Fishing report: Sizzling Talkeetna silver salmon

On Thursday, Margo Nealis with Phantom Tri River Charters in Talkeetna told me their charter business was still very busy guiding salmon fishing trips, and that most people were coming back with three fish limits of silver salmon.

Margo characterized the fishing at still peak catching level, but mentioned that their charters are now catching a mixture of bright and blushed silver salmon In addition, Talkeetna River anglers are still catching some chum salmon and a few pink salmon that provide extra excitement on a trip. With some cooler weather in the evenings she mentioned the Talkeetna River has been starting to get a greener tint to it rather than the gray glacial water brought on by warmer weather. Bait fishing remains open through the end of August on the Talkeetna River drainage.

Parks Highway silver salmon

The Parks Highway streams between Talkeetna and Willow are still producing some nice coho catches as well, but peak numbers of fish have already migrated upstream from some of these locations.

Jeff Boatright at Susitna Landing told me anglers were still catching some nice chrome silver salmon, but that fishing was spotty near the mouth of the Kashwitna River. Trout and grayling are providing some additional action at some of these streams as well. Note: the last day to fish bait for salmon on the Susitna River drainage is August 31.

Little Susitna River silvers

Although the Alaska Department of Fish and Game increased the coho salmon daily bag limit to three fish per day August 16 and strong numbers of silver salmon have been continuing to swim past the Little Susitna River weir, silver salmon catching below the Little Susinta River Public Use Facility has dropped off since last weekend. I’ve guided Little Susitna River silver salmon trips every day of August until my first day off on August 21. At this point, it is getting tough for me to find decent numbers of biting silver salmon for guests to catch. Although a few chrome ocean-fresh fish continue to enter the river, most of the fish inriver are now sporting various shades of reddish blush.

Deshka River silvers

My latest Deshka River report form Bruce Knowles was that good numbers of silver salmon were still coming into the Deshka as of August 16, however, as with other silver salmon fisheries, anglers hoping for some good catches of quality fish should consider fishing soon, as numbers of quality fish will be dropping off.

Eklutna Tailrace silver salmon

A couple of my fishing guests mentioned fishing at the tailrace recently, and while there were lots of silver salmon at this location and actively rolling, they reported the fish were not biting particularly well. In fact, most of the salmon they saw caught had been snagged and needed to be released. For better success at busy drive-up fisheries like this one, Fish Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and portions of Wasilla Creek / Rabbit Slough early morning hours often produce more bites.

Jim Creek silver salmon

It has been many years since I’ve spent much time on Jim Creek. I used to live near the Butte and fished it many times for a number of years. The fishery near the mouth of the creek can at times provide some late-season action for ocean-bright silver salmon. I suspect a fair amount of these fish may be headed on up the Knik River to spawn in tiny clearwater tributaries, but I’ve caught a few of these chrome silvers to the very end of September.

While not the hot fishing of earlier in the season, this is a spot definitely worth a try for later season fish. Bait fishing is allowed in Jim Creek and the Knik River system all year.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides www.fish4salmon.com , and is a member of the Matanuska - Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.