2026: Season of change

I stopped by 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle on Tuesday, and Mike Hudson showed me a picture of a thick 44-inch northern pike that had been taken recently. Even though the overnight temperatures have still been cold, it is that time of year with longer daylight hours, when pike get more active under the ice. Some of the largest northern pike of the year are often taken at this time, and good snow cover this March has allowed snowmobilers to access the Mat-Su Valley’s less -pressured locations where pike can grow to outlandish sizes.

I visited my doctor’s office earlier in the day, and one of the women in the office told me she had been out ice fishing another remote location over the weekend -- and had caught some burbot through the ice. She mentioned having caught Northern pike and lake trout in the same lake where she had caught the pike, but not on this recent trip.

These kind of remote trips are often accessed by snowmobile, and we’ve had excellent conditions for maintaining ice cover on the river systems in addition to good snow depth, however, a person should always be observant of conditions for even slight changes in how a frozen river or lake looks. Water current, particularly in rivers, or at the inlets or outlets of lakes can, cause thin and unsafe ice conditions —even when temperatures are at or below freezing.

I talked with another friend on Monday who was out with his wife catching small stocked coho salmon in one of the Palmer - Wasilla core area lakes. Even with thick ice and likely low oxygen levels under the ice, he found a spot where the fish were active and biting soon after they arrived and stated fishing. The fish were rather small, but he saw a bigger fish even while I was talking with him. The conversation did not last long — as he had fish to catch.

On several days recently there has been brisk wind, so a shelter, sturdy enough to withstand the wind could certainly create a more pleasant fishing experience. On one lake where I’ve done a considerable amount of ice fishing my shelter is simply a large hill running beside the lake. Since the wind normally comes from that direction, fishing right below that hill is often relatively calm, even when just down the lake - and in most other parts of the lake the wind can be ripping. In addition, fish often like to hang out in that same windles part of this particular lake.

With thick ice and snow cover, a person starts to wonder if spring breakup will be considerably later this year. That appears likely to me, at this time, but I’ve been wrong before. For certain, however, the Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show is scheduled to run April 17, 18, and 19 at the Menard Sports and Recreation Center in Wasilla. I noticed my friend Gary Feaster will be giving a couple seminars — one on Outboard Jet Maintenance and Repair and the other on Aluminum Boat Maintenance and Awareness. For someone getting into boating Mat-Su Valley streams, planning saltwater trips, or even thinking about a moose hunt down the Yukon River, Gary could answer questions you may not even know to ask.

Summer Salmon Season Coming Soon With changes made to focus the Upper Cook Inlet drift gillnet fleet fishing closer to the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers starting this summer, I am excited about the likelihood of seeing more salmon make it back to Northern Cook Inlet streams (including Deshka River and Little Susitna River). There may be an emergency announcement made by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) mentioning commercial drift gill netting regulations soon. That announcement will simply be a means of letting commercial fishers know what the new regulations will be for the 2026 fishing season.

A newly adopted regulation for sport fisheries is that certain fish with size limits (rockfish, ling cod, and king salmon) will be required to be kept in such a state that enforcement may be able to measure them before they are processed —at the point where a boat leaves the water or a shore angler leaves the fishing site.

While the 2026 Statewide Board of Fisheries meeting just occurred last week, people who would like to propose a fishing regulation change for either the Upper Cook ‘Inlet Area (north of Homer) or the Lower Cook Inlet Area (south of Homer) must have their proposals in by April 10. Those Proposals will be consider at a Board of Fisheries meeting(s) next winter. For anglers who have never written a fisheries or game regulation proposal, local ADF&G staff members are often willing to help with the process.

Good luck and Fish On!

Andy Couch is a member of the Matanuska - Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee the thoughts and opinions expressed in this column are his own - unless noted otherwise.