Memorial Day Weekend marks traditional start of king salmon fishing

Although some anglers have already been out fishing for and catching a few king salmon from Mat-Su Valley streams, the coming Memorial Day Weekend is usually the first very busy weekend for some popular Valley king salmon fisheries.

From my own experience guiding salmon fishing trips on the Deshka River, I can attest to the fact that anglers have been harvesting king salmon from the Deshka for more than a week now, with the first fish I know of being caught on May 16. Talking with Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff on May 23, I was also told a few kings have been caught on Little Susitna River. King salmon have also been seen rolling at the mouths of at least two of the east side tributaries of the Susitna River along the Parks Highway between Willow and Talkeetna.

For those who would like to get out and try for a king salmon, there are definitely kings available in Mat-Su rivers right now, but don’t expect an over abundance of fish or fish-catching opportunities. Think of this weekend as an opportunity to get out and fish for these powerful and wonderful-tasting salmon at a time when they are freshest from the ocean. With enough effort or some knowledge of a particularly good spot — and good timing — an angler may hook into one of more of these fish. In reality, most of the anglers out fishing for kings this weekend will do much more fishing than catching, but after a very long, snowy winter, what better way to spend part of the Memorial Day weekend than out fishing on the beautiful Mat-Su rivers.

Do commercial scents work?

I was asked this question by a guest at one of the salmon fishing seminars I was presenting last winter. Since scent is considered a bait and bait is not allowed in many Mat-Su king salmon fisheries and the Little Susitna River coho salmon fishery (before Aug. 6), I had experimented very little with scents with the exception that I have fished with salmon roe extensively when and where the fishing regulations allow. From the little fishing I had done with scents in the past applied to lures, I was usually under the impression that it mostly washed off after the first cast or presentation.

Two days ago I decided to experiment with some of Pautzke’s Krill scent in the no longer available gel form. I smeared the gel paste on a K-14 Kwikfish and had one guest fish it alongside a Spin-N-Glo rig with bait on a morning charter. The guest caught two kings on the plug-gel scent and the other guest did not even get a bite with the drift lure-salmon eggs combo. After the first guest caught and kept the second king salmon, however, the second guest switched to the Kwikfish smeared with scent and fished the remaining four hours of the trip, still without getting a bite.

On the afternoon trip of the same day I had four guests with two fishing the scent-smeared Kwikfish and two fishing the Spin-N-Glo with salmon eggs. When one of the anglers with a Kwikfish caught and kept a salmon, the one fishing the drifter-bait combo switched to the plug-scent. When a second angler caught and kept an even larger king salmon on a plug-scent, the other combo was also abandoned, and the two remaining anglers fished the plugs-scent until they each had also caught a king salmon.

Of the four king salmon caught, the fish averaged over 25 pounds in weight and included the largest king of the season to date from my charter boat at 39 pounds. That was my best day of the season so far in terms of average king salmon size, and one of my best days of the season in terms of guest-catch percentage as well. Certainly the sample size was extremely small (one day’s charters) and prone to many different variables in addition to the krill scent; however, the results were impressive enough that I am definitely continuing the experiment of smearing my lures with scent when fishing the Deshka River (where allowed).

I also discovered that Pautzke’s gel scent sticks to the lures much better than I anticipated. At the end of the day after five king salmon had been landed with only two plugs, I found there remained a sticky coating of gel scent on each plug — and I only applied the scent one time at the start of the morning charter.

Hooligan migration

For those interested in these smelt-type fish, timing for them is only a little later than the king salmon that are already in the more accessible Mat-Su streams. Memorial Day Weekend often sees the arrival of hooligan migrating up the Susitna River across from the Deshka River confluence near the mouth of Willow Creek, and sometimes as far upriver as Susitna Landing. People have been asking, but I’ve yet to see the gulls and eagles along the Susitna River gravel bars that usually mark the arrival of significant numbers of these little fish. Still, following their normal timing, they should be available soon and possibly by the holiday weekend.

Stream trout

Both Bob Meals with Tri-River Charters out of Talkeetna and Jeff Boatright with Susitna Landing told me earlier this week that trout fishing had been very good at their locations over the past weekend and could continue that way through the rest of May. Water conditions can change rapidly on many streams at this time of year, however, so it might pay to ask for the latest conditions before scheduling a trip.

Stocked lake opportunities

As mentioned in other columns Valley anglers can expect to see improved fishing on several lakes that have already been stocked prior to Memorial Day Weekend. Contact the Palmer Fish and Game office for more specific information about which lakes have already been stocked at 746-6300.

May we all have a fishy weekend.

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