Earliest silvers are being caught

Valley Life editor

It's only the second weekend in July, the king salmon season just concluded and there are already reports that silvers are being caught in the Little Su? Anglers are scratching their heads, wondering if those are just fish stories, or if the silvers are already running.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Dave Rutz said that even though it is only the beginning of July, believe the stories that silvers are already here. While it is super early in the season, the coho run is getting started.

"I was out at Eklutna this morning and saw one being caught, and I've talked to a couple of people who have caught some in the Little Su already," Rutz said. "There were even some rumors that they're showing up in the Deshka and the Parks Highway streams, but I don't know about that. It's as early as I can ever remember."

The action is far from hot and heavy, though.

"People are fishing hard for them, and they are catching some, but it's really slow," Rutz said. "It's not like they are really in yet, but a few are starting to show up."

Some reports have the first silvers being caught in the Little Su as early as June 24.

After last year's dismal coho run, Rutz said anglers can anticipate a better season this year.

"This return is off of the 2000 brood year, and that was a pretty good return," Rutz said. "There were pretty good river conditions for rearing, no deep freezes before we had snow that winter. There hasn't been anything unusual about the ocean conditions, either.

"If you put together all the pieces, it starts to look like a pretty good year," Rutz said.

The 1999 return was one of the lowest in history, and last year's run of coho came from that brood year. It didn't surprise anyone that the 2003 season was bad based on the 1999 return.

The early positive forecast is welcome news to anglers who just enjoyed a good king salmon season.

"Silvers are my favorite fish, so that's good to hear," said Tom Glazer, who was gearing up for the season by buying a couple of Pixies.

"I'd rather fish silvers all day than kings. You get a lot more action," he said.

Coho can be taken on a variety of tackle. On middle-weight rods, spinners and Pixies are popular choices, as is salmon roe -- but check with regulations to see what is allowed in each fishery. On the fly, coho often strike the ubiquitous egg-sucking leech, as well as a variety of other flies, including the Karluk flash fly and any number of marabou-dominated patterns. Sometimes, they can be enticed to take a topwater fly like the pink pollywog. Most fly fishers use rods in the six- to eight-weight range.