Now’s the time for uncrowded Mat-Su salmon fishing

Aug. 11 is the first day I would call uncrowded morning fishing on the Little Susitna River since the river opened to bait fishing on Aug. 6.

Granted, catching limits of Little Susitna River silver salmon is somewhat more difficult than it was on the first day of bait and over the following weekend, but on the other hand on all my charters since Aug. 6, it has simply been a matter of time fishing more spots before each guest has ended up with a limit of salmon. With some hunting seasons already started and more rapidly approaching, with school teachers going back to work on Monday and Mat-Su schools opening for students soon, and with the Alaska State Fair rapidly approaching, expect fishing pressure to be less intense through the remainder of August. There will likely be a few extra anglers on the weekends, but even those days on the rivers and streams of the Mat-Su Valley should be toned down in the number of anglers.

Talkeetna salmon fIshing

Bob Meals of Tri River Charters in Talkeetna, 733-2400, told me his charter guests and people they have been running on drop-off trips to Clear Creek have been limiting on silver salmon recently. There are also still plenty of chum salmon near Clear Creek and sockeye salmon near the mouth of Larson Creek. Even this past week, Bob said fishing pressure at Clear Creek has been lighter than normal — something he attributes partly to the damp weather we’ve experienced in the Mat-Su Valley lately. On the Talkeetna and tributaries, Bob recommends fishing bait and putting in about three hours of patient fishing as the approach for catching silvers.

Willow Creek

Farleigh Dean of Willow Creek Resort told me he could likely catch a limit of two silver salmon on just about any day he decided to float Willow Creek; however, he is normally used to seeing many more silvers at this time of year.

Call him for more information about fishing Willow area streams at 495-6343.

Deshka River silver salmon

My friend Pat Donnelson, 357-0131, who has been guiding almost exclusively to Deshka River this season, reports continued good success at that location, and according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game data from Deshka River Weir an average of about 275 silver salmon have been swimming through the weir for the past several days, so there seems to still be plenty of silver salmon available in the lower seven miles of the Deshka.

Sustina Landing silvers

Heather with ADF&G at Susitna Landing reported that silver salmon have finally arrived in good numbers at Susitna Landing (Mile 82.5 Parks Highway) and that fishing has been good since the past weekend. Water color is still somewhat gray, but on Wednesday Heather reported only three boats using the landing and everyone catching silver salmon. One of the larger fish weighed 12 pounds — a very nice-sized Mat-Su silver salmon from any location. Heather expects there could be a good number of people wanting to fish and camp at the landing this weekend now that the fish have arrived in good numbers.

Contact Susitna Landing at 495-7700.

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.