Area Sport Fishing Reports
Kodiak

September 2, 2025

Freshwater Fishing

• Silvers runs around the road system seem to be strong so far. Most of these runs peak in the middle of September but almost all are having better than average silver runs. Buskin, Olds and Pasagshak have been the best fishing so far. Olds and Pasagshak saw some rain last week, so the bite is on a little better there than Buskin or other rivers near town.
• Hatchery silvers are showing up at Mill Bay and Pillar and Monashka Creeks, but the warm, dry weather has made fishing slower. With some rain in the forecast, and temperatures cooling down, fishing should improve.
• There are still a few bright pinks around, though most are spawning or post-spawn. There are lots of pinks in the Buskin, Olds and American rivers.
• Dollies are in most rivers now as well, with Buskin, American, Salonie, and the Olds being local favorites.

Saltwater Fishing

• Not much word on king salmon fishing in the last week, but there has been some success between Woody, Long Islands and in the Fingers area recently.
• Silvers aren’t showing up in large schools near town, but there are smaller scattered groups near Buskin, Woody Island, Kalsin Reef, Buoy 4, and Spruce Cape. Fishing has been good once the schools are found.
• Halibut fishing has been slower by a lot of accounts but folks are still finding fish in the 20-50lb range. The outer reefs at Chiniak, Kalsin and Kodiak rocks have been good at times, but also some fish are being found in shallower waters up in Kalsin Bay, near Buskin and inside some of the bays.
• Not much word on lingcod right now. Recent effort has been focused at Sunken Spruce, Kodiak Rocks and Triple Lumps.
• There’s been quite a bit of success finding a variety of rockfish species lately too: dusky, dark, yellowtail, copper, tiger rockfish. The best success for finding rockfish besides black rockfish has been fishing a little deeper and moving away from the traditional reefs and rock piles that hold the large populations of black rockfish.

Local Lakes

Usually after a big rain in September, the lakes around the island start to fill up with silvers. Lake Rose Teed is starting to get a decent number and fishing has been excellent. Most folks fish from a boat or a float tube to be able to move around and fish directly on the schools.

Special Species Information

• New rockfish regulations took effect April 1 for Kodiak and Afognak waters north of Dangerous and Cape Ikolik. This includes all the waters of Afognak, Raspberry and Shuyak Islands as well as Chiniak, Ugak and Marmot Bays and all of Whale Pass, Kupreanof Straight and the Westside of Kodiak Island. It is also in effect for all anglers, both resident and non-resident.
• Anglers fishing in these waters can keep 5 rockfish per day, but only 2 can be of a single species. This is similar to salmon bag limits in the Kodiak Road Zone and an example would be that an angler could harvest 2 black rockfish, 2 dusky rockfish and a yelloweye. Species ID guides are available in the Southwest Alaska Regulation Booklet, on the ADF&G website and in the Kodiak ADF&G office.
• The standard bag limit for yelloweye rockfish is still in effect Island wide, only one fish of your rockfish bag limit may be a yelloweye.
• After similar regulations were implemented last season, many anglers found that shifting their fishing behavior slightly resulted in increased rockfish catches of species other than black rockfish, which are typically most commonly caught. dark rockfish, dusky rockfish and other species can often be found just off the side of a rock pile or reef and in deeper water than black rockfish that typically prefer the top of and middle of these structures.
• Keep an eye out for some of the species you may not have realized we have in Kodiak: widow, yellowtail, canary, tiger, northern and silvergray rockfish are some of these.
• New for Kodiak waters are Emergency Orders restricting saltwater king salmon harvest. The Island-wide king salmon bag limit has been reduced to 1 fish per day, with no annual limit to align with the rest of the Gulf of Alaska for the 2025 season.

Emergency Orders

Please review the emergency orders and advisory announcements below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip.

• New!! Emergency Order 2-RS-4-37-25 increased the bag and possession limit for sockeye salmon in the Saltery Cove Drainage to 10 per day effective July 10, 2025. This is a combined salmon bag limit, of which all 10 may be sockeye salmon, but no more than 5 may be pink, chum or no more than 2 may be coho salmon.
• New!! Emergency Order 2-RS-4-35-25 increased the bag and possession limit for sockeye salmon in the Ayakulik River Drainage to 10 per day effective July 7, 2025. This is a combined salmon bag limit, of which all 10 may be sockeye salmon, but no more than 5 may be pink, chum or coho.
• Emergency Order 2-RS-4-31-25 increased the bag and possession limit for sockeye salmon in the Buskin River Drainage to 10 per day effective Wednesday July 2, 2025. This is a combined salmon bag limit, of which all 10 may be sockeye salmon, but no more than 5 may be pink, chum or no more than 2 may be coho salmon through September 15.
• Emergency Order 2-RF-4-19-25 reduced the bag and possession limit for a single species of rockfish to 2 per day, 4 in possession north of Outlet Cape and Cape Ikolik. This emergency order is in effect from Tuesday April 1, 2025 through 11:59 pm. Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
• Emergency Order 2-KS-4-16-25 reduce the bag and possession limit for king salmon in the Kodiak Area to 1 per day from 12:01am Tuesday, April 1, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. Monday, September 15, 2025.

Don't forget to purchase your 2025 sport fishing license and king stamp! You can purchase and display your fishing license and king stamp, record your annual harvest (i.e. king salmon), access sport fishing regulations and locations, and so much more on your mobile device. Download the ADF&G Mobile App today. You can also purchase licenses through the ADF&G online store and print it off from the comfort of your own home. Make sure to review emergency orders, advisory announcements, and the 2025 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary booklet for the area you are fishing before you head out.

For additional information, please contact the ADF&G Kodiak Area Office at (907) 486-1880.