Stocked trout and char highlight holiday weekend catches

Alaska Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist Samantha Oslund recommended Mat-Su Valley stocked lakes as the top attraction for anglers searching to catch fish over Memorial Day weekend. On the department’s website stocking update page the list of Mat-Su Valley lakes stocked with catchable sized fish was at 33 locations as of May 23.

My nephew, Paul Warta, recently told me about his experience at one of those stocked lakes. A woman dropped by to visit his mother, but his mother was not home and Paul started talking about fishing. The woman told Paul she considered fishing boring — to which Paul claimed he could show her how exciting fishing was. A little while later Paul had her out walking along the shore of a lake looking for fish — when they found what Paul was looking for 10 catchable-sized rainbow trout (about nine inches) were quickly caught on 10 single salmon eggs.

At that point the woman agreed that fishing could certainly be exciting.

Jason Perrego of Alaska Lakes Guide Service 254-291-1516 has been sharing some exciting stories about the larger rainbow trout and arctic char some of his guests have been catching from both stocked Mat-Su Valley lakes and lakes with natural reproducing populations of these two popular fish. Jason has offered to take me on a trip multiple times and I have to admit, I am intrigued at the size of trout and char he and his guests consistently catch.

To maintain good numbers of these large fish Jason encourages catch and release practices of all fish over 20 inches. It is good to know that some of the more productive Mat-Su lakes consistently produce these quality-sized fish.

For more information about a trip for larger Mat-Su rainbow and char give Jason a call.

Talkeetna River

Rhett Nealis of Phantom Tri River Charters in Talkeetna said recent rains have raised water levels on Clear Creek and the Talkeetna River as of Tuesday, but he is anticipating with better weather both Clear Creek and the Talkeetna River may be fishing well again by the weekend. His guests have been catching a mixture of rainbow trout, Arctic grayling, and Dolly Varden from these locations. Rhett mentioned improved numbers of grayling over the past couple years in this fishery, with guests often seeing good number of 12 inch grayling surface and being caught on small flies. Phantom Tri River Charters may be reached at 733-2400.

Memorial weekend king salmon

Although some early arriving king salmon have already been caught at a few Mat-Su Valley locations, Memorial Day weekend is what most Mat-Su anglers consider the start of summer king salmon fishing. Samantha Oslund also talked about early king salmon prospects with 22 king salmon having past the Deshka River Weir, but most king salmon catching focused near the Deshka River / Susitna River confluence.

The Little Susitna River weir king salmon count was still at one fish for the season on Tuesday, but the weir crew reported seeing a few kings that had not yet passed the weir, and a few lucky anglers have been catching Little Susitna River king salmon. Samantha expected the first Eklutna tailrace king salmon could be harvested over this the Memorial Weekend or sometime during the first week of June as that is when the Department normally starts getting reports of Eklutna Tailrace king salmon.

You may reach ADF&G’s Palmer office for more information at 746-6300.

Joe and Marilynn Rouswell have reported early king salmon already taken along the Parks Highway (catch and release fishing) by bank anglers at Susitna Landing. Water levels have generally been lower than normal and bank anglers at the landing have also been catching rainbow trout, grayling and some Dolly Varden.

Marilynn also mentioned the boat launch was being dredged this week — so launching and loading should be easier access for the summer.

For more information call Susitna Landing at 495-7700.

Hooligan’s last hoorah

Samantha Oslund mentioned that the Department’s fish wheel crews on the lower Sustina River drainage had been catching a normal amount of king salmon for this early in the season, but had been inundated by large amounts of hooligan. She expects Memorial Weekend may provide the last good opportunity for anglers to catch hooligan as the run will likely be winding down shortly. While not for everyone, she mentioned that some people really get excited about catching a cooler full of hooligan.

Good Memorial Day weekend luck and fish on!

Andy Couch is the owner of Fishtale River Guides, member of the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee, and member of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission.