Holiday Weekend FIshing Opportunities

Although smaller numbers of ocean -run salmon are available throughout the entire summer in the Mat-Su Valley, many Mat-Su anglers may want to travel to the small community of Chitina in the Copper River Valley to participate in the personal use dip net fishery during the 4th of July Holiday weekend. In response to a period of good sockeye salmon counts through the Miles Lake Sonar on the Copper River, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has opened the Chitina personal use fishery by emergency order for the entire week of Monday June 28 — Sunday July 4. Only Alaska residents may participate in this fishery. A sport fishing license and personal use fishing permit are required to participate. Both permits and licenses are available online at the ADF&G website or at the Palmer ADF&G or Glennallen ADF&G offices. The salmon limit is 25 per head of household plus 10 additional salmon for each dependent of the permit holder. Note: this is a fast river and participants need to be careful. If water conditions are good this fishery likely provides one of the best salmon harvest opportunities over the holiday weekend. For more information visit this page of ADF&G website: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/EONR/index.cfm?ADFG=region.NR&Year=2021&NRID=3166

Deshka River king salmon

With some cool weather and some rain the Deshka River king salmon fishery kept producing reasonable numbers of sport caught king salmon through the weekend of June 26 /27. The remaining salmon seem to be moving upriver quickly and as the season nears the end available king salmon numbers may vary from day to day. Fishing early or late in the day provides a better opportunity to catch the salmon. Daily fishing hours are from 6 am — 11 pm through the last day of the king salmon season on July 13. In this fishery bait and multiple hooks are now allowed. While fishing for king salmon has slowed considerably in the deep water near the Deshka River / Susitna River confluence — there is a distinct possibility that a few silver (coho) salmon or pink salmon could start showing up in this area during the holiday weekend or the coming week. A strong number of king salmon jacks (less than 20 inches in length) have shown up during the late part of the season. Anglers are allowed to keep up to 10 jack king salmon per day and do not need to record harvest of king salmon less than 20 inches.

Eklutna Tailrace — kings and early sockeye

The road — accessible tailrace continues to produce king salmon — although I’ve heard that even this fishery has slowed down. As mentioned last week, a few sockeye salmon are also showing up at this location. This is a 24-hour per day fishery, bait, and multiple hooks are allowed.

Northern Pike

Dan Suprak of Alaska Chinook Charters (907) 748-0095 took a group fishing in the Susitna River drainage for northern pike on Monday June 28, and told me they caught about 20 good-sized fish, including some in the 5 — 8 lb class. This weekend could be a good opportunity to explore the Nancy Lake system near Willow or some of the slow moving creeks and lakes along the lower Susitna River for these aggressive fish. Dan and others like to fish weedless or topwater lures for these water wolves. In Lakes and Deshka River side sloughs (where bait is allowed) a whole herring fished near weedbeds and under a float may produce good results.

Sockeye Salmon

For those interested in getting out and exploring the outdoors close to home, both lower Cottonwood Creek off of Hayfield Road and FIsh Creek downstream of Knik-Goose Bay Road may provide an opportunity to harvest an early arriving sockeye salmon or two. Note: these fisheries are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 5 am — 10 -m daily. Fly fishing is usually a top choice for sockeye in these small streams and new fish may be milling around as the high tide pushes water upstream into these locations. Both Wal-Mart and Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wasilla provide sport anglers with complimentary tide books so a person can better decide when to fish these tidal locations. Note: when fishing tidal areas I like to arrive before the tide and continue fishing through the time the tide starts to drop. Observation and experimentation will help an angler figure out at which specific times to fish tidal zones in different fisheries. Early season salmon, in particular, often slosh in and out of these small freshwater streams on the tide. Perhaps it takes them a while to adjust to the freshwater, or perhaps they are just checking out different streams. The point is salmon can be available in tidal stream mouth areas days before they venture upstream.

Holiday Camping

Many Alaskans like to take the long weekend for an extended camping trip. It is a good idea to call and check on making an advance reservation or at least finding out if they campground you are planning to stay at has availability. When I talked with Eric Holm (503) 939-6732 the operator at Little Susitna River Public Use Facility on the lower Little Susitna River on Monday he mentioned that this weekend he already has more camping reservations than at any other time during the king salmon season. He mentioned the fishing has been slow recently at Little Susitna River, however, many people may simply want to get out and enjoy the outdoors, camp, boat, and do a little fishing.

Have a fun and safe 4th of July and Fish On!

Andy Couch is a 35-year Mat-Su Valley salmon fishing guide. You may read his daily fishing reports on his Fishtale River Guides website at https://www.fish4salmon.com/alaska-fishing-reports/