Area Sport Fishing Reports
Northwest

July 16, 2025

This report is intended for both the Northwest and the North Slope Management Areas.

Local Conditions

Warm, dry weather has brought river levels down nicely throughout Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound area drainages, making for pleasant fishing and boating conditions. Similarly, North Slope rivers and lakes are open and clear, with favorable weather forecasts for the next few days.

Sport Fishing

Resident Species

• Fishing for Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden has been very good in Norton Sound streams. Smolt imitation flies and egg clusters with trailing hooks are working best right now, but small jigs and spoons can work well, too. Fishing for Dollies has been particularly good on the Sinuk, Pilgrim, Nome, and Unalakleet Rivers. Fishing with dry flies on the Niukluk and Fish Rivers has been excellent for grayling. In the next few weeks, as chum and pink salmon begin spawning, egg imitations will work best.
• Dolly Varden in the Kotzebue Sound area drainages have begun moving up into spawning areas, with Noatak River tributaries such as the Kelly, Kugururok, and Nimiuktuk Rivers supporting good numbers of fish. The spawning migration can be spread out over several weeks and fishing should be good into late August.
• Fishing for Arctic char, lake trout, and Arctic grayling in North Slope lakes can be good around the shoreline in the evening and early morning but as the sun gets high and the surface water warms up, many fish will move into deeper water. Confluences of inlet and outlet streams are good spots to try from shore.
• Northern pike are done spawning and should be nice and hungry. The Kuzitrin and Pilgrim Rivers near Nome are good spots, as are the many sloughs and off-channel oxbow lakes of the larger Kobuk, Selawik, and Noatak Rivers.
• Sheefish began their upstream migration to the spawning grounds in the Kobuk and Selawik Rivers a couple of weeks ago, and on the Kobuk River, fish have been caught upstream of the village of Ambler. Fishing will remain good in the upper reaches until mid-August, just before spawning.

Anadromous Species

• Salmon enumeration projects are up and operational on the Niukluk, Nome, Kwiniuk, North, Pilgrim, Ungalik, and Snake Rivers. Counts for most species are below average in many places, but counts of chum salmon are good on the Niukluk and Kwiniuk Rivers and the count of sockeye salmon at the Pilgrim River weir has blown by the lower end of the escapement goal already, with lots of fish still moving upriver. The midpoint for chum salmon counts in Norton Sound Rivers is approximately July 20. Counts of pink salmon are below average everywhere, but there’s still plenty of fish to be caught.

Emergency Orders

Please review the Emergency Orders and Advisory Announcements below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip:

• Emergency Order 3-KS-W-04-25 Closes sport fishing for king salmon in all fresh waters from Bald Head to Point Romanof. This closure includes, but is not limited to, the Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, Koyuk, Ungalik, Inglutalik, and Golsovia river drainages. In addition, only one unbaited, single-hook, artificial lure may be used in these drainages. All king salmon caught incidentally in the waters described above while fishing for other species may not be removed from the water and must be released immediately.

Additional Tips

• Because fish typically grow and reproduce more slowly at high latitudes and elevations, please use proper catch-and-release techniques when engaging in catch-and-release fishing in order to ensure the survival of the released fish such as:
  • Use lures with a single hook and crimp down the barb. Do not use bait.
  • Land the fish with a soft net and keep the fish in the water when removing the hook.
  • To release the fish, hold it gently facing into the current or in water without a current gently cradle the fish and move it slowly back and forth until it swims away under its own power.

ADF&G News

You also purchase licenses through the ADF&G online store and print it off at home. Make sure to review emergency orders, advisory announcements, and the 2025 Northern Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary Booklet for the area you are fishing before you head out.

For More Information

Call Northwest and North Slope Area Management Biologist Brendan Scanlon at (907) 459-7268.