Area conditions slow sport fishing efforts

Rain and runoff has raised streams and muddied flowing waters throughout the Mat-Su, making for tougher fishing conditions and generally discouraging fair weather anglers from venturing forth. Further slowing down sport fishing effort has been the regulation switch on the Susitna River and tributaries to single-hook artificial lures only starting Sept. 1.

When I talked with Susitna Landing Boat Launch operator Jeff Boatright a couple times this week, he mentioned having people out fishing even during higher water on Aug. 31, but then with the bait restriction the following day nearly all fishing effort out of Susitna Landing disappeared. Without bait, most of the remaining silver salmon anglers seemed reluctant to even try, and it is still a bit early in the season for the better rainbow trout fishing that happens as the trout start moving out of the tributary streams and into or nearer to the Susitna River itself.

Fishing effort on the lower Little Susitna River was somewhat different over Labor Day Weekend, but followed a similar pattern. Most of the people out recreating on the river seemed to be either moose hunters during an ongoing season or duck hunters out to experience the bounty of an opening day of waterfowl season that started Sept. 1. I had been guiding salmon fishing trips on the Little Susitna over the holiday weekend and have also been guiding on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week as well. There have been very few other anglers on the river, and we’ve had mostly our pick of all the better fishing spots.

Another bonus on the Little Susitna River, even though the river has come up and muddied somewhat from the rain, is regulations allow the use of bait and multiple hooks through the end of September. Every guest I’ve guided in the past week has caught a two-fish limit of coho salmon, but the number of fresh fish entering the river is dropping quickly. By sorting through the darker salmon, we’ve been keeping the better quality fish on each trip. Until the past couple days, my guests had been catching salmon exclusively on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. The past couple days we did quite well in one specific spot casting with No. 5 pink and No. 5 silver/black Flashtrap Spinners — after the bait bite had dropped off.

As mentioned in last week’s column, the number of silver (coho) salmon swimming past the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Little Susitna River counting weir has been the most in the past five years. As would be expected in a good return, the number of coho salmon available late in the season has also been better this year, as this is the first time in five years there have been enough silver salmon available for my charter business to continue operating and harvesting limits through the first week of September. It is looking like this late-season bonus may end soon on the Little Su, but I would expect better Mat-Su silver salmon catching opportunities to continue at Fish Creek, Jim Creek and possibly Eklutna Tailrace over the coming weekend and week. As the season’s silver salmon action continues to slow down, I’ve found it advantageous to fish with bait, followed by artificial lures (in areas where bait is still allowed). This often allows more salmon to be caught from specific spots before moving on in search of additional fish.

While dark, dreary weather with or without rain can discourage anglers, I’ve found that when well-outfitted (waders, a fleece jacket, a good raincoat and light waterproof gloves) the worst part of the day is usually venturing forth into the weather. After that first plunge, I’ve been having a wonderful time visiting with guests and savoring some of Alaska’s season-ending salmon fishing. After all, it won’t be long and this season’s open-water salmon catching opportunities in the Valley will be nothing but memories for another several months of winter.

With late August and September rains, we are now in that part of the fishing season when the die-hard anglers are about the only participants and they have the streams and lakes mostly to themselves. Cooler weather has halted most of the pleasure boating and water-related activity as well. Many Valley lakes provide a good opportunity to fish cleaner water this time of year for a variety of freshwater species that seem to be feeding more heavily in preparation for the winter to come. In reality, cooler temperatures in the 50s and 60s are preferred by most salmon and trout, and usually trigger additional feeding activity no matter which part of the year such temperatures occur.

With the changing of another season, and drop in participation in Mat-Su sport fisheries, I’m thinking it may be about time to wrap up this fishing column for another season. Good luck in the coming week.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides (fish4salmon.com) and is a member of the Mat-Su Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.