Still about trout

tRaitnbow trout remain the headline fish this week, as the Mat-Su Valley’s stocked lakes in particular continue to produce some of the better catches.

People are out taking advantage of spring stockings of catchable-sized rainbow trout. Kepler Bradley Lakes in particular have been quite popular as I often see people fishing off the bridge, along the shore, or from float tubes or small boats as I drive by on the Glenn Highway. On Wednesday evening near the Parks Highway/Glenn Highway intersection I saw a similar flotilla of anglers out welcoming some of Loberg Lake’s new residents who had recently trucked out from the Anchorage hatchery.

My friend, Ben Allen told me of finding a school of trout at the Lucille Lake boat launch in Wasilla when he went to check run his boat and new electronics. Ben and his dad, who is up visiting from Texas, both caught several of the aggressive rainbows by casting and slow retrieving small size 1 spinners. Ben said at times if the did not catch the first or second bite, they got three hits on a single presentation. On that particular day Ben said the best fishing on the lake was right in front of the launch, although the fish they were catching were 10-inchers and not the larger holdover trout from last year.

A.J. Hoffman at 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle mentioned some of the wild fisheries by saying some of his friends had been floating Willow Creek down from the Parks Highway, but had only come up with three fish. He also mentioned some people doing well on Pike out of Deshka Landing. Pike are often crowded together in slow moving side sloughs at this time of year, and some of the best pike catching of the year can occur before aquatic vegetation grows and clogs some of these shallow side waters with a lure tangling mat.

My friend and fellow guide, Jason Perrego has been out pursuing large pike at Big Lake the last couple days, and he reports seeing some monsters. Jason says as the water warms the pike catching will improve.

If you would like to experience one of his charters for some of the valley’s larger pike, give him a call at (254) 291- 1516. We have a contest going between us to see who can land the first 30 -inch fish this spring.

I think he has his sights on pike — while I’m still looking for my first king salmon.

Margo Nealis with Phantom Tri River Charters in Talkeetna told me they have been running some spring charters and people have started catching fish. Rainbows and Dolly Varden, but she had not heard of anyone catching grayling, yet. 733-2400 if you would like to know more about fishing out of Talkeetna or if you would like to set up a spring trout charter.

Joe Rouswell told me bear hunters were launching form Susitna Landing as a take off point to set up their spring bear hunting. He also reported some people were still bank fishing and catching trout a this location. He knew of no grayling caught, yet. The campground is in good shape now and there were several groups camping at the landing last weekend.=

Deshka Landing is up and running with lots of boaters launching since the public opening on Monday. I talked with a Landing spokesperson over the phone and asked if she knew of anyone catching king salmon this year. But she did not know of anyone catching a king salmon, yet. It is also worth noting that king salmon within the Susitna River drainage is only allowed on the Deshka River and the Yentna River drainage.

King salmon at these locations is also limited to single-hook artificial lures and may only be done on a catch and release basis. Early hooligan are now available out of Deshka Landing if one is willing to boat down river far enough. Ken Lee told me last Saturday that he saw a gull dive at the Susitna River/Yentna River confluence and come up with a hooligan. This location is about an hours boat ride down river from Deshka Landing, but the lower Yentna River has long been known as a particularly good location for those wanting to catch hooligan.

Later in May some of these fish migrate up the Susitna River to where they become available close to Deshka Landing and/or Willow Creek.

Little Susitna River king salmon

I’ve been out fishing the Little Susitna River several times now, but have yet to hook into a king salmon. There are a few fish around, but still quite few and far between. It would not surprise me if a few people have already landed a Little Su king this season — as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had already passed 2 king salmon through the Little Susitna River through Tuesday May 15. I expect several boaters will be out and a few Little Su king salmon taken this coming weekend. When I talked with Alaska State Parks on Wednesday they mentioned that 5 guide businesses had already picked up commercial operator permits to guide fishing trips on the Little Susitna River during 2018. Parks is in the process of getting the landing ready for the weekend. On Wednesday the fee booth was installed, and the restrooms and campground have been open for a few days now. Dumpsters have not yet been installed. The road to the lower Little Susitna River remains in good shape.

Boat trailer parking snafu

A new development at the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility campground / boat launch his year is that ADF&G / Parks has mentioned their intention to charge all unattached trailers a $15 per night parking fee. In the past users who had purchased a season’s boat launch/parking pass were allowed to park unattached boat trailers at the public use facility with no additional charge. There currently is no option to purchase a season pass for parking an unattached boat trailer, and the fee envelopes in the iron rangers (for payment when fee booth staff are not on duty) do not provide a space for overnight trailer parking — nor is there any way to attach the iron ranger receipt stubs to an unattached trailer. On Tuesday and Wednesday this week there was already an unattached boat trailer with a boat in the upper parking lot. To some this new parking charge seems excessive — especially in light of a 50% increase in the price of a season boat launch/parking pass. At the very least, there has got to be a better payment / receipt system.

Good luck this weekend and fish on!

Andy Couch is a Mat-Su Valley fishing guide. You can find and read his daily fishing reports on his website at http://www.fish4salmon.com/

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