Ice out means boats, salmon and trout

According to my online fishing reports at fish4salmon.com, I first noticed anglers fishing small areas of open water on the edge of Bradley Lake April 12, and I know people were out boating Finger Lake days before I made my trip last Sunday. Compared to my online fishing reports from previous years, this is the earliest I’ve seen ice-free Mat-Su Valley lakes in 12 years, and the earliest I’ve had my guide boat out for a check-up run in the same amount of time.

This definitely means a longer open-water fishing season.

However, up to this point, anglers hoping to catch open-water fish have been restricted to lakes in the core Palmer-Wasilla area. Other lakes and streams still maintained a partial or total ice sheet, as of last weekend.

Finger Lake

Last Sunday (April 26), I trailered my guide boat over to Finger Lake for an early season check-up. I went in the evening, figuring I would miss most of the weekend crowd. But the parking lot near the boat ramp was nearly full — there were several individuals fishing on the dock right beside the boat ramp.

My nephew, Paul Warta, and I launched the boat as quickly as possible, and the motor started immediately. We warmed the motor up for 10 or 15 minutes before hopping up to planing speed and heading toward the far end of the lake. I let Paul drive the boat where we had lots of room, and it was easy to maneuver and stay away from other boaters.

There were still quite a few boaters out, some running, others stationary and fishing. Near the far end of the lake we saw a boat angler hook a fish that jumped a couple times as he fought it back toward the boat. But just as it was time to land the fish, it managed to shake the hook and get free.

Many times my first boating trip of the season has been a very cold affair. But Sunday afternoon’s trip was downright pleasant. After many years, I’ve learned that warmer temperatures are another advantage for starting an early season boating or fishing trip a bit later in the day.

When we pulled back into the ramp area at the Alaska State Parks’ Finger Lake campground area, we saw an individual cleaning a nice bunch of 10- to 12-inch, landlocked, king salmon and rainbow trout. He had considerably more salmon than trout and mentioned he had caught the fish while out casting from a canoe.

From late April through the entire month of May, the salmon most likely to be caught in the Mat-Su Valley are the small stocked fish the Alaska Department of Fish and Game puts into the lakes to provide winter ice-fishing action.

Because of its larger public parking lot, developed boat ramp, campground and good populations of landlocked salmon, rainbow trout, and Arctic char, Finger Lake is definitely the hub of early season boating and fishing activity in the Mat-Su Valley.

But multiple times, in previous years, Lucille Lake and Wasilla Lake have been available (with enough open water for boat access) earliest. Both of these lakes, at times, also provide excellent trout fishing.

All three sites I have used require a reasonable boat launch user fee.

Little Susitna River

On Monday, Paul and I took my guide boat out to the Little Susitna River in search of a Mat-Su fish I’ve yet to see or hear of anyone catching. We were looking for an ocean-run king salmon returning to a Valley stream during the month of April.

Suffice it to say neither Paul nor I saw any ocean-run king salmon or any other type of fish on Monday. There was still shelf ice along the river in lots of places, including large ice chunks along the banks down in the tide zone.

Although we saw no fish, we did spot a moose along the bank, a large flock of Canada geese, lots of ducks and an unusually large number of bald eagles. It was a good trip — but not for catching fish.

For those wondering, the road to the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility is much better than it has been in the past at this time of year. The early spring has given it a chance to get mostly dried out before too much traffic could tear it up. There is still a rutted section about a mile long on the drive past the Susitna Flats State Game Refuge gate, but it was passable at a slow steady speed for even my two-wheel-drive pickup towing the boat.

Talkeetna River

Earlier this week, I talked with Margo Nealis of Phantom Tri River Charters in Talkeetna. She reported they were starting to run charters for rainbow and Dolly Varden trout up the Talkeetna River. Margo said the river is extremely low. Boaters are encouraged to call Tri River at 907-733-2400 to get an update on boat launch and river conditions before making the trip to Talkeetna.

Clear Creek, off the Talkeetna River, is usually one of the first stream fisheries to start producing significant numbers of fish. But people should check the regulations before heading that way, as this is mainly a catch-and-release fishery. People have already made some decent catches at this location since the river opened this spring.

Deshka Landing

Ice has been flowing past Deshka Landing on the Susitna River for the past couple days, but large chunks of ice still have the boat launch blocked off. The Susitna River is very low, but those interested can check out current conditions at Deshka Landing by using the weather cam on their website. Visit deshkalanding.com and you will see the link or live feed.

Susitna Landing

Jeff Boatright, at Susitna Landing, reports that a few fly anglers have been fishing at this location. Open-water opportunities should get much better shortly, he said. Higher water flows should start moving more ice downriver, thereby providing a larger area to fish. Stop by and ask Jeff what conditions are like — or call him at 907-495-7700 — before paying the parking fee to use the facility.

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