Fall fishing conditions: Light pressure

Last week (Sept. 15 column) I had an in depth conversation with Alaska Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist, Parker Bradley, about northern pike inhabiting the Big Lake drainage and fishing opportunities to catch them. I wrote that conversation up in last week’s fishing column and provided contact information so anglers could contact Parker about pike fishing opportunities or access to some of the lesser known and lightly fished locations in the drainage.

Although Parker had encouraged me to have interested anglers contact him, I had concerns that he might be inundated with phone calls. The fishing column was published on Friday, so I gave Parker a call on Tuesday of this week, to check in and see if he had received a larger than normal number of calls. He had not received a single call about pike fishing, since I talked with him last week. According to Parker ADF&G receives few calls about fishing during September. He said they often get an infusion of anglers calling for information in the spring and then again after the ice starts forming on local lakes, and people are thinking about ice fishing. There are several reasons fishing calls may drop off sharply in September. Parker figured many people may be focussed on hunting — and our recent run of wet or gloomy weather may also discourage anglers in the fall — or perhaps they have already participated in a number of fishing trips earlier in the summer. At any rate fishing pressure is certainly light at most Mat-Su Valley locations at this time in late September.

Fellow outdoor writer, Howard Delo, is talking about winterizing and putting away boats and fishing gear for the season. I should heed his advice — I always seem to lag on getting boats prepped and snugly stored for winter. Many times I’ve ended up attempting to clean up a boat with snow inside. — At such times I tell myself I’ll get things done earlier the next fall, but the thought of perhaps taking one last river trip before the weather shuts the door on another open-water season may be part fo the reason I delay.

Fishing/Outdoor Meetings

While it is truly a toss up whether I will do more open water fishing/boating before winter sets in, there is a full slate of Fishng/Outdoor related meetings coming up that Mat-Su anglers may want to participate in.

Matanuska Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission

After taking a break from meetings during the summer months, the commission is scheduled to have it first meeting of the fall starting at 4p.m. on Thursday September 28 at the Borough building lower conference room in Palmer. We will be discussing /planning how we want to participate in several salmon management meetings that will be coming up this fall / winter. The agenda and information on how to attend and participate remotely will be located on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough website.

Board of Fisheries (BOF) Worksession (October 12 &13) and Hatchery subcommittee meeting (October 14) are scheduled with 8:30 am start times at the Egan Convention Center in Anchorage. While there is some opportunity for public participation through written comments, these will be organizational and informational meetings. Additional meeting information can be found on this ADF&G website page.

Alaska Outdoor Council Banquet (Oct. 28 5p.m.) and Outdoor Expo (Oct. 28 & 29 10 a.m.-5 p.m. is scheduled at the Curtis Menard Center in Wasilla. Banquet tickets ($100 per) available at alaskaoutdoorcouncil.org or call Kendra at (907) 521-1599. The Expo is advertised as a free event.

Fish and Meet On!