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The salmon run in the Copper River appears to be running a little late, based on the results of two commercial fish openings and the number of fish counted by a sonar at Miles Lake.

Stormy seas hampered fishing effort significantly on the first opening last Thursday and resulted in an extremely low catch.

Only about 125 of the approximately 500 permit holders actually fished. The preliminary harvest estimate from the first opening was 2,400 sockeye and 800 king salmon. The anticipated harvest was 17,105 sockeye and 5,673 Chinook salmon.

The second 12-hour opening on Monday produced better catch numbers but they were still below preseason projections, reported Glenn Hollowell, commercial fisheries manager in Cordova. Fishermen caught about 30,000 reds and 2,100 kings and the anticipated harvest was 45,000 reds and 6,700 kings.

The Department of Fish and Game started counting fish with a sonar counter at Miles Lake on May 16 and as of Tuesday, only about 1,500 fish had been counted past the sonar. The projected passage for that date was 6,200 fish.

It’s still too early to say whether this year’s Copper River salmon run is late or weak, Hollowell said.

Managers should know within the next week how the run is shaping up, based on sonar counts.

The daily count is projected to be more 10,000 fish a day beginning Sunday.

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The opening for dip netting season at Chitina is still set for 8 a.m. on June 4, though that may change depending on the Miles Lake sonar counts.

There are reportedly two fish wheels turning in Chitina and they have yet to turn up a fish, said Lynn Perry-Plake, a biologist at the Department of Fish and Game in Glennallen.

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The Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks has been busy stocking area lakes and ponds with rainbow trout and Arctic char for the summer fishing season.

At only about 5 inches in length, the fish aren’t exactly lunkers but that’s all anglers will get until the state can build a new hatchery to produce more and bigger fish.

Here’s a list of lakes that have been stocked by the department or will be in the next week with the number of fish:

Ballaine Lake — 2,000

Grayling Lake — 1,100

Hidden Lake — 1,100

Moose Lake — 1,400

Mullins Pit — 700

Polaris Lake —1,100

Steese Hwy Mile 29.5 — 500

Steese Hwy Mile 34.6 — 500

Steese Hwy Mile 36.6 — 500

Little Lost Lake — 1,000

Quartz Lake — 29,150

Richardson Hwy Mile 81 — 300

Shaw Pond — 1,000

Otto Lake — 1,000

Parks Hwy Mile 261 — 200

Wainwright #6 — 700

Monterey Lake — 750

Chena Lake — 16,000

Johnson Pit #1 — 800

Little Harding Lake — 700

Mosquito Creek Lake — 800

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Water conditions in the Gulkana River are extremely low, which would make fishing an iffy proposition if there were actually any fish to be caught, Perry-Plake said.

Even if the water were higher, it’s still too early for king salmon in the Gulkana, she said, especially if the run is on the late side.

Perry-Plake hopes to have a counting tower installed upriver of Sourdough campground by June 1.

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The Valdez Halibut Derby begins on Saturday and word out of Valdez is that boats are picking up some decent halibut, said Steve Thurneau of Harvest Charters, who will run his first charter of the season on Saturday.

Last year, Jim Adams of North Pole took home the $15,000 winner’s check with a record 340-pound halibut caught on July 28. The largest fish weighed in for the first week of the derby last year was 162.7 pounds.

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As of Wednesday, Karl Sanford of Fairbanks still held the lead in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby with his 128.8-pound halibut caught on May 3. Sanford will win $1,000 if the fish is still atop the leader board on June 1.