Summer officially kicks off next Monday, which means it’s time to go fishing. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released a new interactive map that shows where the fishing is good. Richard Chapell is the Sport Fish Area Management Biologist for the Haines/Skagway area, and he sat down with KHNS’ Mike Swasey to discuss the current hot spots for sport fishing in the Upper Lynn Canal. 

Chapell – I would go fishing for Dolly Varden and Cutthroat Trout. A good spot would be in Mosquito Lake which is up around 27 mile on the Haines Highway. And possibly on the Skagway side, you could go fishing at Pullen Pond. There might also be some dollies there. 

Swasey – Oh, dollies in Poland pond Really? 

Chapell – There’s a few Yeah. Or over in the saltwater, you can actually shore cast for Dolly Vardens off the shoreline in Skagway, over by Yakutania Point, off those trails there. Back on the Haines side, the Chilkoot River is a good spot for pretty reliable Dolly Varden fishing and Chilkoot River and Chilkoot Lake.

Swasey – Hey, Richard, can I ask you how to tell the difference between a dolly Varden and cutthroat trout? 

Chapell – Yeah, yeah. So a Dolly Varden is a char. And the way to tell a Char from a Trout is Char have light spots on a darker background. Like Lake Trout have those little wormy-looking marks on them that are lighter than the background color and Dolly Varden has light spots, and sometimes they’re pink on a darker background. Whereas trout species like Rainbow trout and Cutthroat Trout, have dark spots on a lighter background.

Swasey – Okay. And then, you know, in Skagway, we’ve got Lower Dewey Lake which has Brook Trout in it. And they’re delicious, some of my favorite tasting fish is Brook Trout, are they technically Char? 

Chapell – You know, I haven’t thought about that for a while. 

Swasey – Well, that’s a little debate that people have over here when we’re talking about the fish at Lower Dewey. I know they were stocked as Eastern Brook Trout are not native to the area.

Chapell – Yeah, yeah, you’re right. We call them a Trout, but they actually are a Char.

Swasey – We’ve got those in Lower Dewey and Upper Dewey. And then over in Lost Lake, there’s some rainbow trout, right?

Chapell – Yeah. Which is pretty amazing. They don’t grow to a very big size up there, because it’s a fairly small lake and not a high amount of food available.

Swasey – What’s about the biggest size you’re gonna get out of there?

Chapell – You know, like 10 to 12 inches will be a pretty big one around there. 

Swasey – So is that about the same size for the Brookies at lower Dewey.

Chapell – Yeah, they’re a little bit stunted, not a ton of food availability. And it could be that they’re not fish enough. So you’re kind of competing for the groceries there.

Swasey – So you’re saying more people should go fish lower dewy, and the more people to fish up there, the bigger the fish are gonna get.

Chapell – It has been shown when you lower the density of fish in a given restricted area with no no outlets that the fish size does go up.

Swasey – Alright, Richard, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. 

Chapell – Okay, thank you very much, Mike.