohos from Aug. 14, 08 The run taperd off quick about 10days to 2 weeks after this but you could still limit out it was just harder to track them down (and a farther run north usually). Also 2 nice halibut we caught within a 20 minute boat ride of Craig/Klawock and few kings 35-40lbs. from earlier in the year (June I think).

Kings were one per person per day last year with two per year for out of state folks in southeast . Halibut limits may be decreasing as well in southeast this year (from 2 to 1, may be fore guided anglers only). Hopefully the king run will be good and the king limit will be raised this spring. Just things to keep in mind before making a trip. (New state regs come out in April always a fun read!)

 

[SEOceanking]

Other 2 picts POW

Other 2 picts POW

Another halibut and the kings. Did I mention we lost a nice winter king last Saturday had to be close to 30lbs! (Ok maybe only 25..)

 

[Gundog]

SEOceanking,
I sent you a PM. We need to find a place to camp with showers and a place to either plug in a freezer we will bring or freezer storage.

Thanks Mike

 

[270ti]

I always try to end my fishing mid Aug as the SE winds really start picking up. The last week of Aug/first week of Sept can be miserable..

Congrats on the "almost" winter king.. They are out there.