Boosting Mat-Su salmon returns by dipping Kenai River sockeye

The Mat-Su Valley sport king salmon fisheries all ended on Wednesday, except for the Eklutna Tailrace location that will remain open to king salmon fishing through Dec. 31.

Last week, I was thinking some of my charter guests might catch some early arriving silver (coho) salmon during the last week of the king salmon season. Although I’ve talked with three guides who had guests catch a few silver salmon from their boats over the past week, the guests in my guide boat have yet to boast the first year 2011 silver salmon. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time on the Deshka River fishing bait for salmon in the past week, so what I make of this situation is that there are relatively few silver salmon available in the Deshka River at this time.

A discussion with Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Pete Cleary on Wednesday further revealed that the department has been catching very few coho and chum salmon from their data colleting fish wheel project on the lower Susitna River this week.

I talked with Alaska Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Biologist, Samantha Oslund on Monday and asked her if the department had heard much about chum or silver salmon arriving at Little Susitna River, and the answer was “not much at all.”

Samantha also told me that the department had not yet counted any sockeye salmon through the Fish Creek weir. During the week, I also talked with a friend who boated down to the tidewater area of the Little Susinta River, and another friend who drove out to the landing and talked with the park ranger assistant this week. Both reported not much happening yet with silver or chum salmon at Little Susitna River.

On the Alaska Outdoor Journal website, reports are that fishing has been slow for Kenai River sockeye as well. Just recently, sockeye salmon catches in the Offshore Test Fishery conducted through the Department of Fish and Game have started to show an increase in sockeye salmon abundance. According to the Alaksa Outdoor Journal web forum moderator, those numbers should translate into greatly increased abundance of sockeye salmon in the Kenai River by approximately Sunday. For those wanting to participate in the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery open to Alaska residents, now may be a good time to go — or at least to start planning a trip.

I’ll be visiting a friend who has a place on the Kenai River over the weekend, and we plan on dipping as many Kenai sockeye salmon as our personal use permits allow (35) for a two-member household. As a person who is very dependent upon healthy returns of all salmon species coming back to the Mat-Su Valley, I feel obligated to harvest Kenai sockeye and help keep the Kenai River sockeye salmon sonar count down (by harvesting fish below the sonar site). This is because large numbers of sockeye salmon passing the Kenai River sonar trigger Alaska Department of Fish and Game commercial biologists into issuing additional commercial fishing time that harvest a mixture of all salmon present in the Upper Cook Inlet at the time of those openings.

What better time to take a road trip to dipnet a winter’s supply of great-eating Kenai sockeye than over a weekend when very few salmon are likely to be present in Mat-Su Valley streams. Remember, harvesting some of those Kenai sockeye in a personal dipnet helps maintain larger numbers of salmon of all species returning to streams in the Mat-Su Valley and other streams in the northern portion of Upper Cook Inlet. If you care about Mat-Su salmon, I hope you can take the opportunity to dip some Kenai sockeye this July. Doing so may also contribute to the opening of the Fish Creek sockeye salmon fishery in the Mat-Su Valley later in the season.

For those who have not had the opportunity to catch salmon in a personal use dipnet, let me assure you, it can also be a lot of fun and worth the time and effort. It’s a great recreational opportunity for all Alaskans who choose to participate.

Mat-Su Valley salmon opportunities

or this weekend

For those who would like to fish in the Valley this weekend, expect rather slow fishing, but some salmon may be present at lower Little Susitna River, Cottonwood Creek, Jim Creek, Eklutna Tailrace, Deshka River, Willow Creek, Little Willow Creek and Talkeetna River (sockeye salmon). Salmon numbers in Mat-Su Valley streams should build throughout the month of July, with coho abundances peaking later in early or mid August.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides (fish4salmon.com), is a Mat-Su Anglers Club member (matsuanglers.org) and member of the Mat-Su Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee. Email this column at sports@frontiersman.com if you have Mat-Su fishing questions or information readers may find useful.