Welcome back to another Ketchikan Fishing Minute.

Oscar and I were at it again this week. On Tuesday, we fished from a 14′ Livingston out of Clover Pass Resort, mostly around Survey Point. We got a little bit of a late start that day, but were still in the water ahead of the tide change. I stayed with my Coho Killer while Oscar mostly fished cut-plug herring. There was a little magic left in the Coho Killer, as I brought in three pinks and a chum. Unfortunately, Oscar’s luck ran out and he got skunked for the day.

We had heard a lot of good reports about the fishing around Skin Island and Caamano Point recently, so on Wednesday, Oscar and I took one of Clover Pass Resort’s yellow boats To investigate. We started by crossing Clarence Strait to give Skin Island a shot. Oscar utilized the downrigger while I continued with my banana weight set up. On our first pass, Oscar hooked in to a fourteen pound king salmon, while I lost a couple pinks near the boat. We had a few more bites, and Oscar landed a pink while we were there, but we weren’t getting the action we had hoped for.

About an hour before the tide change, we decided to run back across and see what Caamano Point had to offer. We were marking fish regularly, but not getting a ton of strikes. Oscar pulled in a good sized chum salmon, leaving him with just a silver to go for his second grand Slam in as many weeks. I was the one that landed the coho however, insuring a reward for my efforts that day.

A report from Alaska’s Fish and Game Department on Tuesday said catch rates for silvers, pinks and chum were picking up and that they should continue to improve through August.

I’ll hit the water again over the next few days, and give you the report on Thursday, in another Ketchikan Fishing Minute.