Kodiak Fishing Report: Plenty Of Pinks In Roadside Streams

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Kodiak Fishing Report

August 19, 2025

Freshwater Fishing

• Saltery and Pasagshak weirs are out for the season but both rivers are still seeing reds come in with decent fishing being reported. Silvers are being caught pretty regularly at both locations.
• Silvers are showing up at most road side rivers with the Buskin, Olds, American and Salonie seeing some fish come in with the tides. Recent sunny days and high temperatures are making fishing a little slower with early mornings generally best.
• Pinks are in thick now in all road side streams, but lots of bright ones around still. Fish near the mouths and intertidal areas are the best bet for bright pinks. Pillar, Buskin, American and Olds all have been great spots.
• Dollies are in most rivers now as well, with Buskin, Salonie, and the Olds being local favorites.

Saltwater Fishing

• King salmon fishing has been excellent if you can get away from the pinks. Buoy 4, the Fingers and Chiniak have been the places to go. Some recent effort at Whale Pass has been successful.
• Silvers are in as well with most being found in the same spots but also closer in near Spruce Cape and Buoy 4 on some days. There are some schools showing up in Monashka Bay as well. Lots of schools of bait are around and most folks indicate catching silvers near these schools. There’s been success at Chiniak off and on, sounds like some days are good and others are tougher.
• A lot of saltwater fishing effort has been focused on salmon, but lingcod fishing has been decent near Kodiak Rocks and off East Cape.

Local Lakes

If you’ve caught enough pinks for the season and want to try for trout, there can be some good rainbow fishing even on hot summer days. Most folks report the best fishing in higher elevation lakes such as Heitman and Aurel, but they are best fished with a boat or float tube and fishing the deeper parts of the lake usually produces the best results.

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.