Area Sport Fishing Reports
Yakutat

May 1, 2025

Freshwaters

Steelhead Trout

The bad weather continues in Yakutat. We even had snow again yesterday for a bit. Lots of precipitation and cold conditions are persisting. Water levels from this last storm have current water levels sitting at unfishable levels if you are trying to wade fish by foot. We are currently sitting at 629 cfs, which is above doable wade fishing conditions (450 cfs). Rain is forecast to continue today and tomorrow before a small break and then another storm Sunday and Monday. Weather starts to look decent starting on Wednesday of next week with precipitation amounts dropping significantly. Boat anglers will be unaffected by the higher water levels and in fact will probably benefit from it in terms of reaching and not spooking fish. Fishing reports have been spotty lately with anglers hitting fish one day, and then nothing the next. Staff and AWT troopers touched up the upper river spawning closure markers and contacted sport anglers on their way out. There are alot of dark fall run/lake fish that are currently spawning in the upper reaches. The bite is off for the most part up there. Fresh fish however are entering the lower river and provide a good chance for hooking up given spawning fish are off the bite. Numbers of fresh fish appear to be decent but not sure about timing yet. If the cooler weather has any effect, then we could be seeing later run-timing for the spring component which would have them coming in good right about now. We'll see.

Saltwaters

King Salmon

Sportfishing for king salmon is open in Yakutat area marine waters. More sport fishing reports for saltwater king salmon fishing have come in over the past week. There are a few kings being caught back inside Yakutat Bay at locations such as logdump, Johnstone Pass, and Monti Bay. Herring have still been seen spawning in locations such as Puget Cove and Point Turner, but for the most part have vacated the area. Most anglers troll spoons or herring behind a flasher. Please check the department website below for the recent emergency order and advisory annoucements regarding 2025 regional king salmon regulations for Southeast Alaska.

Halibut

Halibut fishing is slow. Some decent fish have been brought in over the last week, but its still early and weather has been bad for getting out front. Fishing should start picking up this month.

Lingcod

Lingcod fishing is closed until May 16th. Please check the department website for the recent emergency order and advisory annoucements regarding changes to lingcod regulations in the Yakutat management area.

Rockfish

Fishing for rockfish should be excellent in the Yakutat area. Please check the department website for the recent emergency order and advisory annoucements regarding changes to rockfish regulations in 2025 for Southeast Alaska.

For further information, please get in touch with the Yakutat Area Sport Fish management biologist Jason Pawluk at (907) 784-3222.

Emergency orders can be found on our website.

Check out the new gofishak interactive map to discover popular fishing locations and information on species run timing, fishing gear selections, and boat and angler access tips!