Last Day of King Salmon Season on Little Susitna River

On Tuesday April 30, Ben Allen and I took advantage of the warm spring / early breakup Mat-Su Valley has been enjoying, by towing my guide boat to Little Susitna River, and fishing on the last full-day king salmon fishing and harvest was allowed. On Wednesday May 1, Alaska Department of FIsh and Game’s (ADF&G) emergency order would close this fishery for the rest of the season. Before the closure Ben and I were able to fish every hole we wanted without any completion from other anglers. We did see one bank angler about 1/2 mile downstream of the boat launch, but not in a spot we wanted to fish. The river was in beautiful shape with both better height and clarity than could normally be expected this time of year. While there was still some snow in shadowed spots along both riverbanks nearly all the ice along the river had either already melted or floated off in the slowly rising water.

It was a short uneventful boat ride to our first fishing spot. Ben and I both cast spinners for a while, before I switched tactics and fished a small bobber and jig in hopes of enticing a smaller species of fish. On my third drift the bobber shot underwater, I lifted my rod tip, and Bingo! a nice -sized rainbow trout went airborne. He proved a hard fighter, ripping line from my reel on a couple powerful runs, jumping two feet out of the water, and doggedly resisting my efforts for a quick catch and release. Ben help me land and get a picture of the colorful rainbow, after which I landed one more trout, and he also caught a couple rainbows— all on the same little lure.

After catching 4 fish at the first hole, we tried numerous other great spots, and saw a small fish surface , but never did hook another fish or see any king salmon surface. Granted it would have been the earliest king salmon I’d ever seen or heard of in a Mat-Su stream, but we weren’t about to let the whole 2019 Little Susitna River king salmon season pass us by without even attempting to catch a king salmon.

We started boating from the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility Boat Launch close to noon in an effort to enjoy warmer temperatures while we were fishing. That part of the trip went as planned — I had brought along two jackets to wear incase it was cold, but I stowed each of them under my boat seat at the start of the trip, and that is where they stayed. We were surprised to find there was plenty of water for launching and driving my jet boat without fear of hitting bottom anywhere. Along the river we spotted a bald eagle, lots of ducks, a trumpeter swan, and several long-legged shore birds. We also watched a colorful hawk gliding over the downstream swamps.

“I’m having a great time, but it feels weird not having a king salmon season after this trip,” Ben commented on the bittersweet nature of our trip. It definitely felt strange having only one wonderful day of king salmon fishing on the Little Susitna River for an entire summer.

May and June Trout

There are lots of stocked lakes and streams with wild trout in the Mat-Su Valley, and that is where I anticipate the headline fisheries will be for the next two months. On Wednesday Mike Hudson mentioned that many lakes in the Palmer - Wasilla area were fishing well, but as a person travels north many of the lakes including those in the Nancy lake system remain ice-covered. Some streams from Willow Creek north have been fishing well. Mike specifically mentioned Willow Creek and Montana Creek as providing some of the better trout fishing, with Sheep Creek and Kashwitna River already running a bit cloudy in color and not fishing quite as well.

As mentioned in last week’s column the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has already stocked catchable rainbow rout in several Palmer — Wasilla area lakes these include: Kepler-Bradley Lakes, Canoe Lake, Matanuska Lake, Meirs Lake, Loberg (Junction) Lake. Further up the Glenn Highway ADF&G has stocked some arctic char in Long Lake. These were some of the lakes Mike Hudson mentioned as fishing well. The catchable trout this year have been averaging about 9 to 10 inches in length, however there are some larger holder rainbow trout being caught as well. Mike specifically mentioned Finger Lake as one of the hotspots for larger holdover rainbow trout from previous years’ stockings.

Susitna Drainage Boat Launches

None are open as this article is written, but hopes are high that they may open soon. Deshka Landing still has some snow and ice on the hill leading down to the boat launch, Susitna Landing has ice clogging the boat launch, and Talkeetna Boat Launch needs the river to rise enough to put sufficient water in the Talkeetna side-channel to make boat launching and travel to the main river feasible. Rhett Nealis with Phantom Tri-River Charters in Talkeetna told me he has not been able to get a boat into the Talkeetna River yet, and with the difficulty predicting when that will happen, he has been putting people on a list to update when conditions improve. 733-2400.

Good Luck and Fish On!