Bait, multiple hooks OK on Deshka for rest of king season

MAT-SU — Local sport fishermen will have a little more opportunity to bag a king salmon this season — at least for the next 14 days.

A state Department of Fish and Game Division of Sport Fish emergency order issued Friday has opened the Deshka River to use of bait and multiple hooks for the remainder of the king salmon, which runs through July 13. The move is a welcome one for area anglers, said Tom Hilty, manager at 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle in Wasilla. It’s also a small positive sign for a resource that’s been in crisis with low returns over recent years, he said.

“It is a good sign, to a point,” Hilty said, adding that although bait and multiple hooks are now allowed on the Deshka, there are still other severe restrictions still in place for the Susitna River and Little Susitna River drainages.

“That’s the only area opened to bait now, besides the (Eklutna) Tailrace,” he said.

The move to lift the ban on bait and hooks for the Deshka was spurred by promising return numbers of king salmon passing the state counting weir, ADF&G reports. In a release accompanying the emergency order, the department says that nearly 13,000 kings have passed the weir. With a projected seasonal escapement at 17,000 fish, the goal of 13,000 to 28,000 kings is expected to be reached.

While the move is good news for those fishing the Deshka, restrictions continue in other areas throughout the Susitna and Little Su drainages, including no bait and only single hooks allowed. Also, Friday’s emergency order does not change the reduced limit in place for kings in the area, which remains at two (down from five). Additionally, anyone taking a king 20 inches in length or larger may not fish for any species of finfish on the same day in any waters open to sport fishing for kings in the Susitna River drainage area.

Not allowing bait or multiple hooks on the Deshka from the start this season has anglers reporting that it’s helped the returns for kings in the northern areas of the Valley, Hilty said. Because more fish are getting through the Deshka, points farther north are seeing more kings.

“My brother is floating the Willow River today and he said he’s seeing more kings than in years past,” he said Saturday. “It’s still catch-and-release only on the weekends. But overall, that’s a good thing.”

Along with the two kings limit for the season, these other restrictions are still in place:

• Although the limit of kings from the fresh waters of Cook Inlet remains at five, no more than two may be taken in combination from the Susitna River and Little Susitna River drainages. Kings taken before May 15 also count against the two-king limit.

• Only one unbaited single-hook artificial lure is allowed in the drainages (excluding the Deshka River).

• Harvest in Unit 4 is restricted to Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, with catch-and-release only allowed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Harvest is still allowed seven days a week on the Deshka, but bait is not allowed.

• Taking kings in Unit 1 (except the Deshka River), on Parks Highway streams within Unit 2, the upper Susitna (Unit 3), Talachulina River (Unit 4), Talkeetna River (Unit 5) and Chulitna River (Unit 6). For these areas, catch-and-release fishing only is allowed during days and times normally open to king salmon fishing.

• King harvest in the Little Susitna River is allowed only on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Only catch-and-release is permitted on other days.

• The Eklutna Tailrace is excluded from all restrictions.

By acting early in the season, state officials said they were taking “a conservative approach” to managing king salmon for sport fishing, said Sam Ivey, an ASF&G area management biologist based in Palmer when the restrictions were first announced.

“That’s the comprehensive strategy we want,” he said. “Some systems are more prone to overharvest and we’re making those catch-and-release only.”

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or

greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.