Eklutna Tailrace king salmon

With all other Mat-Su Valley king salmon fisheries either closed by standard regulation or shut down by emergency order, I drove to the Tailrace Tuesday morning. On the way I spotted a bunch of vehicles and some boat trailers near the Knik River bridge over the Glenn Highway, then saw a couple bunches of vehicles parked along the Old Glenn Highway where anglers were evidently bushwhacking to the limited amount of legal Knik River waters below the Tailrace.

Therefore, it should have come as no shock when I turned toward the Tailrace parking lot to see overflow vehicles parked along that road.

I had to stop and gawk at the crowd of anglers casting from both sides of the Tailrace near its confluence with the Knik River. While my vehicle was stopped a vehicle pulled out of one of the regular parking spots, but another vehicle took its place before I could pull forward. I made a couple of slow passes around the parking lot — marveling at the amount of vehicles and people — then found a freed up parking space and pulled in.

By this time I was already thinking I might be more of a spectator than fisherman on this trip.

As I walked toward the Tailrace water I was immediately greeted by a man who had previously been scheduled to fish with us on the Little Susitna River, with each of his past two guided trips cancelled after Alaska Department of Fish and Game emergency orders closed the Little Susitna River to king salmon fishing two separate times. We talked for a bit, and he showed me the king salmon he had taken, and offered me the opportunity to fish beside his father near the Tailrace terminus. Too crowded for me, but I had to watch. Across the Tailrace an angler had a fish on.

Downstream a lady hooked up, and the large fish made a couple powerful runs. During the second run the fish steamed toward the Knik River and the lady’s line became badly tangled by lines from a couple other anglers, who were unaware of the hooked fish until it was too late. The battle continued with two other sets of gear hopelessly tied far up the line from the salmon. A couple other anglers waded into the murky green waters with nets to assist in landing the fish, and after some awkward maneuvering of the tangled mass of line the lady angler was able to backup far enough to lead the fish close enough to one of the waiting nets.

“Coming Up!,” a man hollered from further downstream, as he moved the crowd back from the bank, so he could follow his deeply flexing rod upstream. It looks to me like this angler could likely stand his ground and stop the fish from moving up past all the other anglers, and I made that comment.

“He has very light line,” another angler commented, “and this happened earlier as well, but his previous fish was snagged.” As the long fight proceeded, it became evident that this salmon was snagged near the tail. After a while I bored of the long standoff and moved on. Others fishing nearby were displaced for a considerable amount of time by this snagged fish stalemate, but I was impressed with how much fighting space others gave the fisherman and the fish.

Moving upstream toward less crowded waters, I was greeted near the Tailrace footbridge by a fellow fishing guide who was seated there soaking salmon eggs. I stopped and talked for a while, and although we could see additional action further down near the river confluence, it was mostly quiet where he was fishing.

We did see an angler a short distance away briefly connect with a king salmon, that pulled free shortly after the hook set. We could also see a few fish rolling, but out of casting distance form his spot. Once again I was offered an opportunity to fish what small amount of open space remained in the area, but I had no desire to fish that close to others. So we talked and I learned quite a bit about what had occurred at the Tailrace king salmon fishery in 2017, including what I considered some personal “secrets” on how some nice king salmon had been caught.

Eventually I walked on upstream toward the highway and found a couple different spots where I could cast and drift bait under a bobber without being in anyone else’s way. A kid hooked a king salmon immediately above me at the first spot, but aside from that, there was little activity where I was fishing.

During a non-holiday weekday — I would expect there could be less people fishing compared to July 4 — when I went. One must also consider, however, that the Tailrace remains the only open king salmon fishery in the Mat-Su Valley so it could remain busy for a while. While some Tailrace king salmon area getting dark, I was impressed with the overall quality of fish I was seeing roll or get caught while I was there.

Other Mat-Su salmon and trout

There are a few sockeye salmon available in the Talkeetna River drainage, and on July 4 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game recorded a single chum salmon passing the Little Susitna River weir. It will likely take plenty of casting for each fish caught, but chum salmon, sockeye salmon, and even a few coho salmon should start showing up in the lower portions of Mat-Su streams by this weekend or coming week.

Remember that bait is not allowed, until July 14, in many fisheries, and that the lower portions of many Susitna River tributary streams that cross the Parks Highway are now closed to all fishing through July 13. This creates a very relaxed camping situation at several campground up the Parks Highway — and if a person ventures upstream, above the closed waters, stream fishing for trout and grayling can be quite good.

Stocked lakes will continue to provide liberal harvest opportunities for rainbow trout, Arctic char and small landlocked salmon throughout the summer.

Personal use dip netting

While no personal use salmon fisheries are open in the Mat-Su Valley at this time, the Kenai River personal use fishery opens on Monday and the Copper River personal use and subsistence fisheries remain open. These fisheries are Alaska resident fisheries only and a permit is required.

Permits are available at Fish and Game offices in the area.

Good Luck and Fish On!

Andy Couch is the owner of Fishtale River Guides, and a member of the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee and Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.