Artificial Lure here with your Monday, April 21, 2025, Bristol Bay fishing report. It’s prime springtime on the Bay, and you can feel the anticipation in the air. Let’s get you up to speed on what’s biting, where to go, and what to toss in the water.

Weather today is classic early-season Bristol Bay—expect cool mornings around freezing, warming up just into the 40s by midday. Winds are light out of the southeast, and conditions are fairly calm making it a perfect day to be on the water.

Sunrise this morning was at 6:32 am and sunset won’t be till 9:59 pm, so you’ve got plenty of daylight to chase fish. Tides today are running moderate, with a high tide around 12:15 pm and a low tide bottoming out at 6:40 pm, ideal for working river mouths and sloughs in the afternoon.

Sockeye salmon is the talk of the town. The 2025 run is shaping up strong with a forecast calling for about 51.3 million fish flooding the rivers. This should translate to a potential harvest of over 34 million sockeye just in Bristol Bay waters this season, keeping every net and rod busy. Fish are already trickling in and recent days have seen the first pickups near the Naknek and Egegik river mouths. Boats are reporting good early numbers with catches in the hundreds per set for commercial nets and a handful per angler for those dipping and casting.

For the sporties, rainbow trout are staging up in the tributaries, getting ready for the spring feast. Folks drifting the Alagnak and Nushagak are starting to see some chunky trout pushing the 20-inch mark. Dolly Varden are also making a showing in side channels, eager for egg patterns and flashy spoons.

For lures, nothing beats a classic Mepps spinner, Vibrax Blue Fox, or a brightly colored Pixee spoon for aggressive salmon and trout right now. Drab, egg-colored beads or streamers will fool rainbows and Dollies, especially in the morning hours. If you’re drifting bait, cured salmon roe is king, but don’t discount a gob of garden worms on a slow retrieve.

The Naknek River near King Salmon and the mouths of the Egegik and Kvichak Rivers are the current hot spots. These areas are seeing the most action as salmon stack up with the tides. For trout, the upper stretches of the Alagnak are coming alive, and local whispers point to the Wood River for a sneaky strong Dolly bite.

Overall, it’s a promising start to the 2025 season. The fish are here, tides are right, and the weather’s cooperating. Get your gear ready and tight lines out there, folks—you’re in for a good day on the Bay.

Artificial Lure signing off, wishing you all bent rods and full nets.