CatchWindow fishing intelligence

Unalaska, AK Daily Water Report — October 8, 2026

Unalaska gets a qualified go today: manageable seas make it a workable day for boating, sailing, diving and kayaking, but the wind is the boss and it has a short temper. Boating leads the activity scores at 7.1/10, with sailing at 7/10 and diving at 6.9/10. Those are useful planning signals, not safety clearances—especially with south winds ranging from about 11 to 24 knots and a strongest gust forecast near 47 knots around 9 AM. The best water window is the mid-to-late afternoon, when wave height is forecast to reach its daily minimum near 0.52 m around 4 PM. That lines up closely with the 4:56 PM high tide, though the tide itself is modest: 0.19 m at the 10:27 AM low, rising to 0.94 m in the afternoon before falling again after sunset. Waves generally hold in the 0.5–0.9 m range, with 0.34 m of southeast swell at a short 4.85 seconds and 0.42 m wind waves at just 2.6 seconds. In other words, not huge water, but potentially busy, wind-textured water. Morning is the awkward shift. The strongest gusts arrive near 9 AM, close to the late-morning low tide, while rain is possible from 3 AM through 11 PM. Cloud cover is complete, pressure is falling from a representative 1008 hPa, and air temperatures only reach about 11 C; it feels closer to 7 C. Marine SST is 8.6 C, so exposure management is not optional for paddlers and divers. Atmospheric visibility is forecast around 15 km, but that says nothing about underwater visibility. Fishing rates 6.6/10, with the strongest solunar period from 12:33 to 2:33 PM and a secondary evening period from 7:03 to 8:03 PM. That afternoon major period also benefits from the rising tide, though the wind remains the tradeoff. Compared with yesterday, boating slips slightly from 7.3 while fishing improves from 6.4; sailing eases from 7.6 as gustiness becomes more consequential. Friday looks rougher, with winds up to 20.4 knots and waves reaching 1 m. Saturday and Sunday offer the steadiest marine outlook, with 0.5–0.6 m waves and lighter peak winds, before conditions build sharply again next week. Best bet: aim for the afternoon high-tide window, but treat every gust like it has already read your float plan.