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Ketchikan Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Ketchikan Creek runs through downtown Ketchikan into Thomas Basin, with salmon in the creek and kings in the surrounding salt water.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 5:44 PM
Air / High
36 / 46 F
Wind
E 2 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 9450460, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Ketchikan is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. Today brings cloud cover, wind E around 2 mph, falling pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 46. Tides: high 11:31 AM and 11:51 PM, low 5:11 AM and 5:44 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 53 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:59 PM-11:59 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rockfish (Pacific)Excellent

Much of the open season along the coast falls in this band. Fish through suspended schools of black, blue and other midwater rockfish, and closer to the rocks for vermilion, copper and China rockfish.

SteelheadExcellent

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Chinook salmonFair

Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 53 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 9450460 (Ketchikan). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW5:11 AM1.7 ft
HIGH11:31 AM15.5 ft
LOW5:44 PM0.8 ft
HIGH11:51 PM14.7 ft
Sat
LOW5:47 AM1.4 ft
HIGH12:02 PM16.6 ft
LOW6:21 PM-0.8 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp36 F
High / Low46 / 34 F
WindE 2-7 mph
Pressure1029.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 20%
Sunrise / Sunset07:33 / 17:27
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~53 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Ketchikan this week

Today is the pick of the week on Ketchikan, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:59 PM-11:59 PM
Minor period
3:54 AM-4:54 AM
Sun
07:33 to 17:27
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 3 mph
Rain chance
20%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Ketchikan: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Chinook salmon illustration

Chinook salmon

Seasons follow the runs: spring, summer and fall runs on the West Coast, and late summer into fall in Great Lakes rivers

The largest Pacific salmon, caught by trolling and mooching at sea and by drifting and plunking in rivers as adults return to spawn; also stocked in the Great Lakes. Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Rockfish (Pacific) illustration

Rockfish (Pacific)

Seasons and depth limits vary by state and zone

Pacific rockfish are about 60 Sebastes species managed under the federal groundfish plan, from black and blue rockfish schooling over shallow reefs to yelloweye that live more than a century in deep water. Much of the open season along the coast falls in this band. Fish through suspended schools of black, blue and other midwater rockfish, and closer to the rocks for vermilion, copper and China rockfish.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

When to come: the Ketchikan calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Chinook salmon
Rockfish (Pacific)
Steelhead
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 53 F (estimated, not a reading).

405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~53 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Ketchikan today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rockfish (Pacific) led the card at good. High of 45 F, wind to 5 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rockfish (Pacific) led the card at good. High of 47 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rockfish (Pacific) led the card at good. High of 48 F, wind to 16 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Alaska requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Alaska sport fishing license (residents 18 and older, nonresidents 16 and older), plus a king salmon stamp to fish for kings, per ADF&G. Ketchikan Creek and Thomas Basin have their own rules in the 2026 Southeast Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations (Ketchikan area); emergency orders override the booklet.

Access

The creek mouth and Thomas Basin are in downtown Ketchikan. The City Park Ponds near the creek open the first Saturday in June through August 31 under the 2026 rules.

About this water

Ketchikan Creek and the Thomas Basin waterfront, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska. Tide times come from NOAA station 9450460 (Ketchikan) in Tongass Narrows.

Fishing Ketchikan: the full guide

The creek and the salt

Ketchikan Creek flows out of Ketchikan Lake and reaches tidewater at Thomas Basin in the middle of town. ADF&G says the marine waters of the Ketchikan area hold all five Pacific salmon species, along with halibut, lingcod and rockfish, and that mature king salmon of up to 60 pounds are present from late April through June, peaking in June.

Creek rules for 2026

The 2026 Southeast Alaska regulations treat Ketchikan Creek, including Schoenbar Creek, as a special water: only unbaited, single-hook artificial lures or flies year-round, and no bait. The daily limit is 2 chum, coho, pink and sockeye salmon in combination, 16 inches or longer, plus 2 king salmon with no size limit. Steelhead are 1 per day with a 36-inch minimum and a 2-fish annual limit that must be written on a harvest record.

The mouth at Thomas Basin

At the creek mouth the saltwater rules for Thomas Basin apply, seaward from the Thomas Basin Bridge to the breakwater: snagging is closed, any fish hooked other than in the mouth must be released, no more than two single hooks may be used and bait is allowed. ADF&G names Deer Mountain among the hatcheries behind the area's coho stocking.

Common questions

What tackle is allowed in Ketchikan Creek?

Only unbaited, single-hook artificial lures or flies, all year, under the 2026 ADF&G regulations. At Thomas Basin, below the bridge, bait is allowed but no more than two single hooks.

Do I need a king salmon stamp?

Yes, to fish for king salmon, unless you are a resident under 18, a nonresident under 16 or an ADF&G Identification Card holder (ADF&G license page).

When are kings around Ketchikan?

ADF&G says mature kings are present in the area's marine waters from late April through June, with peak availability in June.

Is fishing good at Ketchikan right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Sitka185 miSituk River410 miElwha River607 miSkagit River619 miBaker Lake624 miHumptulips River650 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 9450460 β€” Ketchikan
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 11 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 55.3400, -131.6300 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.