Silver salmon fishing good in Upper Susitna tributaries

According to Margo Nealis of Tri-River Charters in Talkeetna, silver fishing near Talkeetna has been very good lately with plentiful numbers of chrome coho salmon available at this time. When I talked with Margo on the phone on Tuesday of this week, she mentioned Tri-Rivers was expecting peak silver or coho salmon fishing to happen around the next couple weekend in the Talkeetna River and upper Susitna River area.

Silvers can be caught by soaking eggs near the town of Talkeetna or by targeting them in clear water sloughs and tributaries of the Talkeetna River further upstream. Salmon egg clusters are the preferred bait, but silvers can also be taken with spinners, spoons and flies.

Montana Creek located along the Parks Highway just a little way before the Talkeetna Spur Road turn off to Talkeetna, is also a favorite spot for silver salmon anglers this time of year with most anglers preferring to fish near the stream confluence with the Susitna River. There are also a couple other smaller and lesser-known clear water Susitna River tributaries a bit further north along the Parks Highway that consistently produce silver salmon in late August.

A little further downstream at Susitna Landing, operator Jeff Boatright was talking a similar story — mentioning good silver salmon fishing at the landing over the past weekend and saying he was hopeful for another couple weekends of silver salmon still to come. Most people fishing at this location are fishing near the confluence of the Kashwitna and Susitna River.

Willow Creek is another favorite spot for salmon anglers along the Parks Highway, and even though this creek may be past its peak for silver salmon fishing, anglers working the waters near the mouth often continue to catch some silver salmon even into early September. Note: Bait fishing on Susitna River drainage streams is only allowed through the end of August.

According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) biologist Sam Ivey, even though the silver salmon weir passage numbers from both Deshka and Little Susitna numbers are now declining, both of these locations should continue to provide good options for boat anglers willing to put in a bit more time to catch some fish. Ivey mentioned morning fishing as usually providing the best option for good coho salmon catches on the Deshka River in particular. Fishing for coho salmon on the Little Susitna River may be declining on the lower end of the river near the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility, but may be near peak downstream of the Parks Highway bridge near Houston. Note: Salmon fishing is only allowed downstream of this bridge on Little Susitna River.

Fish Creek, Cottonwood Creek and Rabbit Slough/Wasilla Creek all produced good silver salmon fishing this past weekend according to Mike Hudson with 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle in Wasilla. Both Mike and Sam Ivey expected good silver salmon catches to continue at these locations over the next couple weekends. Although all three of these streams were recently liberalized to allow a three coho salmon daily bag limit and to also allow fishing on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. it is worth mentioning that coho salmon counts in Fish Creek have recently surpassed the upper end of ADF&G’s goal range for the creek.

There is now no reason that coho salmon fishing could not be allowed seven days per week in the small area where salmon fishing is allowed on Fish Creek. The standard 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. fishery hours could be maintained to allow some of the latter arriving coho salmon a daily opportunity to pass through the area where harvest is allowed. Fish Creek has had silver salmon sport fishing closures by emergency order in the past when not enough silver salmon were making it upstream to meet the escapement goal so it only seems fair that this tightly regulated sport fishery should be liberalized to allow more opportunity and maximize benefit during a time of measured abundance. The Fish Creek fishery is easily accessible to many Mat-Su Valley residents off of Knik-Goose Bay Road.

Jim Creek up the Knik River from the Butte is another silver salmon hotspot that consistently provides coho salmon catches into early September. Fishing is allowed at Jim Creek on a seven-day-a-week basis. Note: road access to this spot is difficult to say the least, but a lot of people make the effort to fish here. In the same area, but with much better access, is the fishery at Eklutna Tailrace, where silver salmon will also be available for harvest into September.

Trout fishing picking up

Mike Hudson specifically mentioned lake and pond anglers have recently mentioned better success now that cloudy and or rainy weather has cooled off water temperatures a bit. Hudson also said fishing for trout in the Susitna River tributaries from Willow on up to the Chulitna River has been good with trout located near abundances of spawning salmon. Salmon egg imitation patterns or beads are often the best lure when trout are gorging on an abundance of free floating salmon spawn. Depending upon water conditions, trout fishing should only improve as fall approaches.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides (fish4salmon.com) and is a member of the Mat-Su Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.