Solid Mat-Su silver salmon fishing continues

On Thursday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game liberalized the opportunity for sport anglers to fish for salmon to seven days per week on Fish Creek near Knik-Goose Bay Road. Daily fishing hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. still apply when fishing at Fish Creek, and the daily bag limit of coho salmon had earlier been increased to three per day, and remains at that level following this latest emergency order.

Note, also that a fair number of sockeye salmon have continued to enter the system and are also available for sport harvest as part of an angler’s three fish daily salmon limit.

According to the ADF&G weekly fishing report, silver salmon fishing should also be good at Wasilla Creek (Rabbit Slough) and Cottonwood Creek over the coming weekend as well. Remember these fisheries are now open Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays with a three salmon limit (all of which may be silver salmon), but with restricted fishing hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. When fishing for salmon in these systems the fishery is restricted to small areas near the stream mouths.

According to Tom Hilte at 3 Rivers Fly & Tackle in Wasilla, Little Susitna River silver salmon continue to drive much of the fishing business through the tackle shop. Through August 12 the coho salmon escapement past Little Susitna River Weir was at 9,957 fish, less than 150 coho salmon from achieving the lower end of the Little Susitna River coho salmon escapement goal with good numbers of coho already present in river below the weir.

It is good to see that Little Susitna River should more than comfortably make the coho salmon escapement goal this year, and at the same time the fish have been abundant enough to once again provide some of the premier Mat-Su Valley silver salmon fishing the river is famous for.

I heard from three different sources this past week that silver salmon fishing had been decent at the Parks Highway tributary streams to the Susitna River between Willow and Talkeetna over the past weekend. I expect that trend should continue over the next couple weeks. But expect more fishing pressure on the weekend and more relaxed fishing at these locations during the week.

Margo Nealis of Tri RIver Charters in Talkeetna said on Wednesday that most of their charter guests were now catching limits of silver salmon from the Talkeetna River. As good as Talkeetna River silver salmon fishing is at this time, Margo expects it to get even better in the next week.

Note, the silver salmon limit on the Talkeetna River is three per day rather than the two coho daily limit on other popular fisheries.

Margo also mentioned that ADF&G had closed sockeye salmon fishing in and around the mouth of Larson Creek due to low numbers of sockeye salmon migrating upstream, but that anglers were continuing to catch good numbers of chum and pink salmon in the Talkeetna River system as well.

Former Deshka River salmon fishing guide Bruce Knowles told me he had been catching three-fish limits of silver salmon from the Deshka River this past week, and that numbers of silver salmon continue to build at the Deshka. As I’ve heard from several other sources, Bruce said some of the schools of Deshka River silver salmon have not been biting particularly well, but he has been catching them with persistent presentations and by moving around to find better concentrations of active fish.

Bruce is expecting the Deshka River silver salmon escapement may number about 12,000 fish through the weir this season, and also expects the Deshka River silver salmon catching to continue to pick up over the next week.

Youth Fishing Day at Eklutna Tailrace

Fishing the area from the Knik River upstream in Eklutna Tailrace to the pedestrian bridge Saturday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be regulated to anglers less than 16 years of age only. Fishing in the remaining area will be open to anglers of all ages. This will be a special event for young anglers with opportunities to learn about fishing from older volunteers for this event. Bring your own rods, reels, and tackle. Volunteers should start showing up about 7 a.m.

Eklutna Tailrace has a run of hatchery stocked silver salmon returning that should be at good abundance at the time of this event.

With the start of school for Mat-Su Valley students, some hunting seasons opening on August 10, and the Alaska State Fair coming soon, fishing pressure is starting to wane at several Mat-Su Valley locations, which provides a couple weeks of prime salmon catching opportunity for those who prefer to fish under less crowded conditions.

Mat-Su Valley lakes also continue to provide excellent fishing opportunities for abundant populations of stocked trout and char. Now is the time to enjoy what is left of a good summer fishing season.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides www.fish4salmon.com , and is a member of the Matanuska - Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.