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Bristol Bay Fishing Report: Late Season Coho & Crabbing Action
Published 6 months, 1 week ago
Description
Good morning, Bristol Bay anglers—Artificial Lure here with your Wednesday, October 22, 2025, fishing report straight from the heart of the Bay.
Weather this morning is typical for late October—temps are crisp, floating around the upper 30s to low 40s. Winds are light out of the southeast, making for manageable boat runs and some nice casts from shore. Pack your rain gear though; clouds are thick and don’t be surprised if you get brushed by a few passing showers.
Tides today are lively, as reported by Tide-Forecast.com for the area: low tide at 4:13 AM dips just below sea level at -0.09 feet, swinging up to a high of 33.97 feet at 9:09 AM, back to low at 4:11 PM at 4.25 feet, then up again with a high tide at 8:51 PM peaking at 34.76 feet. With this strong exchange, expect the morning bite to really pick up as the water floods in. Sunrise is at 8:58 AM and sunset’s right at 6:24 PM, so plan your major pushes between first light and midday high tide.
Fish activity’s been decent for late season. The last few days brought good reports of coho in the Naknek and Nushagak rivers. Folks swinging spinners, especially size 4 Blue Fox Vibrax and Mepps Aglia in orange or chartreuse, have been hooking silvers at river mouths and deeper pools. For fly anglers, pink and chartreuse Clouser Minnows or flashy streamers are proving themselves—keep your tips sinking and your retrieves steady as coho are still showing despite cooler temps.
Bait-wise, it’s hard to beat cured salmon eggs and herring cut-plugs. Egg sacs drifted under a float are pulling in those final pulses of late silvers. Guides recommend a slow drift near seams and behind gravel bars where fish are holding before pushing upriver.
Another local highlight this week: Bristol Bay’s crab fisheries are in full swing with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announcing 2.68 million pounds of red king crab, 9.3 million of snow crab, and strong tanner crab quotas. Commercial pots are dropping near Port Moller and Egegik. The best baits for crab remain herring or cod chunks, and plenty of folks are reporting full pots after overnight soaks. If you’re dropping your own, stay tight to legal depths and mark those floats well.
As for hotspots, don’t overlook the lower Naknek River at first light for aggressive silvers, while the Wood River mouth is prime once the tide pushes in. For crabbers, the nearshore flats outside Dillingham and just off Coffee Point have been reliable—pots set just off the edge in thirty feet of water are turning up crab limits.
One last tidbit—recent runs are lighter as we move deeper into fall, so timing with the tides is everything. Even with the bite slowing, persistent anglers tossing spinners near log jams or drifting roe are bringing fish to hand.
Thanks for tuning in to your Bristol Bay report. Be sure to subscribe for all the local updates, stay safe out there, and tight lines.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
Weather this morning is typical for late October—temps are crisp, floating around the upper 30s to low 40s. Winds are light out of the southeast, making for manageable boat runs and some nice casts from shore. Pack your rain gear though; clouds are thick and don’t be surprised if you get brushed by a few passing showers.
Tides today are lively, as reported by Tide-Forecast.com for the area: low tide at 4:13 AM dips just below sea level at -0.09 feet, swinging up to a high of 33.97 feet at 9:09 AM, back to low at 4:11 PM at 4.25 feet, then up again with a high tide at 8:51 PM peaking at 34.76 feet. With this strong exchange, expect the morning bite to really pick up as the water floods in. Sunrise is at 8:58 AM and sunset’s right at 6:24 PM, so plan your major pushes between first light and midday high tide.
Fish activity’s been decent for late season. The last few days brought good reports of coho in the Naknek and Nushagak rivers. Folks swinging spinners, especially size 4 Blue Fox Vibrax and Mepps Aglia in orange or chartreuse, have been hooking silvers at river mouths and deeper pools. For fly anglers, pink and chartreuse Clouser Minnows or flashy streamers are proving themselves—keep your tips sinking and your retrieves steady as coho are still showing despite cooler temps.
Bait-wise, it’s hard to beat cured salmon eggs and herring cut-plugs. Egg sacs drifted under a float are pulling in those final pulses of late silvers. Guides recommend a slow drift near seams and behind gravel bars where fish are holding before pushing upriver.
Another local highlight this week: Bristol Bay’s crab fisheries are in full swing with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announcing 2.68 million pounds of red king crab, 9.3 million of snow crab, and strong tanner crab quotas. Commercial pots are dropping near Port Moller and Egegik. The best baits for crab remain herring or cod chunks, and plenty of folks are reporting full pots after overnight soaks. If you’re dropping your own, stay tight to legal depths and mark those floats well.
As for hotspots, don’t overlook the lower Naknek River at first light for aggressive silvers, while the Wood River mouth is prime once the tide pushes in. For crabbers, the nearshore flats outside Dillingham and just off Coffee Point have been reliable—pots set just off the edge in thirty feet of water are turning up crab limits.
One last tidbit—recent runs are lighter as we move deeper into fall, so timing with the tides is everything. Even with the bite slowing, persistent anglers tossing spinners near log jams or drifting roe are bringing fish to hand.
Thanks for tuning in to your Bristol Bay report. Be sure to subscribe for all the local updates, stay safe out there, and tight lines.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI