Species Bucket List: Anything and Everything You Can Catch in Southeast Alaskan Waters

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Southeast Alaska doesn't just have great fishing, it has variety. One minute you're on a King Salmon run, collecting catch after catch, the next you're reeling in something with teeth and a face that only a marine biologist could love. Long days on the boat give way to exciting discoveries!

This Species Bucket List covers anything and everything you can catch in Southeast Alaskan Waters. We'll explore the trophy catches, the best table fare, the oddballs, and the ones we ask you to say a quick "see you later" to. Consider this your preseason cheat sheet to all Southeast Alaska has to offer.

Let's dive in!

Sablefish (Black Cod): The Deep Water Delicacy

This long-lived, slow-growing species are one of the more exclusive chases for our guests. Sablefish, better known as Black Cod, dwell in the seriously deep water and are often caught using electric reels. They are prized for their rich, buttery, high-fat meat that chefs will often pay top dollar for. Hook one and you've landed yourself a true delicacy of North Pacific.

Flatfish (Sole and Flounder): The Bonus Round

The unexpected bonus catch while bottom fishing, Sole and Flounder are a strange-looking, flat-bodied fish with both eyes riding atop their heads. While they're not the headline of the trip, a fresh flounder fillet is a treat most anglers never expect to bring home.

Pink and Chum Salmon: The Numbers Game

In July and August, especially in big "pink years" these two fish can turn a slow day on the water into a non-stop bite. Pink Salmon are small in size and scrappy on the line, while Chum Salmon are the more hard hitting, dirty fighters. Both count towards the same generous bag limit as Silvers. Want a freezer full of fish and a sore forearm? This is how you get it.

Halibut: The Gentle Giant

Another groundfish, Halibut are a flat, camouflaged, and ambush-loving giant. Hooking these fish is a game of careful feel rather than fast reflex and once they are hooked their size does all of the work to make it a fight. These demersal fish are prized for their flaky white meat and are a popular fillet request. Halibut season runs from June through September, the first catch always a memorable one.

Sharks: The Wildcard

A true rarity to see a dorsal fin come up on the line. Salmon Sharks and Spiny Dogfish are both legal to keep, Salmon Sharks needing to be bled and gutted quickly. However, the Pacific Sleeper Shark, a strange, slow-moving giant is considered inedible and gets released. A great fire-side or dinner story!

Rockfish: The Rainbow of the Reef

These reef-dwelling homebodies of Southeast Alaska provide steady action all day and firm, mild meat that's perfect for tacos or a fresh dinner. Rockfish offer a whole rainbow of species to meet. Here's the twist: not every rockfish plays by the same rules.

Pelagic species 

Black, Blue, Dark, Dusky, Widow, and Yellowtail Rockfish are found swimming mid-water unlike their counterpart. The pelagic species handle fishing pressure well and come with a generous 5-fish daily limit.

Demersal Shelf Rockfish

Yelloweye, quillback, tiger, China, canary, copper, and rosethorn are incredibly long-lived, Yelloweye reaching maturity in their late teens or twenties. Some sampled fish have even been aged past 100 years old. This means that harvest is tightly managed often to one fish per day with a one fish annual limit. Because these fish come from deep water and can't simply be tossed back, every boat carries a deepwater release device, this allows them to swim off safely.

Lingcod: The Prehistoric One

Lingcod are not cod at all, but an ambush predator with a bucket sized jaw, needle teeth, and a strike that feels ancient on the hook. These fighters run from May 16th to November 30th. A table favorite as good on the table as they are on the line, Lingcod provide a firm, flakey meat.

Silver (Coho) Salmon: The Show-Off

Coho run from August to September and are a theatrical species. The second they feel the hook they are cartwheeling, tail-walking, and sprinting. A favorite among first-timers and anglers alike due to their fast, aggressive nature, endlessly fun on lighter tackle. A great fish for the smoker!

King Salmon (Chinook): The Headliner

Running June through August, King Salmon are the largest of the Salmon species. Famous for long, bulldogging runs that'll test your drag, your line, and your arms in that order. Rich and buttery on the plate, they're the fish most anglers picture when they close their eyes and dream about this trip.

The Oddballs: What Else Might Grab Your Bait

Southeast Alaska's ocean floor is full of characters, and dropping a jig for halibut, lingcod, or rockfish can turn up all kinds of unexpected company. Red and brown Irish lords, armored, spiny, wildly photogenic sculpins are a common surprise on the end of the line, along with kelp greenling and the occasional skate gliding up from the bottom like a small ray. Every so often, someone hooks into a wolf eel or even a giant Pacific octopus, both memorable catches that almost always go back over the rail with a good story attached. None of these are what you're out here to catch, but in these waters, you genuinely never know what's about to grab your bait, and that's part of the fun.

Check Off Your List at Sportsman's Cove

That's the bucket list! Trophies, table fare, and a few surprises in between. What you actually end up checking off depends on the season, the tides, and a little luck. This is why every trip to Southeast Alaska is different from the last.

At Sportsman's Cove Lodge, our captains and crew know these waters inside and out, and they'll put you in position to chase whatever's on your list or introduce you to something you didn't know you wanted to catch. After a full day on the water, your catch is professionally cleaned, vacuum sealed, and packed for the trip home, so the bucket list doesn't end when the boat docks!

Ready to start checking things off? Come find out what's waiting under the surface by clicking the link below.

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