Board of Fish opens Monashka Creek above bridge, makes other sportfish changes in Kodiak area

Kodiak area sport fishing enthusiasts will find a few new additions to the sport fishing regulations that are expected to make for a better experience.

That comes after the Alaska Board of Fisheries approved several sport fish proposals at last month’s finfish meeting here in Kodiak.

KMXT’s Maggie Wall has more.

Click arrow to listen to report or continue below to read it.

 

The approved proposals will be incorporated into the Kodiak area sport fishing regulations and will be included when the new year’s fishing regulations are published this spring.

The approved proposals have the potential to enhance sport fishing experience according to Sportfish Area Biologist Tyler Polum.

One opens fishing on Monashka Creek above the bridge, another clarifies where the boundary line is for the road zone. A third opens Dog Salmon River for a minimal king salmon fishery, and the fourth sets up a rockfish management plan for sport fishing.

The Monashka Creek regulations are pretty straight forward. Previously, fishermen could only catch silvers below the bridge at the end of Monashka Bay Road at White Sands Beach.

Polum says the waters above the bridge is where they used to catch king salmon for brood stock for the hatchery. Since they don’t do that anymore, there’s no reason to close the waters.

 

“Where the closure is right now kind of still in the intertidal zone. And as the tide comes up, those silvers actually push up above the bridge and they hang out in areas that are that are closed to fishing.

 “And for the silvers, we don’t have a conservation concern with that. We’re not trying to catch those for brood stock in Monashka Creek, and it’s closed to fishing so they’re not really accessible to people fishing there.

 “And so the idea is we would move the marker upstream to a point above the intertidal zone so that when those fish do push up there, then people could fish in those areas for them.”

 

 

The road zone issue can be confusing, and the new regulation contains a lot of specific points and GPS locations, but actually it eliminates confusion for those fishing off shore who need to know if they are fishing close enough to shore to fall under the road zone regulations, or are far enough out to use remote zone regulations, which allows bigger bag limits.

Polum explains that the road zone gets heavy usage and has lower bag limits than areas farther from shore.

Previously the line was defined as being one mile from shore, which can be hard to figure out from a skiff off shore.

The new rule is from point to point.

 

“We will publish a map in our new regulations. It’s really easy to follow. So, you know, one of the examples is for middle Bay, the line goes from Broad Point to Cliff Point. And if you’re inside the line, you’re on the road zone. If you’re outside that line, you’re off the road zone.

“Or for instance, for folks who like to fish Buoy Four, which is fairly close to the old line of one mile. The line now is from Spruce Cape to the northern tip of Woody Island. So if you’re inside that line, you’re on the road zone. If you’re outside that line, you’re off the road zone. It’s much more straightforward then trying to determine if you’re within one mile the shoreline.”

 

Moving on to the new Dog Salmon River fishery.

“And the other, opened up catch release fishing for king salmon on a Dog Salmon River drainage, Fraser Lake drainage, and that with no bait, so very limited fishery but allowed people to target those fish.”

 

And finally, the Board of Fish approved a rockfish management plan for sport fish in the Kodiak area. Polum says the new management plan will allow area biologists to better control the fishery and to ensure its sustainability. Especially in areas getting heavy pressure from sport fishermen.

 

“Areas near town what we call the Northeast District. which is like Spruce Island, to Sacramento River area. The harvest has been going up a lot particularly for black rockfish.”

 

Polum adds that the plan sets out a list of criteria for how to restrict fishing if necessary.

He says all the new regulations approved by the Board of Fish will go into effect for this year’s fishing seasons.