New fishing season brings regulation changes

Surely as the beautiful browns and grays of dormant trees, bushes and plants emerge from under winter’s cold white blanket, fishing regulations are a changing. Well to be more exact some have already changed. Of immediate concern for Mat-Su anglers who may not participate in ice fishing activities, for Alaskans over the age of 17 years or nonresidents over the age of 15 years it may now be time to purchase a 2026 fishing license before heading out to try your luck at an open-water fishery. To my knowledge fishing without the proper sport fishing license is the most commonly cited sport fishing rule violation, likely because it is one of the easiest regulations to verify, and the regulation most often checked. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had the new 2026 sport fishing regulations booklets for Southcentral Alaska available for anglers at the Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show in Wasilla two weeks ago, with additional copies available in their Palmer office. I’ve highlighted a few regulations anglers should consider before fishing.

Spring Flowing Waters Closure

To protect spawning wild rainbow trout in the Palmer -Wasilla Zone there is a spring fishing closure of flowing waters that runs form April 15 - June 14 each year. A description of the closed waters area is listed in the regulation booklet — and this closed waters zone covers most of the Palmer / Wasilla area including the Meadow Creek / Fish Creek drainage, Cottonwood Creek drainage, and Wasilla Creek drainage. Note that nonflowing waters (lakes) within the Palmer - Wasilla Zone remain open to sport fishing. As mentioned in last week's column Kepler - Bradley Lakes have already been stocked with catchable-sized rainbow trout, and may provide one of the best open water fish catching opportunities at this time in the Mat-Su Valley.

Catch and Release Regulations

While the Little Susitna River (downstream from the Parks Highway) and Susitna Drainage remain open to sport fishing, regulations protect wild spawning rainbow trout in these areas by allowing single-hook artificial lure / catch and release fishing only for this species during the same April 15 - June 14 time period. Note: When I talked with Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) sport fishery biologist, Samantha Oslund on Tuesday April 28 she mentioned that all the streams crossing the Parks Highway between Willow and Talkeetna had broken up and were now free flowing. She also mentioned that water flows appeared high and muddy. In late April / early May most fish caught from these locations are usually hooked near their confluences with the Susitna River, and while good catches may occur success is often spotty this early in the season.

Emergency Order King Salmon Regulations

The king salmon fishing closures, single hook artificial lure with hook gap 1/2 inch or less restriction, and fishing hour restrictions announced earlier this year run from May 1 until July 13 and cover all Little Susitna River and Susitna River drainage waters normally open to king salmon fishing.

Note: The Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River side-channel sport king salmon fishery targeting hatchery fish returning to Eklutna Tailrace remains open 24 hours per day / 7 days per week with bait and harvest allowed in the specified waters. This the only Mat-Su sport king salmon fishery for ocean-run kings that remains open during the 2026 season.

Commercial Drift Gillnet Changes

While technically not changes to sport fishing regulations, the Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted changes in March, that depending upon legal review and sign off by the Lieutenant Governor, should increase coho salmon migration from the Central District to Northern District waters of Upper Cook Inlet. These regulation changes could become effective starting June 19 and include:

*Providing a Conservation Corridor through the center of State of Alaska managed waters from June 19 until the season is closed by emergency order. While this corridor concept has been used in the past — during portions of the season, the change would allow uninterrupted salmon migration through the state-waters corridor throughout the entire season. Note: Limited commercial drift gillnet harvest may remain open throughout Federal EEZ waters during a portion or all of the 2026 season.

*Commercial drift gillnetting in the Expanded Kasilof and Expanded Kenai Sections will be allowed up to 5 days per week — with two closed periods per week to allow passage of Northern Cook Inlet coho through these sections as well.

*In August when the commercial drift gillnet harvest is less than 3% of the cumulative drift sockeye harvest for two periods in a row, the drift gillnet fleet will be shifted over to fish the narrower Areas 3 and 4 on the westside of Cook Inlet until closed by emergency order.

While 3 consecutive years of failing to attain ADF&G’s established coho salmon escapement goals at Deshka River and Little Susitna River clearly indicated the necessity for management change as recognized by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and while the Central District drift gillnet fleet will remain the only commercial user group allowed to harvest salmon in the Cook Inlet Federal EEZ waters, and while regulations within the Central District Drift Gillnet Fishery Management Plan will continue to allow the drift gillnet fleet more liberal commercial salmon harvest opportunity in state waters than any other commercial fishing user group in Upper Cook Inlet — the drift gillnet fleet has indicated it intends to challenge the pending more conservative commercial fishing regulations in court. It will, therefore, be interesting too see how the 2026 fishing season plays out.

Good Luck and Fish On!

While Andy Couch is a member of the Matanuska - Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee the thoughts and opinions expressed in this column are his own - unless noted otherwise.