Eklutna Tailrace king salmon

As reported in last week’s column Samantha Oslund, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) fisheries biologist, considers the third week of June to be the historical peak for king salmon fishing at Eklutna Tailrace. It was only last week, however, that the Knik River side-channel downstream from the tailrace rose to a level to better facilitate upstream king salmon migration into the tailrace. Since then, the Knik River has continued to swell with more occluded (silty) water resulting from warmer summer temperatures causing the annual surge in summer runoff from Knik Glacier. Since this increased flow of higher siltier water slows the overall harvest of king salmon in the Knik River side-channel fishery downstream from the tailrace, it allows a significantly higher percentage of later run timing king salmon to migrate into the tailrace. For that reason, the king salmon fishery in Eklutna Tailrace will likely provide perhaps the best opportunity for sport anglers to harvest ocean-run salmon in the Mat-Su Valley during the July 28 / 29 weekend, and on into the first week of July.

The tailrace and plume of Eklutna water below the Knik River confluence provide a relatively small fishing area, but there is a paved parking lot, fish cleaning table at the tailrace / Knik confluence, restrooms, and a trash dumpster. This facility is free for the public to use, and anglers who appreciate a low cost fishing opportunity should help keep it clean, in order to maintain that low cost opportunity. This should include tossing filleted fish carcasses far enough out in the Knik River side-channel, below the tailrace, so they will flow significantly downstream and away from the primary public use area.

While some king salmon are caught at the tailrace on weighted spinners and other lures, most are caught using some type of bait — cured salmon roe, shrimp, or herring have all produced king salmon at this location. Successful anglers both drift bait under bobbers and / or cast it out with a sinker and let it sit on bottom until a salmon picks it up. Bait is often fished in combination with a lure such as a Spin-N-Glo, Corkie, or jig.

While the tailrace fishery is open 24 hours per day, and some salmon are caught at all hours of the day, some of the tailrace regulars consider early morning or late evening to provide better salmon harvest opportunity. Some days there may be less angler pressure very early in the morning, but don’t expect that you will have this fishery to yourself — when king salmon abundance in the tailrace may be near its peak. While on occasion I’ve caught and watched other anglers catch salmon shortly after arriving at the tailrace fishery — a reasonable expectation is that anglers will likely expend a considerable amount of time to harvest salmon from this fishery. The tailrace can provide many anglers an enjoyable Alaska fishing experience with a chance to catch / harvest a king salmon. All should enjoy the experience, as most days a considerably smaller number of tailrace anglers will actually harvest a king salmon.

Salmon — the Big Fish Alaska Mystique

One of the best things about living in Alaska is the opportunity to fish waters that produce large fish on a consistent basis. A 5 - 10 pound salmon, of any species, is large enough to provide a challenging battle on appropriately-sized fishing gear and also large enough to provide a meal for multiple people. These are two reasons why Alaska and Mat-Su anglers expend so much time and effort pursuing and (hopefully) harvesting salmon on an annual basis. With additional opportunities to catch the more abundant salmon species (sockeye, chum, pink, and coho) getting started or in a few cases kicking into high gear I would expect Mat-Su anglers will see considerably less fishing pressure on all but the most popular trout and pike fishing waters over the next couple months.

Mat-Su Salmon

The 4th of July will be here in the coming week, and ADF&G plans to install the salmon counting weirs at Fish Creek and Little Susitna River soon. The Fish Creek location is one of the department’s easiest to install and maintain, because of the smaller stream size and more consistent water flow characteristics of the Fish Creek / Big Lake system. It will likely be installed and counting salmon before the 4th of July (although there may be lag time in seeing posted counts with the holiday and following weekend.) There MAY be a few (primarily sockeye) salmon available for harvest at both Fish Creek ( 7 days per week 5 a.m - 10 p.m.) and Cottonwood Creek (weekends only 5 a.m - 10 p.m.) during the first week of July.

ADF&G’s installation of Little Susitna River Weir (at a new further upstream location and with high water caused by later season snowmelt) may pose a significant challenge before or during the early July. Many Mat-Su anglers are hopeful that installation will occur in a timely fashion and Little Susitna River counts of 5 species of salmon may be available soon. Sockeye should already be migrating up Little Susitna on a daily basis while the first few early chum, coho, and pink salmon, may migrate past the new weir location during the first or second week of July. NOTE: King salmon fishing is closed at Little Susitna River, and fishing is currently restricted to single hook artificial lures only, with a hook gap of 1/2 inch or less through July 13.

Deshka River Weir installation was delayed more than 3 weeks in 2025, because of continuous early season high water flow levels, however the weir has been in place and counting Chinook or king salmon since June 13. With what is becoming a chronic issue of late starts / missed high water counts with this weir project, some people are considering if it might be more feasible to monitor the Deshka River king salmon migration using sonar technology which could more easily be installed and maintained during higher stream flows. NOTE; King salmon fishing is closed at Deshka River and all other Susitna / Yentna River drainage locations with fishing restricted to single hook artificial lures only, with a hook gap of 1/2 inch or less through July 13. While in the past I’ve had charter guests catch coho salmon in the lower Deshka River during the first and second weeks in July, coho salmon and pink salmon migration past Deshka River Weir is often nonexistent until about July 14.

Road Tripping Salmon Opportunities

The Upper Cook Inlet location with the highest salmon migration counts at this time remains the Kasilof River for sockeye salmon. During the first week of counts 81,950 salmon have been counted passing the Kasilof River sonar project. This is the highest cumulative count for this time period in the past 5 years. I heard a report this week that plenty of shore anglers were taking the opportunity to fish on this abundance of sockeye. The Kasilof River personal use salmon dip net fishery opened on July 25, and currently provides the best personal use salmon harvest opportunity on the road system in Southcentral Alaska. Alaska residents only - with a household Upper Cook Inlet permit required to participate in the personal use fishery.

Russian River Sockeye

Upstream salmon counts kicked into high gear at this popular fishing location during the past week ,with multiple daily counts over 2,000 sockeye migrating up this beautiful small stream. NOTE: The fly fishing only regulations at this location — although many anglers do their fly fishing using the lining technique, and utilizing a spinning or casting rod with a sinker to get their fly down in the water column.

Copper River Subsistence and Personal Use Fisheries

Despite high salmon counts passing the Miles Lake Sonar site, ADF&G reported that rapidly rising Copper River water levels had slowed harvest rates in this fisheries last week. Conditions will once again spur upstream salmon movement and harvest rates. The dilemma is determining when conditions are good or optimum.

July 1 is the scheduled opening for personal use dip netters to harvest a one king salmon per season household permit limit (the remainder of the limit may be sockeye). Check Copper River drainage Emergency Orders and Press Releases to confirm regulations before your trip.

Last week I mentioned the Gulkana River king salmon fishery — and the possibility that it might be restricted. Starting Friday June 20, the Gulkana River was restricted to single hook artificial lures only (No Bait) and the Upper Copper River drainage annual sport fishing king salmon limit was reduce from 4 fish to one fish. Many often consider the July 4th weekend as the peak for Gulkana River king salmon fishing.

Good Luck and Fish On

Andy Couch is a member of the Matanuska - Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee, however, statements/opinions expressed in this column are his own, unless noted otherwise.