One of the least-studied habitats in Southeast Alaskan streams and elsewhere is backwater pools. These distinct habitats are connected to the main channel, but their position along channel margins protects them from disturbances caused by the annual migration and nest construction of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). This study examines the use of backwater pools by aquatic insects as sources of habitat refugia from salmon disturbance by comparing riffle and backwater pool insect communities before, during and after a salmon run in Maybeso Creek, Alaska. The objectives are two-fold: 1. to characterize stream insect community differences between riffle and pool habitats and, 2. determine temporal changes in the community structure of these habitats as disturbance impacts increase throughout the salmon run. We hypothesized that insect community structure shifts would be detected between main channel and backwater pool communities following disturbance impacts, where main channel taxa would be more abundant in backwater pools during and after the salmon run. Preliminary results suggest that insects in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera were found utilizing backwater pools after this local disturbance. The results of this study are important for the understanding of salmon-benthos interactions and annual shifts in stream nutrient availability and flow.