Chinook (king) salmon!

Memorial Weekend ( what many consider the traditional start) of the south-central Alaska king salmon fishing season is already over, but also over the weekend, a few king salmon were harvested in the Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River side-channel fishery. Changed from 2024 — (this harvest fishery, open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, with bait and multiple hooks allowed)— once again has been limited to waters of the Eklutna Tailrace and within one half mile of its confluence with the Knik River (side-channel) proceeding downstream to a couple rather small ADF&G markers a bit upstream from the Knik River side-channel’s confluence with the mainstream Knik River. The lower fishing area boundary line (because of placement of one marker sign on an island) creates somewhat of a diagonal line rather than perpendicular line across the Knik River side-channel. If you boat up to this fishery from the Knik River Public Access off of the Glenn Highway perhaps the easiest way to find / see where the marker signs are located is to look for the first boat of anglers actively fishing as you go upstream into the side-channel. One of the preferred fishing spots is just upstream from the marker sign on the Pioneer Peak (south) side of the side-channel. The small-enough-too -not-notice-unless -you- are-looking-carefully red marker is located on the trunk of a spruce tree.

If you have never been to this fishery in May or early June, perhaps your first thought will be, “Wow! This water is so shallow, I don’t know if large salmon would want to swim up here.”

Warning: if you continue boating up the side - channel the water gets progressively shallower, until (in a quarter mile or less) you will need to proceed extremely carefully to avoid grounding a boat on the side-channel bottom. When you’ve gone about as far up the side-channel as you dare — you are welcome to fish from that location the short distance back downstream to the marker sign — or to the closest boat above the sign. Did I forget to mention -- this is a small fishing area?

King salmon really like to hold in deeper holes with a slow, but steady current. Where in the area open to king salmon fishing will you find water like that? The entire 1/4 mile long Eklutna Tailrace (from where outflow emerges across the Old Glenn Highway across from Eklutna Power Plant to its confluence with the Knik River side-channel) is the best king salmon holding water available. Unfortunately, that same extremely shallow-water side-channel that stops most late-May / early June boaters from proceeding very far upstream toward the tailrace confluence also appears to effectively retard early season migration of most larger king salmon until significant Knik Glacier melt swells the Knik River and side-channel water level. Welcome to the location where all the legal Mat-Su Valley ocean-run king salmon fishing is scheduled to occur this year. Note: A friend told me he knew of a multiple king salmon already harvested Eklutna Tailrace recently.

Corey Berg told me he had been guiding northern pike trips to multiple Mat-Su Valley locations recently with guests catching some nice fish. Pictures can be found on Facebook.

ADF&G Staffing Issues

With a state employee hiring freeze as a result of the State of Alaska’s tight budget, I’ve heard our local Palmer ADF&G office has been having difficulty getting approval for seasonal hiring to cover salmon escapement monitoring projects that were funded for multiple years through a big effort by Mat-Su Valley legislators more than a year ago. There was also a multiple- year Upper Cook Inlet coho salmon genetic study to be conducted from ADF&G’s Commercial Fish Division that I hope is NOT experiencing either seasonal or permanent staffing issues. I am hopeful policy makers like Governor Dunleavy, ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, and our local Mat-Su legislators (if needed may) may get these snafus worked out soon.

ADF&G’s Deshka River Chinook salmon weir project is scheduled for installation (a bit late) but hopefully sometime this week —dependent upon early season high water lows at Deshka River declining soon.

Personal Use / Subsistence Dip Net Permits Since ADF&G office staffing is also lighter than normal, people may save considerable waiting time by getting their dip net permits online at this time. They will need to be printed out. The Glennallen Subdistrict subsistence fishing is scheduled to start on June 1, while the Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use Fishery is scheduled tp start sometime after June 10 — for the online Personal Use fishing schedule update check out Advisory Announcements/Emergency orders on or after June 4.

Summer appears to have arrived and be progressing quickly in the Mat-Su Valley, so:

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, however, statements / opinions expressed in this column are his own, unless noted otherwise.