Mat-Su’s peak king salmon season

Mid-June is peak king salmon season — especially for boaters fishing in the Knik River below Eklutna Tailrace. Peak season for the boaters can come to near abrupt halt, however, whenever the Knik River rises to fill the river channels from bank to bank — something that often happens around June 20. For anglers fishing upstream at the Tailrace, however, peak king salmon season has most recently occurred after the Knik River rises to where a larger abundance of migrating king salmon make it past the boaters in the river, and arrive at the tailrace. While most kings are often harvested in June, some king salmon will continue to be harvested both from the tailrace and in the Knik River well into July. From 6 a.m to 6 p.m. on Saturday June 15 tailrace waters from the Knik River confluence to the pedestrian bridge will be designated as a Youth Only Fishery for those 15 years of age or younger. Waters upstream and downstream of the Youth Only Fishery will remain open to anglers of all ages throughout the day. Remainder: Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River is the only Mat-Su Valley location open to fishing for and harvesting of ocean-run king salmon at this time.

Status of Additional Mat-Su King Salmon Locations

Many Mat-Su anglers have asked me if other valley locations may open to king salmon fishing at some point during the 2024 season. Since the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) manages specific fisheries based on salmon escapement goals, there is a possibility that Little Susitna River, Deshka River, or Lake Creek, as systems monitored inseason, could open to king salmon fishing (and harvest) if adequate king salmon escapement was counted prior to July 13. ADF&G’s 2024 preseason projection called for poor king salmon returns throughout all of Upper Cook Inlet. Since ADF&G closed sport king salmon fishing and placed a single hook artificial lure restriction (with the gap between hook shank and hook point no larger than 1/2 inch) on the Susitna River drainage and Little Susitna River, do not expect any king salmon regulation changes — unless a specific king salmon spawning escapement goal has been attained. Mat-Su Valley king salmon escapement counts for Little Susitna River and Deshka River along with the king salmon spawning escapement goals for both rivers can be found using the following ADF&G webpage: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/

Palmer - Wasilla Zone Streams Open to Fishing and Harvest

Several streams such as Wasilla Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Fish Creek / Meadow Creek in the Big Lake Drainage will open to fishing following a closure to protect spawning rainbow trout. These streams open to fishing on Saturday June 15 with a harvest limit of 2 rainbow trout per day.

Parks Highway Streams North of Willow Open to Rainbow Trout Harvest

Be sure to check the fishery regulations booklet to identify regulation exceptions that may only apply to certain streams or stream stretches — otherwise, without an exception, Rainbow Trout harvest of 2 fish per day will be allowed in flowing waters of the Susitna River drainage starting on June 15. Many anglers may choose to release wild rainbow trout and focus their harvest efforts on salmon, however, Mat-Su Valley sport salmon harvest opportunities are extremely limited in mid-June 2024 .

Fish Creek Opens to Salmon other than King Salmon

From Saturday June 15 — July 14 the portion of Fish Creek near Knik Goose - Bay Road where salmon fishing is allowed will be open to fishing for salmon other than king salmon. New this year — the Fish Creek salmon fishery will be open 7-days per week between the hours of 5 a.m — 10 p.m during this time period. Very few salmon may be present until sometime in July (ADF&G usually does not install their Fish Creek salmon counting weir until after July 1). Even so, anglers willing to try this new opportunity will likely be rewarded with a mostly solitary fishing experience, providing a possibility of harvesting early arriving sockeye salmon.

Popular Copper River Personal Use Fishery — First Opening

The 2024 first opening of the personal use salmon dip net fishery in the Chitina subdistrict below the Copper River bridge lasts 72 hours, and runs from 6 p.m. on Thursday June 13 — 6 p.m. Sunday June 16. Many Mat-Su Valley anglers often make a trip to Chitina in hopes of harvesting June and July salmon. Personal use fishing openings usually continue at Chitina through the end of September, however many Mat-Su Valley salmon fisheries should be providing significant harvestable numbers of salmon starting by mid or late July. Personal use fisheries are open to Alaska Residents only, and a household personal use permit is required to participate. Permits may be obtained from the ADF&G Licensing website page. Note: The Copper River is fast moving, cold, and carries a tremendous load of glacial silt. I suggest wearing a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) and using extra caution to avoid falling in or wading too deep. Drive time from Palmer or Wasilla to Chitina may be 4 hours or more depending upon the number of rest stops taken along the way. In addition the roads travelled have rough spots where slower speeds are advised. For these reasons I suggest planning to spend at least one overnight when making a salmon fishing trip to Chitina.

Fish On!