Deshka open to 2 kings per day

If the fish are biting, anglers could nearly wrap up their king season in two days on the Deshka River.

With the salmon returns running even better than expected, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is now allowing people to keep two kings per day and have four in possession. That's just one shy of the season bag limit.

"We've already gotten 21,000 through the weir," said Dave Rutz, area fishery biologist with the Palmer office of Fish and Game. Fish and Game uses the weir to count the number of fish that escape being caught in the lower river and make it to spawn. The escapement goal for the Deshka is 13,000 to 28,000 fish, and Rutz said they are set to double that.

"Right now we're projecting to be above 42,000," Rutz said. "We have a lot more fish."

Rutz said Fish and Game was expecting a good king run, but so far the season is going even better than hoped. All this adds up to good news for anglers. As of June 18, Fish and Game liberalized existing regulations that allowed just one fish per day, two in possession. Now through July 13, when the fishery is closed for king salmon, anglers can keep two per day, four in possession. The total annual limit remains five kings 20 inches or larger, however.

At the same time, bait continues to be allowed on the river. King fishing is open from the mouth up about 17 miles to Fish and Game markers near Chijuk Creek and is permitted from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

On average, anglers harvest about 8,000 Deshka kings each season, and Fish and Game is predicting the liberalized regulations will allow an additional 1,000 to 2,000 kings to be caught this year.

Some of that will depend on the fish, however. The river has warmed up in recent days.

"And that is unfortunate because fish go off the bite when that happens," Rutz said. However, if anglers fish early in the morning or late in the evening up until the 11 p.m. closure time, Rutz said the fishing should still be productive.

"If people start fishing upstream a bit, those holes are full of king salmon," the biologist said. "If they spend the day out there, they shouldn't have much problem catching their fish."

The strong Deshka return also bodes well for other Susitna drainage streams. Rutz said typically when Deshka king numbers are up, others such as Willow Creek also see at least an above-average run.