Troutline

Situk River

Alaska·Southeast·59.59° N, 139.49° W
Flow
169 CFS
SITUK R NR YAKUTAT AK
Water Temp
54°F
SITUK R NR YAKUTAT AK
Condition
Above Normal
Weather
52°F
Slight Chance Rain Showers
near Yakutat

Insights

Flow
169 CFS — wading range
Solid water for fishing.
Water Temp
Water 54°F — prime
Active-feeding window.
Wind
Wind 0 mph — calm
Easy casting and clean surface presentations.
Sky
Rain incoming
Surface activity often spikes ahead of the soaking — watch the window.

The Situk is a short, tea-colored coastal river outside Yakutat that punches far above its size. It runs only about 22 miles from Situk Lake to tidewater on the Gulf of Alaska — small enough to wade in most places, a rod-length of clear water over gravel — yet it carries the largest wild steelhead run in the state. The spring run peaks the last week of April into mid-May, and a quieter fall run filters in through September and October. Fish average 10 to 12 pounds, and every season kicks out a handful in the high 30s and low 40s. On top of the steelhead it gets all five Pacific salmon plus resident and sea-run Dolly Varden, so from March breakup through October there's almost always something fresh in the river.

This is not a hatch-and-match fishery — it's an egg, flesh, and swung-fly system. For steelhead most anglers run an indicator with a micro-jig or bead (8 to 26mm, but 10 to 14mm does most of the work) in pinks, oranges, and peach, or swing leeches and intruders on a two-hander. Because the water is intimate and often clear, you're frequently reading fish rather than blind-casting. It's also flashy: a 35.5-square-mile rain-fed drainage blows out fast after a Gulf storm and drops and clears just as fast, so the fishing can swing from unfishable to prime in a day. The USGS gauge at Nine Mile Bridge is the number everyone watches — the sweet spot is a river that's dropping and clearing after rain.

Access is easy by Alaska standards and hard by everyone else's. Yakutat has daily jet service, and Forest Highway 10 puts you on the river in about ten minutes. The classic trip is the 13-mile float from the Forest Service launch at Nine Mile Bridge down to the Lower Landing at tidewater, with trails along the upper and lower river for wade anglers. The trade-off is crowding at peak — the late-April steelhead window draws a crowd to the put-in and the best runs, so solitude is not the draw here. It's a single-hook, no-bait fishery, and steelhead are effectively catch-and-release: handle them wet and quick.

Species

  • Steelhead
    Primary · Late Apr-mid May; Sep-Oct · 30-40"+ (10-22 lb)

    The largest wild steelhead run in Alaska. Spring run peaks the last week of April; a quieter, less-pressured fall run comes Sep-Oct. Fished with beads/jigs under an indicator or swung leeches and intruders. Effectively catch-and-release.

  • Coho Salmon
    Common · Aug-Sep · 8-15 lb

    The best fly action of the salmon run — aggressive to stripped and swung clousers, dollies, and egg-sucking leeches. Peaks Aug 15-Sep 25.

  • Sockeye Salmon
    Common · Jun-Jul · 4-8 lb

    Strong run peaking late June into mid-July. Dead-drift sparse patterns and swing the seams for clean hookups. Estuary bag limits apply.

  • Pink Salmon
    Common · Jul-Aug · 3-5 lb

    Big even-year returns bring nonstop action on small pink streamers and clousers — good light-tackle fun for kids and new anglers.

  • Chinook Salmon
    Seasonal · Jun (when open) · 15-40 lb

    The king fishery opens only when escapement objectives are met — check current ADF&G emergency orders each season before targeting them.

  • Chum Salmon
    Present · Summer · 6-12 lb

    Present through summer but rarely targeted.

  • Dolly Varden
    Common · Apr-Oct · 10-20"

    The save-the-day fish when steelhead are scarce. Resident and sea-run Dollies feed on eggs and flesh all season — reliable on beads and small flesh flies between the runs.

  • Coastal Cutthroat Trout
    Present · May-Sep · 8-16"

    Coastal cutthroat throughout the system, taken on small streamers, beads, and egg patterns.

  • Rainbow Trout
    Present · May-Sep · 8-16"

    Resident rainbows distinct from the anadromous steelhead.

Ideal wading flow150–700 CFS
Blow-out>1,500 CFS
Ideal water temp40–55°F

Late April through mid-May is the signature window — the spring steelhead peak, best when the river is low and clear after rain. August-September overlaps coho and the start of the fall steelhead run, and June-July brings sockeye and pink volume. Watch USGS 15129500 for the trend, not an absolute number: the Situk is rain-fed and flashy, so the prime condition is dropping and clearing after a Gulf storm. Very low, ultra-clear water makes spooky steelhead tough — fish early and late and lengthen leaders. Overcast helps.

Sections

3 sections on this river

Upper Situk — Situk Lake Outlet to Nine Mile Bridge

WadeSteelhead · Bull Trout

The headwater reach from the Situk Lake outlet down to the Nine Mile Bridge — smaller, more intimate water where early steelhead stage. Reached from the upper road; a good option when the float is crowded during the spring run.

Best for: Staging steelhead and holding Dolly Varden in intimate upper water; the top of the river.

The Float — Nine Mile Bridge to Lower Landing

FloatSteelhead · Salmon

The roughly 13-mile core of the fishery — the classic Situk float from the Nine Mile Bridge (where the gauge sits) down to the Lower Landing. World-class wild steelhead in spring and fall, all five Pacific salmon through summer, swung on Spey rods or drifted with beads through endless holding water.

Best for: The signature Situk steelhead float; wild spring and fall fish plus summer salmon.

Lower Situk — Tidewater

WadeSteelhead · Salmon · Bull Trout

The tidal lower river below the Lower Landing down toward the old railroad bridge — bright, fresh fish straight off the salt. Coho and Dolly Varden in the fall, steelhead pushing through on both runs.

Best for: Fresh, bright steelhead and coho off the tide; the lowest reach before the sea.

Regulations

Current fishing rules and restrictions

Single-hook, unbaited artificial-only, year-round throughout the Situk River drainage. Steelhead are managed as a wild fishery and are effectively catch-and-release. Some reaches have their own open seasons, and the king salmon fishery opens only when escapement objectives are met.

  • Single hooks only — up to two single hooks per line.
  • Unbaited artificial lures or flies only, year-round. Bait is prohibited.
  • Steelhead: managed as a wild fishery and effectively catch-and-release; confirm the current Southeast steelhead/rainbow-trout provisions and any annual harvest-record rule against the live ADF&G regs before keeping a fish.
  • Coho salmon: 16" or longer, 2 per day, 2 in possession.
  • King (Chinook) salmon: the fishery opens only when escapement objectives are met — check current ADF&G emergency orders each season.
  • Situk-Ahrnklin Estuary: sockeye salmon 3 per day, 6 in possession.
  • Mouth to Railroad Bridge Ruins: open Oct 15-June 14 (anglers 60+ may fish this reach year-round).
  • Upstream from the Middle Situk airstrip: king salmon season open Sept 1-June 30.
  • From ADF&G markers 2 mi upstream of Nine Mile Bridge to markers 2 mi downstream of Situk Lake: open May 16-April 14.

Run-status caveat: the king (Chinook) fishery opens only when in-season escapement objectives are met, so it can be closed entirely in a given year — always verify the current-year ADF&G emergency orders and the Yakutat Area PDF before a trip. Alaska resident/nonresident sport fishing license required. Regulations change annually.

Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game — Yakutat Management Area Special Regulations. Regulations change annually — verify before fishing.

Access & Logistics

Getting there, fly shops, and lodging

Getting There

Yakutat, AK

~10 min from Yakutat airport to Nine Mile Bridge via Forest Highway 10; daily jet service to Yakutat (YAK) from Juneau/Anchorage

Camping & Lodging

Lodging is lodge-based or in-town in Yakutat (pop. ~600), the only settlement — fuel, groceries, and air service are all there. Guides operate under Tongass National Forest / Yakutat Ranger District permits.

Semi-remote but road-accessible once you're in Yakutat. Forest Highway 10 reaches Nine Mile Bridge; the Situk Landing road reaches the lower river and tidewater (~8 miles from the airport). The classic trip is the 13-mile float from Nine Mile Bridge to the Lower Landing, with foot trails along the upper and lower river for wade anglers. Expect crowds at the peak late-April steelhead window.

Conditions data is live from public monitoring networks. Regulations change annually — always verify current rules with your state fish & wildlife agency before fishing.

More in Alaska

View all 12 rivers

Other regions

Anchor RiverAK

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Chena RiverAK

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Gulkana RiverAK

The rare interior-Alaska river that fishes like a trout stream — a clearwater, Wild and Scenic system draining Paxson Lake down through the Copper River Basin, where you can watch a fish eat instead of dead-drifting a bead blind through glacial silt. It holds one of the densest Arctic grayling populations in the state, a genuinely wild native rainbow fishery, and a summer push of king and sockeye salmon off the Copper. The signature trip is the 3–4 day float from Paxson Lake to Sourdough; the road-accessible lower mainstem is where the bank crowds work the salmon. Kings are heavily managed by ADF&G emergency order — check current status before planning a trip around them.

Iliamna RiverAK

A glacial river flowing off the Chigmit Mountains into Pile Bay at the northeast corner of Iliamna Lake — distinct from the town and the lake that share the name. Flyout-only water reached by float plane and lodge, home to trophy rainbow trout, Arctic char, grayling, and Dolly Varden holding behind a strong sockeye run. The gauge near Pedro Bay streams flow, stage, and water temperature, and carries a live NOAA forecast overlay. Conditions are flow plus weather; the fishery is run timing — check ADF&G Bristol Bay counts before a trip.

Kasilof RiverAK

The Kenai's quieter little brother — a short, fast, glacier-fed river draining Tustumena Lake and running milky blue-gray with rock flour all summer. Not a hatch-matching river: perpetual glacial silt makes this a bead, yarn, and streamer salmon fishery, where sockeye stack on the upper gravel bars, kings hold in the deeper lower river, and silvers show in the fall. The lone USGS gauge reads river level only (no discharge), so anglers watch stage and clarity trends — but the real signal is run timing and ADF&G emergency orders, which gate king fishing hard. Check current sonar/weir counts and the standing EO before you go.

Kenai RiverAK

Alaska's marquee road-accessible river — turquoise, glacier-fed water running from Kenai Lake at Cooper Landing down through Skilak Lake to Soldotna and Cook Inlet. Not a hatch-matching river: this is a bead, flesh, smolt, and egg fishery built entirely on salmon, where five species of Pacific salmon feed some of the largest wild rainbows and Dolly Varden anywhere. Conditions here are flow plus weather; the fishery itself is run timing and in-season ADF&G emergency orders — check current sonar counts and orders before a trip, because a green flow gauge does not mean an open fishery.