Area Sport Fishing Reports
Kodiak

Archived Sport Fishing Report

September 16, 2019

Fall Fishing Report

Freshwater Fishing

• Road system bag limits for coho salmon are now one per day as of September 16 by regulation. The only exceptions are Pillar and Monashka creeks, Mill Bay, and Mission Beach which are two per day year-round.
• Warm, dry weather has kept cohos from entering most local rivers in any large numbers yet. Typically, coho runs are at their peak right now, though most systems seem to be quite late and have very little water.
• The Buskin River has seen very few cohos and has relatively poor coho runs the last few years, so it was decided to close the river to fishing for cohos to attempt to achieve the escapement goal. Please see the corresponding Emergency Order below.
• The places with a few fish and decent fishing right now are Roslyn Creek, American River, and Russian Creek, as well as the Pasagshak drainage that likely has had the best run so far on the road system.
• Pillar and Monashka creeks have some cohos around but are also extremely low so very few fish are in the freshwaters. Some fish are being caught in the nearshore saltwaters and cohos are schooling up in Monashka Bay but there are lots of pink salmon still to sift through.
• From here on out, the best predictor of coho salmon fishing will be rainfall. As soon as local rivers see some increased flow, the pinks will clear out and cohos will come in. Though fishing has been slow, these cohos don’t spawn until late-October and through November, so they have plenty of time to wait it out. The last several years that have seen conditions like this have also seen excellent fishing through the end of October.

Saltwater Fishing

• Most saltwater fishing is focused on cohos right now and the hot places are Ugak Bay and Cape Chiniak. However, cohos are being caught in most places in Chiniak Bay but not with the numbers that have been seen in the last several years.
• By the beginning of October, trolling for cohos will be effectively over.
• King salmon fishing has been slow by most accounts but can pick up at times throughout the winter months, the typical spots are Buoy 4, between Woody and Long islands, and Chiniak.
• Halibut fishing is still good but will slow down in the next several weeks as water temperatures cool.

Local Lakes

• Fall rainbow fishing can be great but most anglers will be waiting for ice this winter. There is typically a hard freeze in early November that gives folks the first crack at ice fishing!

Emergency Orders

Please review the Emergency Orders and News Releases below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip.

• NEW: Emergency Order 2-SS-4-52-19 closed the Buskin River to fishing for coho salmon effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, September 18 through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, December 31, 2019.
• Emergency Order 2-RS-4-45-19 restores the bag limit for sockeye salmon in the Saltery River to 5 per day through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, December 31, 2019.
• Emergency Order 2-RS-4-26-19 increases the bag limit for sockeye salmon in the Buskin River to 5 per day through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, December 31, 2019

This is the last fishing report for the 2019 fishing season. This fishing report will be updated when additional information is available. For current seasonal information, please contact the Kodiak Office at (907) 486-1880.