Something missing in Mat-Su stream trout fisheries

I had three interesting conversations about Mat-Su Valley fisheries this week. I talked with Ben Allen, an owner / operator with Miller’s Riverboat Service who had recently been guiding trips for trout and grayling within the Susitna River drainage. I asked how he had done recently, and he mentioned that fishing conditions had been difficult and the trout were moving all over the place. Often the presence of salmon, and particularly spawning salmon, can hold trout near the larger spawning salmon, post spawning fish, or even the spawned-out salmon carcasses.

Anglers may have read the following in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) August 30 Mat-Su Fishing Report: “Rainbow trout fishing should be good to excellent well into freeze up. Look for trout with the spawning coho during the last two weeks in September. “

In my conversation with Ben, he said he was having trouble finding any salmon — even old pink salmon or old chum salmon. I suspect that was why he was finding it so difficult to find trout and grayling for his guests to target. Don’t get me wrong, his guest caught decent numbers of fish, but at times were doing a considerable amount of searching to find any fish. He did mention that water conditions were low (which can concentrate trout and grayling making them easier to catch), but with rain forecasted for later this week, who knows what stream water conditions may be like for the coming weekend.

A second conversation was with an individual who took his family bank fishing at locations up the Parks Highway, and he specifically mentioned Montana Creek as one of those locations. He said they had a hard time seeing any salmon at all ( counting only 4 in the whole day of fishing) when normally he would see an abundance of old chum and pink salmon while fishing at these same locations. People familiar with late August and early September fishing are often familiar with the stink on the bank from decomposing salmon carcasses that provide the nutrients that maintain the productivity of our cold Alaska rivers and streams. In both of these instances there was a lack of stick on the bank.

In addition to resident fish, many birds and animals that live along or near Mat-Su stream drainages are dependent upon a returning abundance of salmon large enough to provide them with a significant food source to help them grow and even build up fat reserves to see them through a much more difficult winter season to come.

My third conversation was with George Krum, editor of Fish Alaska Magazine, and during our conversation George commented, “You need to fish Mat-Su Lakes and guide people on those fisheries.”

While I understood where George was coming from, I mentioned, “Salmon fishing in the Mat-Su Valley has been a big part of my life for most of my life, and I’ve experienced what fishing with good abundances of salmon returning to Mat-Su Valley streams can be like. It hurts, that significant fishing opportunities, of just a few years ago, are now nearly gone, and so I am working diligently in an attempt to turn that depressing trend around.” If readers wonder why I write this fishing column — that is my primary motivation.

Commenting on Agenda Change Requests In last week’s column I mentioned an agenda change request (ACR) submitted by the Mat-Su legislative delegation requesting that Little Susitna River coho salmon be designated a Stock of Yield Concern and an agenda change request submitted by the Mat-Su Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) requesting that Susitna River Chinook (king) Salmon be designated a Stock of Yield Concern on a drainage-wide basis. If designated as Stocks of Concern, Action Plans developed through the public Board of Fisheries(BOF) process should address how these stocks will be managed differently to rectify the lsy yields. The first step, however, is getting the BOF to agree that both ACRs merit being heard as necessary conservation measures for both of these significant Northern Cook Inlet salmon stocks.

On Tuesday of this week the Executive Director of the Board of Fisheries, Art Nelson, told me a list of about 15 ACRS should be posted on the following ADF&G webpage and that an opportunity to comment on specific ACRs should also be provided this week. From our conversation it sounded like that opportunity to comment on ACRs should /could be available online at a day or two before this column publishes on Friday September 6. I plan to submit personal comments in favor of the BOF hearing and adopting both ACRs mentioned in this column. In addition, I plan to review other ACRs submitted, and could possibly comment on some of them as well. Note: I do not want to dilute the message about Mat-Su Chinook and Coho salmon stocks desperately needed some help by commenting on too many other topics. I would encourage readers who value Mat-Su salmon (both with similar or differing ideas than myself) to put their input forward as well.

Comment — for sustainable Mat-Su salmon returns —and future Fish On opportunities.

Andy Couch is chair of the Mat-Su Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission. He has guided Mat-Su salmon fishing trips for over 40 years. Opinions expressed in this column are his own.