Coho start to show in Mat-Su streams

While guiding for king salmon on the Deshka River back on July 8, I had a couple guests harvest the first coho salmon from my boat this season. After that, my charter guests did not catch another coho salmon until Tuesday on the Little Susitna River where my group caught six coho and five chum salmon on an afternoon trip.

Wednesday, I learned from Jeff Boatright at Susitna Landing that a bank angler had caught the first reported coho of the season at that location, and a friend also told me he had landed a coho at Little Willow Creek, so coho salmon are starting to arrive in the Susitna River tributaries between Willow and Talkeetna. Also on Wednesday evening, Luke Warta, my nephew who is working on the Alaska Department of Fish and Game fish wheel project near the confluence of the Susitna and Yentna rivers, told me the crew had caught about 100 coho salmon that day.

This was a good development in that up until that point, the largest number of coho they had caught during a day had been only 30 fish on July 16. Luke also reported that the sockeye salmon, chum salmon and pink salmon numbers being caught at the fish wheel site are all starting to build now. Rising salmon numbers of all species are likely partially a direct result of the management action taken by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that restricted the commercial drift fleet to the Expanded Kasilof and Kenai Sections last Friday. As the sport salmon season continues to build, hopefully the department can continue to use a commercial fishing pattern that allows passage of northern-bound salmon stocks while allowing harvest of more abundant Kasilof and Kenai River salmon stocks closer to the mouths of both of those streams.

Resident personal use dip net opportunity

As most Mat-Su residents know, those wanting to harvest personal use salmon should not wait for an opportunity at Fish Creek out off Knik Goose Bay Road — as often not enough sockeye salmon make it back to that stream for the department to even open the season. A better opportunity for those with the ability to travel are available on the Kenai River and Kasilof River down on the Kenai Peninsula. Sockeye salmon are presently returning in large numbers to both of these streams, and this weekend may provide one of the best harvest opportunities at these locations of the season.

The season extends through the last day of July with a household limit of 25 salmon, plus an additional 10 salmon for each additional household member. As I’ve mentioned previously, I like to at least attempt to harvest my personal use sockeye salmon from the Kenai River fishery. It helps that I have a friend with a place to stay and a boat on the river. There are usually plenty of people traveling that way, and I will be one of them over this coming weekend — be glad to see your there as well.

A personal use dip net permit is needed and can be picked up at the local Alaska Department of Fish and Game office. In our experience, it is a good idea to pick one of these up before traveling all the way to the Kenai Peninsula. At one time we used to give away or return most of the roe from these fish back into the river. I’ve found, however, that the smaller, tighter roe skeins from these ocean-fresh sockeye salmon when cured with the right bait cure (like Pautzke’s Fire Cure) makes firmer bait that stays on hooks better than the king or coho roe I’ve used in the past.

The fish seem to enjoy eating them just as well as the roe from other species. Therefore, consider curing sockeye roe from personal use caught fish for both salmon and trout fishing. When curing salmon roe I always like to cure up enough at one time to justify the time and effort spent in the process — and there can be an abundance of bait to be had from the limits allowed with personal use fisheries.

Kepler-Bradley stocked lake system enjoys high use

While driving home from salmon charters, I’ve noticed strong numbers of anglers using this particular lake system and applaud the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for developing a stronger fish stocking program that provides for this use. As a school-aged kid, I spent many enjoyable days catching various species of fish from these lakes and still enjoy fishing them to this day.

I must admit at this stage in life most of my angling on these lakes occurs in the winter, but they also provide great summer fishing opportunities with a good chance of catching fish. Like any fishing opportunity there can be some learning involved in when to be there, where to go and what to use, but solving that equation is all part of the fun of fishing. For those interested in more secluded fishing opportunities, check out the unseen lakes in this system a little further away from the Glenn Highway. In addition, there are many other lakes stocked by ADF&G in more remote locations that receive even less pressure and produce both plentiful and sizable fish of several species. Now is the time to get out and enjoy some of Alaska’s great fishing opportunities!

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