Deshka closed to king fishing as of Monday morning

PALMER — A tough season for local king salmon anglers just got worse.

As of Monday at 6 a.m., any type of fishing for king salmon will not be permitted in the Susitna River drainage, according to a Friday release issued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The restrictions include a number of popular fisheries along the Parks Highway and the Deshka River.

“We got into the season and the early counts on the Deshka weren’t as good as what we would have liked to see,” Alaska Department of Fish and Game area management biologist Sam Ivey said Friday afternoon.

According to the department’s release, as of June 21, only 6,852 fish had passed through the Deshka River weir, and the total escapement goal was nearly twice that, a projection of about 11,350 fish.

Last week, Fish and Game took action to try to increase returns.

“We made the decision to slow the harvest, going to no bait, single-hook,” Ivey said of a restriction on the Deshka River that was announced June 18 and went into effect June 20.

Despite the measure, Ivey said Fish and Game officials did not see enough improvement in the return to prevent further action.

“Through this week, we really came to realize the run is indeed weaker than we thought, likely weaker than 2011,” Ivey said.

That realization led to the significant restrictions.

“Midway through the season on the Dehska, we realized it was time to make a decision. We need to save the remaining fish and have the best chance of meeting the escapement goals,” Ivey said.

While anglers can target other finfish species, the closure prohibits retaining kings or catch-and-release king salmon fishing. If anglers hook a king salmon while targeting other species, the fish must be released before it’s removed from the water.

In addition to the Deshka, fishing for king salmon will also be closed in Parks Highway area fisheries such as Willow Creek, Little Willow, Kashwitna River, Caswell Creek, Sheep Creek and Montana Creek. The Talchulitna River, Lake Creek, Greys Creek, Goose Creek, Sunshine Creek, Birch Creek, Trapper Creek, Rabideux Creek, Clear Creek and the East Fork of the Chulitna River are also waters closed to king fishing.

Ivey said the weak runs are not limited to the Susitna River drainage.

“This is not just a local region problem, or a stream problem, per say,” Ivey said. “We’ve seen it on the Lower Cook Inlet, We’ve seen it in Homer, Kenai.”

This follows months of restrictions and closures. The Little Susitna River was closed to king salmon fishing on June 15. Earlier this year, weeks before the king salmon run was set to start, Fish and Game announced a bevy of restrictions set in place to help increase the overall return of king salmon and increase numbers in future years. These restrictions included stipulations on the dates of the season and gear legal to use on specific waters.

Current restrictions also call for only unbaited single hooks to be used to fish for other species in the Susitna River drainages through July 13. Ivey said that beginning July 14, those regulations will change as other salmon species appear in those waters.

As far as the king salmon return, Ivey said Fish and Game officials will continue to monitor the return.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.