Deshka weir shows healthy king salmon return so far

It is still quite early in the Mat-Su king salmon season, but as of June 4, a total of 335 king salmon have been counted past the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Deshka River salmon counting weir. Since the department has projected a total Deshka River king salmon return of more than 20,000 fish this year, 335 may seem like a paltry number; however, it is the largest number of king salmon that have swam past the Deshka River king salmon weir by June 4 in the past seven years.

Abundance of small king salmon

Many of the fish currently being caught on the Deshka River could easily be measured in inches rather than pounds, with most of the fish caught by guides I’ve talked with measuring less than 30 inches and about 10 pounds or less in weight. This is not necessarily unusual for Deshka River king salmon in early June, when a large number of small male fish often seem to arrive early in the season. Later on, the average size of fish can increase dramatically with the arrival of a preponderance of 18- to 25-pound fish that make up the bulk of most years’ Deshka River king salmon returns.

Small kings abundance on additional Mat-Su streams

In addition to the Deshka River, I’ve also fished the Little Susitna River and one of the Parks Highway tributaries of the Susitna River. In both of these other cases, guests on my charters only caught similar-sized king salmon in the 10-pound range. I’ve heard of larger king salmon being caught; however, from the experiences on my guide boat it seems like there may be either more than the usual number of smaller king salmon or a lower than normal number of the older and larger king salmon that usually dominate king salmon returns.

Positive aspects of abundant 10-pound king salmon

A large return of these smaller king salmon could indicate a possible increase in larger-sized king salmon production for the 2013 season — something that most Alaska and Mat-Su king salmon anglers would welcome after several years of lower-than-average king salmon returns throughout the Mat-Su Valley and state. Another positive aspect of the smaller salmon returning this year is that they provide some extra action and harvest opportunity during a year that the Department of Fish and Game had projected to have less-than-average king salmon returns. I’ve guided several guests who’ve chosen to keep one of these smaller fish to eat.

King salmon possibilities for the coming weekend

Deshka River has been providing most of the king salmon fishing and harvest opportunity for anglers fishing the Mat-Su Valley, and that trend will likely continue through the month. This, of course, makes for more crowded than usual fishing conditions on the Deshka — even with the two-king emergency seasonal limit imposed by the Department of Fish and Game on the Susitna River drainage (including the Deshka River).

Little Susitna River may provide the next best opportunity for harvesting king salmon over the coming weekend as peak fishing on the Little Su can often occur in the lower river around June 10. As of yet, most of the king salmon fishing I’ve participated in and heard about from others has been less than stellar, so anglers considering this location will need to make their choices based on what may show up as far as a king salmon return on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the June 9-10 weekend.

Susitna River tributaries between Willow and Talkeetna

This includes Willow Creek, but not the Talkeetna River. These streams have provided significant king salmon fishing and harvest opportunity through the first week of July in recent history; however, this year all of the king salmon harvest opportunity on these streams is scheduled to end at 11 p.m., June 11.

By design, this regulation change will eliminate most of the annual king harvest from these streams, but it will also provide a larger number of king salmon to spawn in some of these streams where ADF&G has failed to meet king salmon spawning escapement goals for several years in a row. Most of the king salmon return migrates up these streams later in June, but for those anglers who would like to harvest a king salmon from these particular streams, the June 9-10 weekend, along with Monday, may provide the best king salmon harvest opportunity of the season. Consequently, these streams may experience extra angler participation over the weekend.

For those interested in a more relaxed and less competitive fishery, there are also the lake and stream trout, grayling and char fishing opportunities available throughout the Mat-Su Valley. Whatever the choice, summers are short in Alaska, and this weekend provides one more opportunity to enjoy the Mat-Su Valley’s best fishing opportunities.

Catching up

I’ve been guiding salmon charters to both the Little Susitna and Deshka Rivers for king salmon, and the fish are there in limited numbers, some being caught every day now, and my charters are catching a few most every day as well. So far, I’ve only had one day where everyone fishing with me caught a king salmon, with a more normal catch being a king salmon or two for a group of up to four anglers on a six-hour trip. It is fishing, though, and there have also been some trips where no one in a group caught a salmon.

Regulations are tighter on Little Susitna River with artificial lures required, and those lures may only have a single hook attached. These regulations have been designed to slow king salmon harvests on the Little Susitna River, and if my charters are any indication, the restriction seems to have done that. Of the three trips I guided on Little Susitna River last weekend, the first group of three guests caught one sockeye salmon, the second group of four guests caught one king salmon of about 10 pounds, and the third group of three guests was not able to hook a fish.

We saw a couple salmon roll on the first two trips, but did not even see an ocean-run salmon on the last trip. One good indication for future salmon returns was that we saw salmon smolt jumping along the river in several locations over Memorial Day weekend. Fishing pressure was understandably lighter on the Little Su and made for a more relaxed and pleasant fishing experience.

Mat-Su Anglers Club

The club meets from 7 to 9 p.m., June 14 at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wasilla, in the upstairs meeting room. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Samantha Oslund will be the featured speaker. Samantha will talk about Mat-Su Valley fisheries. All club members and the public are invited to attend. Contact Steve Totten at 354-4141 for more information.

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.