“Peak Week” coho salmon fishing in Mat-Su Valley

On Monday August 7, I talked with Deshka Landing Manager, Amy Davis, and asked her what she knew about coho salmon fishing at the Deshka River. She mentioned people had been catching some coho (silvers), but nothing too fantastic and also mentioned the low number of coho salmon through Deshka River weir. Through Sunday August 6 the largest daily count of coho salmon through the weir was 185 fish, and that occurred back on July 31. The season total coho count through Sunday was 692 fish, while the pink salmon count through the same date was 15,981 fish.

I have also talked with my friend and fellow fishing guide, Dan Suprak, and he has mentioned catching some Deshka River coho on most of his recent trips — however missing from our conversations has been any talk of consistent limit catches for his guests. Most years there is often a portion of the season where experienced guides are expecting their guests to catch limits of coho on a consistent basis. Hopefully by the time this column is printed, such coho fishing may be experienced at Deshka River. Dan had also mentioned that the Deshka River water temperature had been warm through Sunday August 6 — and warm water can both slow the sport fishery and coho salmon migration through the weir. Forecasted rain for this week could cause a significant uptick in Deshka River sport fishing coho salmon catches.

Jim Creek

Last week I mentioned it did not appear the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) had been posting either sockeye salmon or coho salmon passage through Jim Creek weir. Since then I learned from ADF&G fisheries biologist, Sam Ivey, that warm water near the weir had simply been slowing salmon migration. Through Sunday August 6, only 10 coho salmon and 187 sockeye salmon had migrated past this weir. A.J. with 3Rivers Fly & Tackle in Wasilla told me that sport anglers had been catching both species of salmon in Jim Creek from reports he had been hearing at the tackle shop. Note: there are some specific fishery regulations that apply to this fishery so anglers should be aware of time restrictions — 5 am - 10 pm fishing hours and days of the week open to fishing — Wednesday - Sunday.

Little Susitna River

While numbers of coho salmon migrating through Little Susitna River weir are much stronger than any other Mat-Su Valley weir location, it appears to me these fish have been taking advantage of higher and cooler than average water temperatures to migrate rapidly through the lower river fishery. Fishing pressure at this location during late July and the first 5 days of August appeared much higher than in recent years, however, average coho salmon catches during this same time period were lower than normal. Fortunately there was also a significant number of chum and pink salmon migrating up little Susitna River that provided better catching opportunities for some anglers. Through August 6th, 2,940 coho salmon, 15,236 chum salmon, and 7,575 pink salmon had migrated through Little Susitna River weir.

Parks Highway Tributary Streams to the Susitna River

A. J. told me people had been catching some coho salmon up the Susitna River as far as the mouth of Sheep Creek through this past weekend, but in relatively low numbers. Tom Olendorff who lives up the Parks Highway also told me of a few coho salmon starting to show up at the stream mouth confluence areas with the Susitna River. Tom mentioned that the coming week is the time period in which he normally hopes to harvest the majority of coho salmon he needs for the season.

Fish Creek

Starting Saturday August 12, Fish Creek near Knik Goose Bay Road transitions back to a weekend only salmon fishery with a bag limit of 3 salmon only two of which may be coho salmon. Through Sunday August 6 season totals of 40,406 sockeye salmon and 147 coho salmon had been counted through Fish Creek weir.

Our Mat-Su weir counts indicate to me coho runs throughout the Mat-Su Valley appear late or weak. Commercial coho harvests in the Northern District of Upper Cook, as posted on the ADF&G website, have also shown low coho return numbers. There was an uptick on Monday August 7, when 8 permit holders in the Tyonek stat area reported harvesting over 5,000 coho salmon during that one commercial fishing period. If a similar push of salmon shows up shortly in Mat_Su streams sport fishing could go from fair to excellent in a manner of hours. Lacking a new large push of coho entering Mat-Su streams it appears likely to me that restrictions on coho salmon sport fisheries may be needed to attain spawning escapement needs.

Road Trip Salmon

Several people have told me how excellent sockeye salmon fishing has been recently on the Kenai. Some have even told me they are planning another trip to the Kenai River to target more Kenai River sockeye. With 5 days of upriver sockeye migration over 100,000 sockeye there is a stark difference in the number of salmon available in the Kenai River compared any Mat-Su stream.

Whatever you decide to do this weekend, have Fun and Fish On.