Rob Endsley, owner of Prince of Wales Sportfishing in Craig, Alaska, and co-host of the Outdoor Line on KIRO 710 AM Radio reported some good news for those making plans on heading up to the fish-rich waters of southeast Alaska.

Endsley says the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the slot limit for lingcod has been greatly increased to one fish between 30 inches and 45 inches in length, up from a slot of 30 to 35 inches.

"In addition, anglers may retain a second ling cod over 55 inches should you be lucky enough to land a trophy class ling of that caliber," Endsley said. "In these waters you just never know what might climb on!"

Those who pursue halibut around southeast Alaska may keep one halibut daily under 45 inches or more than 68 inches.

"That's up from one per day under 37 inches last year," Endsley said. "That translates into a flattie under 43 pounds or over 163 pounds. We're excited about the new halibut regulations for this season."

Early reports for king salmon fishing in places like Sitka, Alaska indicate some fairly good action although weather has been good one day and lousy the next. Expect the king fishing to only improve as the season goes on.

Here is a news release on the state Fish and Wildlife website that indicates an auction on almost a 1,000 antlers seized from poachers over the last decade.

The antlers can be purchased during an online auction happening now through June 5.

Congratulations to Ryan McFarland of Seattle who is this week's Reel Time Trivia winner.

The trivia question of the week was:

This small lake near Edmonds has a lot to offer for early season trout anglers, and then provides action for bass and perch through the summer as well as brown bullhead catfish at night.

There is a state Fish and Wildlife boat ramp and access on the north end of this 26-acre lake. The lake in March and April got a rainbow trout plant of 3,021 in March and April.

Opening day success on April 28 produced a 1.73 fish per rod average for 11 anglers with 19 fish kept, but one lucky angler caught and released 50 trout.

The correct answer McFarland gave was Lake Stickney.

"I grew up in Southern Oregon near the Rogue River, and with my dad and brother caught a lot of salmon each spring," McFarland said. "I go back home every June to fish with my dad and one of the Upper Rogue's most tenured, and enjoyable, drift boat fishing guides, Vern Grieves."

McFarland also enjoys fishing Oregon's Umpqua River system for winter steelhead and is getting dialed in on fishing for coho in Forks on northern Olympic coast during the fall.

"My brother and I have a fishing boat at Shilshole, and we enjoy crabbing, shrimping, and fishing for salmon with friends and family," he said. "We first tried for halibut last year and caught a small one. So far, Puget Sound lingcod have eluded me. Although less of a focus, I like getting out on a couple of the smaller local lakes to fish as well. My girlfriend is crazy for catfish, so I'm always on the lookout for nearby lakes, like Stickney, where a chicken liver might produce."

McFarland wins a nice outdoors prize.

This will be an ongoing weekly trivia contest where the winner who answers the question first will receive an outdoor prize that will range from books, Berkley bait, lures and other nifty items from the outdoors gunnysack.

The next trivia question will posted on Monday, May 28. Winners are announced the following Friday.

Here are our rules for The Seattle Times contest.

Little did the U.S. Army realize during World War II while the heavily guarded Manzanar Relocation Camp in central California was under watch and surrounded by barbed wire that a group of Japanese Americans were secretly venturing out to go fishing.

The Manzanar Fishing Club documentary film opens Friday, June 1 at the Landmark Varsity Theatre, 4329 University Way N.E. in Seattle.

This film was the brainchild of cinematographer-turned-director Cory Shiozaki, an avid angler whose parents were among the 120,000 Japanese Americans sent to 10 camps all along the West Coast soon after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese military.

Shiozaki spent the past six years chronicling the untold story of this overlooked chapter in U.S. history.

The project expanded when fellow anglers and video production company principals Lester Chung and John Gengl proposed interviewing the surviving internee fishermen for a documentary film.

Shiozaki along with writer Richard Imamura spent many hours interviewing and expanding the project from a 22-minute short film to a feature length documentary.

The true-life story is about Japanese-American internees at Manzanar who under the cover of darkness ventured out of the concentration camp to fish for the prized trout of the Sierra Nevada's high-altitude lakes and streams.

The show times at the Varsity are: 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. For ticket information, call 206-632-6412. For details on the documentary, go to the Fear No Trout website.

Here is the weekly update on the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program happening on the Columbia River.

The harvest total from May 14-20 was 6,199 pikeminnow (5,291 the prior week) from 1,317 anglers (1,303 the prior week) for a catch average of 4.7 fish per angler (up from the prior week of 4.1) with five tags recovered (14 the prior week).

There was one tagged fish for every 1,239 caught May 14-20.

Year to date totals of 3,728 anglers with 15,033 fish, and catch average of 4.0 fish per rod with 31 tags recovered.

Northern pikeminnow, a large member of the minnow family, are known to eat millions of young salmon and steelhead, and other fish like bass, walleye and shad in the Columbia and Snake rivers each year.

There is a reward program through Sept. 30 that offers a bounty on fish measuring 9 inches or longer.

The more northern pikeminnow an angler catches, the more the fish are worth. The first 100 are worth $4 each; the next 300 are worth $5 each, and after 400 fish are caught and turned in, they are worth $8 each. As an added incentive, specially tagged fish are worth $500.

Only fish caught from the Columbia mouth to Priest Rapids Dam, and from the Snake mouth to Hells Canyon Dam are eligible.

There are 21 check stations along both rivers. Anglers must register each day before fishing.

Catches must be checked in at the station each day, and reward vouchers will be given. For details, call 800-858-9015 or visit the Pikeminnow Reward Program website.

(Photo courtesy of the Seattle Times Photo Department)

The Carson National Fish Hatchery is expected to meet their spawning goal of 1,500 spring chinook, which will allow anglers on the Wind River to keep more fish in their daily limit from May 26 through June 30.

Anglers will be allowed to keep up to six hatchery spring chinook of which four may be adult fish and no more may be two hatchery steelhead from the railroad bridge upstream.

Anglers need to release wild chinook downstream from Shipherd Falls. Release all trout other than hatchery steelhead. Minimum size 12 inches for salmon and 20 inches for steelhead.

Other Wind rules include a night closure and anti-snagging rule remain in effect. Only fish hooked inside the mouth may be retained.

The Lower Wind from the boundary line/markers to the railroad bridge will remain the daily limit of two hatchery salmon or hatchery steelhead or one of each.

The daily limit on Drano Lake will also increase to six hatchery spring chinook of which four may be adult fish, and no more may be two hatchery steelhead from May 26 through June 30.

The Drano Lake fishery covers an area downstream of markers on point of land downstream and across from Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery and upstream of Hwy. 14 Bridge.

Anglers must release wild chinook. Release all trout other than hatchery steelhead. Minimum size 12 inches for salmon and 20 inches for steelhead.

Other Drano rules are a night closure, bank only fishing area near the outlet, and Wednesday closures will remain in effect. Anglers may fish with two poles with the purhcase of a Two Pole Endorsement.

Through May 22, 2,171 adult spring chinook had returned to the Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery. The hatchery escapement goal is 1,000 fish.

Anglers planning a trip to Alaska need to be aware of a new regulation that bans the use of waders or boots with felt soles while fishing in all freshwater areas of Alaska.

Footgear with absorbent felt or other fibrous material on the soles were banned to reduce and prevent the spread of invasive organisms, including plants into Alaskan waters, which can threaten fish habitat and populations.

A news release by the Alaska Department Fish and Game says anglers should follow these rules:

CLEAN: Rinse and remove any mud, sediment, and/or plant debris from all gear, boats, and boat trailers, floatplane rudders and floats, and anything that comes into contact with the water. Separate all pieces of wading footgear and waders (remove liners, etc.) to check for and remove visible mud, sediment and/or plant debris before leaving the area. Use a stiff bristle brush to clean all fishing gear.

DRAIN: Empty all water from coolers, bilge pumps, buckets, and wring out gear before leaving the boat launch or fishing areas.

DRY: Completely dry gear between systems or trips.

DECONTAMINATE: If drying is not possible, either freeze gear until solid or wash gear in water heated to 130 degrees. If drying, freezing or heating gear is not feasible, use a 2 percent bleach solution to clean gear away from fresh water recreation sites. Spray or rinse gear for one minute. A 2 percent bleach solution can be made easily by mixing 2.5 oz. of chlorine bleach with tap water to make 1 gallon of solution.

NOTE: Bleach solutions may degrade gear made of absorbent materials. Please rinse gear on land, away from fresh water fishing areas and dispose of disinfectants as indicated on the label.

For more information on preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.

The Reiter Ponds area of the Skykomish River will open earlier than scheduled on Saturday, June 1 for steelhead fishing.

Anglers are reminded that fishing is not allowed from any floating device from 1,000 feet downstream to 1,500 feet upstream of Reiter Ponds outlet from June 1 through July 31.

The rule was implemented by state Fish and Wildlife to avoid gear conflicts with bank anglers.