Lower Cook Inlet Management Area
Fishing Information
The sport fisheries in the Lower Cook Inlet Management Area are primarily accessed from Homer and along the Sterling Highway. The sport fishing opportunities are diverse, including access to halibut, salmon, rockfish, and lingcod saltwater sportfishing out the of Homer Harbor and Anchor Point and Deep Creek tractor launches. Stocked king and coho salmon return to the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on the Homer Spit, and king salmon return to the Seldovia Slough on the south side of Kachemak Bay.
Fresh water opportunities include the road-accessible Anchor River, Stariski Creek, Deep Creek and Ninilchik River; in which there are fisheries for king salmon, coho salmon, steelhead trout, and Dolly Varden. Other freshwater sport fisheries include the streams on the south side of Kachemak Bay and on the west side of Cook Inlet, in which the most commonly targeted species are coho salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, and Dolly Varden. There are relatively few lakes in the Lower Cook Inlet management area, but the Homer Reservoir is an easily accessible fishery for Dolly Varden, and Caribou Lake also presents an option for dollies and landlocked salmon.
Shellfish sport fishing opportunities include Tanner crab in Kachemak Bay and razor clams in Cook Inlet.
During the summer sport fishing season, ADF&G provides weekly fishing reports and update king and coho salmon, Dolly Varden, and steelhead escapement counts daily. ADF&G also issues news releases and emergency orders throughout the fishing season that change sport fishing regulations. In addition to these resources, there are several resources listed below that give information on fisheries in Lower Cook Inlet.
Check out our Sport Fishing Publications webpage for various publications.
The following links lead to regulation summaries of Alaska sport and personal use fishing regulations published by the Division of Sport Fish as a service to anglers. They are not intended to be a complete digest of all fishing regulations.
Regulations may be changed by the Alaska Board of Fisheries during its regular meetings, by emergency regulation, or by emergency order at any time. Any changes to the regulations are made available through the emergency order link below.
Lower Cook Inlet Emergency Orders
Lower Cook Inlet Regulations