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Home › Waters › Alaska › Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam
Tailwater · Southcentral Alaska, Kenai Peninsula Borough, the head of Kachemak Bay east of Homer below Bradley Lake · Alaska

Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam Fishing Guides

A short, cold Kenai Peninsula river running from a hydroelectric dam to the head of Kachemak Bay, where salmon push in from tidewater and Dolly Varden follow them.

A concrete dam releasing water into the river below it
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam

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About the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam

The Bradley River runs a short distance from Bradley Lake to the head of Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsula, and since the hydroelectric project was built the river below the dam has been a managed release rather than a free-flowing glacial stream. The gauge below the dam reads discharge and stage continuously, which for a tailwater is exactly the pair of numbers an angler wants. Bradley Lake is fed by glacial ice, and the character of the water released from it, cold and carrying rock flour, is what defines the river downstream.

This is a genuinely short river with a big job. It drops quickly from the dam through a steep forested valley to tidewater, so the fishable water is compressed into a few miles, and the tide reaches well up into the lower river. That combination of a managed release at the top and a tidal influence at the bottom means conditions here change on two separate clocks, and understanding both is the difference between a good day and a wasted flight or drive.

The fishing is built on salmon. All five Pacific salmon species use the head of Kachemak Bay and the streams entering it, with pink and chum salmon the most abundant, sockeye and coho the most sought after, and chinook present in smaller numbers. Dolly Varden are the resident char and follow the salmon runs to feed on eggs, which makes late summer and autumn the most productive period. Rainbow trout, steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout are part of the wider regional picture.

Access is the real consideration. The river sits across Kachemak Bay from Homer with no road connection, so most anglers arrive by boat or by air taxi from Homer, and this is remote country where weather governs travel. Alaska’s regulations for this area are detailed and change by species and season, so reading them before travelling is not optional.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam cfs

Now: 0.6 cfs, read 5:15 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 15239001, BRADLEY R BL DAM NR HOMER AK).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Homer - the regional centre across Kachemak Bay, with lodging, charters, air taxis, tackle and supplies.
Homer Spit - the harbour and departure point for boat access across the bay.
Kachemak Bay - the body of water the river enters, with its own excellent saltwater fishery.
Air taxi and water taxi operators - the practical means of reaching the river, booked out of Homer.
Kachemak Bay State Park - the surrounding public land, with trails and remote camping.
Fox River and Sheep Creek - neighbouring streams at the head of the bay worth knowing.
Anchor River and Deep Creek - road-accessible Kenai Peninsula alternatives when weather closes the bay.

Seasons

Spring: the river is cold and quiet, with little happening until the first runs begin and access is weather-dependent.
Summer: salmon enter from tidewater through the season, with pink and chum salmon the most abundant arrivals.
Fall: the best fishing of the year, with coho salmon running and Dolly Varden feeding hard behind spawning fish.
Winter: access is impractical for most anglers and the fishery is effectively closed by weather and remoteness.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam?

As of Oct 18, 5:15 pm, the USGS gauge BRADLEY R BL DAM NR HOMER AK reads 1 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam?

Anglers target Chinook Salmon, Chum Salmon, Coastal Cutthroat Trout, Coho Salmon, Dolly Varden, Pink Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Sockeye Salmon, Steelhead on the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam in Alaska.

Where can you access the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam?

Homer - the regional centre across Kachemak Bay, with lodging, charters, air taxis, tackle and supplies. Homer Spit - the harbour and departure point for boat access across the bay. Kachemak Bay - the body of water the river enters, with its own excellent saltwater fishery. Air taxi and water taxi operators - the practical means of reaching the river, booked out of Homer. Kachemak Bay State Park - the surrounding public land, with trails and remote camping. Fox River and Sheep Creek - neighbouring streams at the head of the bay worth knowing. Anchor River and Deep Creek - road-accessible Kenai...

When is the best time to fish the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam?

Spring: the river is cold and quiet, with little happening until the first runs begin and access is weather-dependent. Summer: salmon enter from tidewater through the season, with pink and chum salmon the most abundant arrivals. Fall: the best fishing of the year, with coho salmon running and Dolly Varden feeding hard behind spawning fish. Winter: access is impractical for most anglers and the fishery is effectively closed by weather and remoteness.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Bradley River below Bradley Lake Dam?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Alaska agency site: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishregulations.main