It’s a fishing day

Pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

0 of 10worth the trip today

Best right now at Whittier / Passage Canal, Alaska. Water is inside the 42–60° range pink salmon like at 0 of the 1 spot with a live reading.

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Where pink salmon score best right now
Pink Salmon

About pink salmon

The "humpy" — the smallest Pacific salmon and by far the most numerous. Pinks live exactly two years, so each stream has an odd-year and an even-year run that never mix, and in much of Southcentral Alaska the even-year run is the big one. They pour into river mouths and hatchery terminal areas from mid-July through August and hit small spoons, spinners and pink flies from shore, which makes them the easiest salmon for a family or first-timer. Best eaten fresh from salt water; males grow the hump and lose condition fast once in the river.

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, family Salmonidae.

Pink salmon, spot by spot

All 10 spots with pink salmon in season, scored for pink salmon, best first.

The water they want

Pink salmon feed from about 42° to 60°F and best near 52°. Each pin is one spot’s water right now, from NOAA and USGS gauges; 0 of 1 are inside the range.

ideal 52°
42°60°

How they feed

  • Water42–60°F, best near 52°
  • TideIncoming
  • MoonEither
  • DepthUsually 1–15 ft
  • Active monthsJul–Aug

Scored against their own temperature range and tide preference first, then wind, weather and warnings. Solunar periods only break ties. How the score works

Keep or release

  • Alaska6 a dayCook Inlet and Kachemak Bay salt water: chum, coho, pink and sockeye are 6 a day in combination, 6 in possession, and only 3 of those may be coho. Alaska changes limits by Emergency Order in season, so check the ADF&G emergency orders the day you fish.Pacific waters · verified Oct 18, 2026 · source · 20 days since checked
  • Alaska non-tidal3 a dayKenai Peninsula flowing waters: chum, coho, pink and sockeye salmon 16" or longer are 3 a day in combination, 3 in possession, and only 2 of those may be coho. Alaska changes limits by Emergency Order in season, so check the ADF&G emergency orders the day you fish.Non tidal waters · verified Oct 18, 2026 · source · 20 days since checked

Rules change, and they differ by state and often by water. Each spot page shows the limits for its own water. Pink salmon are fished at spots in 1 state: Alaska.

Waters with their own rules

These waters set limits for pink salmon that differ from the rest of their state.

Fished in the same water

Species people target at the same spots as pink salmon, and how they’re doing today.

Coho salmonOncorhynchus kisutch

10 of 35 spots worth the trip

Best now at Marquette Park Beach, IN100

Bites in 44–58° water

Dolly VardenSalvelinus malma

1 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at Kenai River, AK72

Bites in 38–58° water

Chum salmonOncorhynchus keta

0 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Whittier / Passage Canal, AK32

Bites in 42–58° water

Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytscha

9 of 40 spots worth the trip

Best now at Rogue River, OR100

Bites in 42–58° water