Fishing options for Memorial Weekend fun

The last week of May / Memorial holiday weekend often provide the first big kickoff to summer fishing, camping, and other activities. When I talked with Devin at Susitna Landing on Tuesday, he mentioned the camping spots at this particular facility were almost fully reserved for the upcoming weekend — but the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility near Point MacKenzie had a good number of campsites available. He also mentioned that anglers were continuing to catch rainbow trout and Dolly Varden near Susitna Landing / campground even though the water was running a bit dirty. Day use parking should be available throughout the weekend, at both locations, and most of the people camping over the holiday weekend may likely be primarily camping, but not fishing.

Boat Launches

At Susitna Landing The water level is high enough that a good number of boaters have been using the boat launch recently — although the launch lagoon is still a bit shallow transitioning into the river. The Susitna Landing boat launch and boat parking lagoons are both scheduled to be dredged at the end of May. Other popular Mat-Su boat launches over the holiday weekend may include: Big Lake North, Big Lake South, Nancy Lake, Deshka Landing, Talkeetna, Lucille Lake in Wasilla, and Knik River Access

Campsite Availability

Anglers hoping to both camp and fish over the coming weekend may want to make a few phone calls in advance and check on campsite availability at some of the more popular campgrounds along the highway system — Alaska State Parks also has a system where camping reservations may be placed in advance. For general information anglers / campers may call the Alaska State Parks Finger Lake office number at 907 — 745 — 3975. There is quite a bit of information on their phone recording. When I talked directly with the receptionist she said that a lot of Mat-Su Valley parks had already sold out their camping spaces for the coming weekend — and that Memorial Weekend was typically their busiest weekend of the entire summer for camping. There has been a delay in finishing work on the Finger Lake boat launch — so the Alaska State Parks’ Finger Lake boat launch MAY NOT be open for the holiday weekend.

Mat-Su Valley Lakes

When I talked with Mike Hudson of 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle in Wasilla, he mentioned some of the streams up the Parks Highway were currently high with runoff, making fishing a bit more difficult, and recommended lake fishing as one of the best options for this weekend. He had already heard several good reports from different Mat-Su Valley lakes when I talked with him on Tuesday morning. Samantha Oslund with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) also mentioned that the lake fishing was picking up, and that the Department’s stocking truck had been stocking a plethora of lakes throughout the valley and with a variety of fish species.

When I did a stocking search for Mat-Su Valley locations on the ADF&G website on Tuesday, 30 locations showed up where fish had been stocked during the month of May — and 19 of these locations had been stocked with catchable-sized fish in the 10 inch range. For that reason I would suggest anglers looking for new lakes to fish consider doing a stocking search on the ADF&G website (note: some of these lakes also have campsites and boat launches).

Northern Pike

Samantha Oslund said she had been hearing of good northern pike fishing recently. She mentioned Big Lake as producing big pike, and many lakes in the Nancy Lake system north of Houston have large populations of pike. Look for these fish in shallow weedy sections of a lake. Many people enjoy fishing for pike with surface lures, as topwater strikes are always exciting, and any lure that gets deep near weeds may become snagged. Weedless lures may be helpful when fishing such places. The aquatic vegetation will grow considerably during the summer, so fishing in May often provides easier fishing for those fishing without weedless lures. As mentioned in an earlier seasoncolum, pike fishing in shallow water areas can pick up later in the day after water temperatures have had a chance to warm up. There is no limit on the number of pike that can be kept in Mat-Su Valley waters, and ADF&G encourages anglers to catch as many pike as they want. For Mat-Su Valley waters regulations state that northern pike may not be returned to the water alive. Anglers interested in catching pike may want to call ADF&G and get their list of Mat-Su waters with northern pike — 907-746-6300.

Hooligan

I saw bunches of hooligan last week in the Susitna River downstream from Deshka Landing, however, when I returned later in the week, and after the river had risen significantly, I looked but could not find any good abundances. Samantha Oslund mentioned that people might want to try dipping hooligan near some of the tributary stream confluences with the Susitna River upstream of Deshka Landing. This may be the last opportunity for most people to harvest Susitna River hooligan for the 2022 season. Only Alaskan residents are allowed to harvest hooligan and a sportfishing license is required for those over 17 years of age.

King Salmon

Although anglers have been catching a few king salmon from Susitna River drainage locations for two weeks, the Memorial Day Weekend is considered by many to be the unofficial kickoff to king salmon fishing season. 4 king salmon had passed the Little Susitna River weir through Monday May 23, and although Deshka River weir installation has been delayed because of high stream flows, confirmed king salmon catches have occurred below the weir site. Water levels have been rising at Little Susitna River and Knik River which should encourage additional upriver king salmon migration by or before the holiday weekend. Remember the only Mat-Su location where ocean-run king salmon may be harvested at this time is the Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River side-channel fishery. All king salmon harvested must immediately be recorded in ink either on the back of the angler’s Alaska fishing license or on the individual’s king salmon recorder card.

If you get out and about this weekend, expect to see plenty of other Alaskans, and perhaps some visitors enjoying the outdoors as well.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, Drive Safe, and Fish On!

Andy Couch is a Mat-Su Valley fishing guide who writes the Friday Frontiersman fishing column. You may read Mat-Su Valley fishing report updates at his Fishtale River Guides website: https://www.fish4salmon.com