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Tongass Home » Recreation » Yakutat Ranger District
Introduction to the Situk River
A mere twenty miles long, the Situk River unobtrusively slips through spruce forests and muskeg meadows from it’s headwaters in the Russell Fiord Wilderness to the Gulf of Alaska. It’s deep tea-colored pools and mossy log jams don’t shout its grandeur. You wouldn’t crane your neck to stare at it if you were passing by in a car. It is not an immense river like the Yukon River or powerhouse like the Alsek River, but make no mistake, the Situk River deserves to be counted amongst Alaska’s great rivers.
If you did pull over and stare down into one of the Situk River’s deep pools, chances are you would see a fish. From early spring to late fall the Situk River is a vein that pulses pacific salmon. Five species of pacific salmon, Dolly Varden char, and the states largest documented run of steelhead call the Situk River home. In the time that it has been recorded, the annual return of anadromous fish to the Situk River has been about 450,000 fish. That’s over twenty-two thousand fish per main stem river mile!
People have been drawn to the Situk River and the massive runs of fish for hundreds of years. Refreshingly, in today’s world of endangered salmon and concrete tributaries, all kinds of people are still drawn for the same reason to the Situk River. Locals still hunt, fish and trap along the Situk River. A commercial fishery shipping wild Alaskan salmon out to the world operates in the Situk-Ahrnklin Estuary. Finally, anglers from as close as Juneau, Alaska, or from as far as Japan choose the Yakutat Ranger District for a sport fishing vacation on the Situk River.
Fishing in Alaska can be a challenging endeavor. Salmon are highly migratory and their availability at any given time or place is never totally assured. Rain, snow, clouds, biting insects, and bears can make a trip difficult. We hope these pages not only provide a useful tool for anglers visiting the Yakutat Ranger District but will also help to impart a sense of stewardship towards the river. You may come in search of a cooler full of filets, the trophy of a lifetime, or both, but you will leave with memories that will last a lifetime.
USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest Accessibility Statement
Last Modified: March 30, 2008