Hi People... I have been offered the use of a place on POW Island in July... I've fished salmon all over WA... from the coast to the Snake River.. but...

My host says that they catch Silvers right off the beach, and that there is great fishing for Halibut and Ling Cod just offshore. Also says there are good Cutts in the streams...

My question is.... how does one go about catching these finny denizens??? What kinda gear should I bring, what lures/bait... etc.. .ANYTHING you can tell me would be a big help...

Twangg

Twangg, what part of the island are you staying? do you have access to a boat and if so , how big? I've fished P.O.W Is. from Thorne Bay on the inside down around Cape Chacon and up to Craig/Klawock on the outside. Don't know much about the north end of the island but B Gray can probably help you there.

The Cabin is 80 Miles north of the ferry terminal on the inland side.. I think it's about the head of that huge inlet there.. but not yet sure!

Twangg

Whoops...leave that >>~~~~~~> button alone til you're done... yes, have access to a 15' Boat at the Cabin...

Twangg

Sorry, can't help you much, I have never fished or even been up on the north end of the island, maybe Bob Gray will help you out, I think he's spent some time in that area.

Twangg I will be up on P.O.W. all summer.

I will be in Craig. Feel free to PM me your phone # and we can swap them so when you get up there you can get ahold of me and we can get out on the rivers.

Also you might want to check out the good guys of http://www.princeofwalessportfishing.com

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your stay up there

POW in July, oh ya. I'm green with envy.

If I could only take one lure, I would grab a handful of Pt. Wilson Darts in the 2.5-5 oz. and 5-8" range. I'd have a couple of colors but don't worry, it isn't all that critical. These jigs are ideal if your fishing out of a small boat and don't know the conditions. They fish well shallow or deep and they'll catch anything from rockfish to salmon and they are easy and fun to fish. You can't fish them wrong and you can fish them almost anywhere. Plus, no fuss no muss.

A good salmon setup with 20# test will probably handle everything but a good halibut. A bit much for the cutty though. But you'll be so busy with the other stuff it won't even matter.

You are in for a good time.

Mooch, I still have one place in the bus!! Figure it's gonna cost about $500 door to door....

Twangg,
Now that's just down right neighborly of you. Sounds like a blast (and reasonable too) but as things stand I'm already committed to another trip up north. Thanks though.
Mooch

When is the best time to plan on? I was told late June thru July... so tentatively planned for 3rd week of July, but I'm open... want only the best, y'know?? LOL...
Twangg

Mid to late July is primetime around POW, your hitting the tail end of the king season which means the numbers may be down a little from June and early July fishing but the size avg. is better, you will also be getting into good numbers of silvers and limits (6 per person) shouldn't be difficult. bottomfishing stays pretty consistant from June thru Aug.
At the resort I work at the last 2 weeks of July are fully booked by regulars who have fished with us for years, not much chance of getting in unless someone dies.
Stream fishing should also be excellent with silvers and sockeye showing (few if any kings return to POW rivers) in good numbers and trout fishing is always good (atleast in my experience)
IMHO, you couldn't pick a better time to fish P.O.W. Is. Good fishing!

Hey why dont the rivers get many kings back?

hopefully some piggy cohos tho

Not really sure why there aren't any kings that return to POW is. rivers, the rivers are small by our standards with the largest (the Thorne river) not quite as big as the Kalama, I would think they could do okay in that system and a few others but I can't explain why none are present.
As for silvers, don't expect 20 pounders, in 15 years up there I've got a grand total of 0 that size, you can catch 10 to 15 pounders all day long but very few over that size. Last season with 20 to 22 boats a day on the water, usually fishing 4 people and most boats bringing in silver limits daily in July and August, I can think of 5 silvers that were over 15lbs. 1 of my guest brought in an 18 pounder that was the seasons largest, better stick with the Satsop or OP rivers for the big boys.

Have you had a chance to fish the rivers much???

I was told that most rivers are a 30 to hr drive from craig....

Hoping that some of those 10-15lbs make it up them.

T

The more popular rivers, Thorne, Harris, Karta are an hour or more from Craig but the Klawock river is only about 8-10 miles from town and gets silvers, and a decent run of sockeye, haven't fished it but know guys that do okay on the Klawock.
Most of my fishing on the island has been on the Sarkar (oops, just gave up a zipper) for trout. And on the no-name stream that has the waterfall the resort was named for, good steelhead fishing there right now thru end of May, good cutthroat fishing above the falls, but don't tell anyone.

Ill just explore all of the ones I can while Im up there.....

Distance isnt too big of a deal depending on what hr I have to work lol

I wouldnt mind getting into some steel up there


T