Mat-Su Fishing Report: Hooligans steal holiday fishing headline

In the past 24 hours I’ve heard four reports of a thick mass of the small smelt-like fish steadily moving up the Susitna River drainage.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) biologist Samantha Oslund mentioned the department had received a couple reports from a week ago of an abundance of hooligan in the Susitna River system below the Yentna River confluence. Mike Hudson, owner of 3 Rivers Fly & Tackle in Wasilla, relayed an incident where a party was netting so many hooligan below the Yentna River confluence that they destroyed a dipnet. Lloyd McDaniels told me on Tuesday he drove his boat into the bank below the Yentna confluence and the hooligan were so thick that he could hear them running into the bottom of his boat. ADF&G biologist Dave Rutz reported a large abundance of hooligan in the Susitna River just bleow the Deshka River confluence on Wednesday.

Fishing regulations allow Alaska residents to harvest as many hooligans as they want for their personal use from the Susitna River system. So for fans of the small oily fish, now is the catching time. I have yet to see hooligan upstream of the Deshka River confluence (where I’ve been guiding king salmon fishing charters), however, the coming week is the time when they usually show up. While there can be a great abundance of these fish available for harvest, the opportunity may last 10 days, a week, or less.

If you have never fished for hooligan on the Susitna River system, an abundance of birds (gulls or bald eagles) in specific locations often indicates a swarm of the small fish nearby. Anglers may fish for hooligan off gently sloping gravel bars, but the fish can also be packed along the bank in places where the water drops off quickly. In specific spots hooligans spawn in such shallow water, they can sometimes be visible along the edges of the river — even in silty glacial rivers like the Susitna and Yentna. Fishing gear is usually a dip net, with some individuals using special small-meshed hooligan nets. When an abundance of fish is found, however, hooligan can also be caught by hand, or if one is wanting to harvest quickly, a large mesh salmon dipnet harvests hooligan in a hurry. Boaters pulling into an area where hooligan are swarming are wise to pick a spot without obstacles, as a thick mass of small fish along the river edge can be sucked into a jet boat’s water intake robbing the boat of maneuverability and power to navigate. The Susitna / Yentna River hooligan stock is an amazing sight to see during this specific time of the year. My word of caution is eat some hooligan, and see how you like them, before going wild and harvesting too many. After finding a herd of hooligan, you can easily harvest more than you may need, or want to take care of.

Mat-Su Valley Trout Provide Catching Opportunity

Valley residents and visitors continue taking advantage of ADF&G’s lake stocking program to catch an abundance of trout and grayling. According to Oslund most catchable trout the department has been stocking this year have averaged a robust 10 inches, and the department website can provide specific information on which lakes have received recent stockings. In addition some of the lakes also have larger holdover fish. I heard of one rainbow trout taken this spring topping 28 inches from a Mat-Su Valley Lake — with a couple more topping the 20 inch mark caught on the same trip (sorry, I don’t reveal all fishing locations).

Fish several valley lakes, or ask some questions, and you will likely find one of these big-fish-producing gems.

Quality wild trout in the Susitna River tributaries have moved up out of the the Susitna River confluences, but according to Margo Nealis of Phantom Tri River Charters, water levels have started dropping on the Talkeetna River system as a result of cooler weather, so trout catching is kicking into a higher gear at that location. Boat or raft anglers can easily cover lots of water, while bank anglers may have to work a bit harder to find fish that have spread upstream in the clear water streams lower in the Susitna River drainage.

Big Northern Pike Recorded from Mat-Su Valley

Last week, Hudson showed me a picture of a monster northern pike recently caught in the Mat-Su and weighed at the fly shop. The huge fish topped 31 pounds. In the 1980’s large 20 and 30 pound pike were caught annually from the Valley, but I can’t specifically remember the last time I heard of a 30-pounder taken. Local fishing guide Chad Lips (Lipservice Fishing Charters) told me this week of fishing a specific Mat-Su Valley Lake and catching 5 pike over 30 inches. Not nearly as large as a 30 pounder, but an impressive Mat-Su catch from a road-system lake.

King Salmon

May 16 was the date one of my clients caught the first Deshka River king salmon from my guide boat this year, but king salmon abundance is still building slowly, and most of my guests, to this point have had lots of fishing without a king salmon pulling on the end of the line. As of Wednesday May 21, ADF&G had recorded 5 king salmon swimming past Deshka River weir and 1 king salmon swimming past Little Susitna River weir. There should be more king salmon caught from both locations over the coming Memorial Day Weekend, with a greater abundance of king salmon showing up later in June. For those truly afflicted with the fishing bug, however, the Mat-Su Valley’s abundant fishing opportunities must be savored at all times throughout the season.

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