Mat-Su silvers still providing good action

Although silver salmon numbers have dropped off over the past week in the lower Little Susitna and Deshka Rivers, locations further upstream are producing good fishing on a regular basis.

I’ve started coaching the Wasilla High School girls’ volleyball C team, and with practice in the early afternoo, I’ve been limited to one morning fishing trip per day. On those trips I’ve been fortunate to have guests mostly limiting out for silver salmon on the lower Little Su, but we’ve been starting early around first light and boating to several different holes most days to get them. At this time there are only a few guides left operating on the lower Little Susitna, and even though the fishing pressure has slowed significantly, I suspect the Little Su likely remains as the busiest Mat-Su silver salmon boat fishery on a daily basis.

On Tuesday morning, one of my volleyball team members went fishing with her family on a mid-morning silver salmon charter out of Talkeetna, and everyone caught a limit of silver salmon. Even better, she made it back in time to participate in our 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. practice session. The Talkeetna River and Clear Creek have been a hot spot lately, as my friend Bob Meals, owner of Tri River Charters, reports guests are limiting on silver salmon with salmon roe being the hot bait. While Bob says he is used to even faster fishing than what is occurring this year, limiting out a boat full of guests in a few hours sounds good enough to me. Beware of construction along the Parks Highway that is slowing down traffic north of Willow. It may take an extra half hour or 45 minutes travel time up that direction when searching for silver salmon. In addition to Talkeetna River, I’ve heard of good silver salmon fishing reported at Sheep, Montana and Sunshine creeks — all tributaries to the Susitna RIver between Willow and Talkeetna.

Jim Creek near Bodenburg Butte has consistently been a stream that produces some good silver salmon fishing well into August and sometimes even into early September. I’ve been reading numerous fishing reports from the Alaska Outdoor Journal website of people catching chrome silver salmon from this location. Years ago, when I lived in my parents home near the Butte, I caught many limits of silver salmon at this location, but anymore I take most of my charters and personal trips to larger waters where I can use my 22-foot guide boat comfortably. If you fish Jim Creek, remember that the silver salmon limit remains at two per day in this Knik Arm drainage location.

For anglers fishing Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Fish Creek remains a popular location for silver salmon, and Cottonwood Creek and Rabbit Slough (lower Wasilla Creek) will also continue to produce late August silver salmon action. At these locations anglers may keep three silver salmon per day, but fishing is only allowed during these three days of the week and only between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

As the summer salmon fishing season starts to wind down, salmon anglers may want to participate in Mat-Su Anglers Club’s smoked salmon night. Mark your calendar for 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Menard sports complex in Wasilla. For more information about this fun and flavor packed event, contact club president Julie Busch at 892-7543.

E-mail this column at sports@frontiersman.com if you have Mat-Su fishing questions or information readers may find useful. Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides (fish4salmon.com) is a Mat-Su Anglers Club member (matsuanglers.org) and member of the Matanuska-Susitna Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee.