Early tour reveals varied conditions

Welcome to a new Friday Frontiersman column devoted to fishing in the Mat-Su Valley. Information for this page will be supplied by the Mat-Su Anglers Club, Alaska Department of Fish and Game updates, local organizations and businesses that may have newsworthy fishing subjects, and from public input through questions asked for this column or information provided. Here’s a sampling of where we might go.

Mat-Su Anglers Club hosting meetings

Mark your calendar for Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mat-Su Resort in Wasilla. Halibut guru Pete Hardy will provide timely how-to tips that will increase anglers’ enjoyment and chances of catching the big flat fish. I will also present my thoughts on how to clobber salmon with bobbers and bait. The Mat-Su Anglers meet monthly on the second Thursday, and the public is invited and encouraged to attend.

For more information contact club president Julie Busch at 892-7543.

Area lakes provide early fishing

opportunity

Some lakes in the Palmer and Wasilla areas have been ice free for about a week now. Last Sunday, I observed anglers fishing on Kepler and Bradley lakes near Palmer, Junction Lake near the Parks Highway and Trunk Road intersection, and saw plenty of open, fishable water at Wasilla Lake and Lucille Lake right in Wasilla.

Monday, I took a business trip over to the Alaska State Parks headquarters at Finger Lake and observed people fishing from the Finger Lake boat dock and from boats further out in the lake. I did not check to see what anglers were catching; however, as any longtime Alaska fisherman knows, getting out on open water early in the season is a celebration in itself — especially after a long winter of short sunlight hours, snow, and ice.

Further north along the Parks Highway last Sunday all lakes I observed from Houston north seemed to be ice covered; however, expect them to be ice free soon, if not already in some cases. The ice-covered lakes I saw were all developing that dark “walk on me at your own risk” look. The purpose of my Sunday drive was to check fishing conditions along the Parks Highway, and that is exactly what my nephew, Daniel Warta, and I did.

Parks Highway

tributaries to the Susitna River

Before starting our trip, I called Bob Meals with Tri River Charters in Talkeetna (733-2400) for an update of what was happening on the Talkeetna River. Bob reported that although the Talkeetna River was open and people were catching some trout both at town and further upstream, the boat launch and small river channel leading to the main river were completely frozen to the bottom. As far as Bob knew, no one had yet been able to launch a boat (which would require traveling over the ice to reach the river). He hoped to get a boat in the water for spring trout charters soon. With Bob’s update I still had in my mind the possibility of driving all the way to Talkeetna, but time and conditions dictated otherwise.

The Little Susitna River (although not a Susitna tributary) looked plenty clear and nearly ice free (fishing is allowed downstream of the Parks Highway bridge at this time). Willow Creek was the clearest Parks Highway stream we saw and also looked nearly ice free. Little Willow Creek was muddier, but ice free, so we stopped and fished close to the highway crossing for a little while, with no luck. Perhaps resident trout and grayling had not ventured this far upstream yet.

Susitna Landing on Kashwitna River was our next stop to check boat launch conditions. It was completely frozen with not a boat in site — even in the parking lot. The water was muddy, with ice frozen all the way to the gravel for quite a distance out from the bank. We gingerly walked out to where we could cast, retrieve and pull our lures out of the water without getting caught on the ice. We presented small single-hook spinners long enough to see a few fish, that looked to be trout, rolling in front of us, but not long enough to entice any strikes in the muddy and icy water. While fishing we often had to wait for floes of ice to drift by before we could make the next cast. Although this sounds cold, it was a pleasant afternoon with warm sunshine.

Sheep Creek near its confluence with the Susitna River was our third stop, and another venture in walking on shelf ice to fish in open, but muddy, water. While fishing this location, we observed additional fishermen hiking out to the water, but we did not catch or see even a single fish. There was a set of grizzly bear tracks in a shaded snow-covered patch of ground along the creek, so we knew another unseen angler had been checking the area before we arrived.

On our return trip south, we drove to the park at the mouth of Willow Creek and enjoyed fishing off a nearly ice-free bank. A couple of anglers were already fishing when we arrived and one, a fly fisherman, mentioned earlier catching some trout, as he was preparing to leave. Daniel and I cast our spinners and were once again encouraged by seeing what looked to be trout splashing about in the water. It was here that Daniel hooked and battled a nice-sized fish. I stepped close to watch and encourage him as he fought the fish, and wondered after seeing a brilliant silver flash if he could have possible hooked a small early king salmon. Shortly, though, he pulled an extremely fat rainbow trout I estimated at over 20 inches to the beach. I used pliers to remove the single hook, with the fish still in the water, and we watched it swim away to fight another day.

Who will be the first to report catching a Mat-Su Valley king salmon in 2010? I hope to answer that and more in either the May 14 or May 21 Frontiersman. For questions about this column or fishing, or if you have information to share, e-mail sports@frontiersman.com.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides, fish4salmon.com, is a Mat-Su Anglers Club member and member of the Matanuska-Susitna Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmens Committee.