Trout, grayling, and char

When I talked with Margo Nealis of Phantom Tri River Charters in Talkeetna she mentioned they are still running trips for rainbow trout, Dolly Varden, and arctic grayling in the Talkeetna River drainage. While the fishing is a bit slower now, there is very little competition for the better fishing spots. Jeff Boatright at Susinta Landing reported having one of the busiest Memorial Day weekends he has seen at the landing. He mentioned that people were having a good time camping, boating, and fishing. The most abundant fish at this location over the past week was Arctic grayling, but Jeff mentioned that a few king salmon were also landed over the weekend. Remember if you choose to fish here, by emergency order all king salmon must be released. Jeff said that lower water levels have continued to provide a good fly fishing opportunity for those so inclined. Because of the same low water conditions the best boating opportunities are off into the Susitna River Drainage — possibly headed toward Little Willow or Sheep Creek for those who choose to fish.

Mat-Su Valley stocked lakes continue to provide some of the best “fish catching” opportunities over the coming weekend, as ocean-run salmon runs are still just getting into gear.

Expect more of the big guys later in June. Salmon could be headline news next week.

Mat-Su king salmon thoughts

I’ve seen a strong numbers of people out fishing for king salmon this May on both the Deshka and Little Susitna rivers. But at the same time, overall success rates have been low. Severe sport king salmon harvest restrictions and/or closures on most Mat-Su Valley rivers make for crowded fishing conditions on the few streams that remain open to harvest.

At this time, Deshka River is the only Mat-Su Valley stream where anglers are allowed to target wild king salmon on a seven-day per week basis. The harvest of predominately hatchery produced king salmon is also allowed seven days per week at the area limited Eklutna Tailrace/Knik River fishery.

As mentioned in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game weekly fishing report, small numbers of king salmon continue to be harvested on a daily basis near the Deshka River confluence with the Susitna River. With a bunch of boat anglers crammed into a small area where the king salmon are staging, the decent fishing has been only lasting a few minutes each morning before most of the salmon are swimming on high alert. Add in low water conditions and warm sunny weather, and the Deshka River upstream toward the weir is producing very few king salmon through nearly the end of May. Unless the Deshka River water level rises or we get an extended period of cooler or wetter weather catching king salmon on Deshka River may become even more challenging. I don’t have any scientific data to illustrate the point, but it is my thought that when water conditions are low and warm along Deshka River for an extended period of time, a higher percentage of king salmon that would normally spawn in Deshka River may choose to migrate/spawn elsewhere in the Susitna River drainage.

From examining past years’ Deshka River weir data, I believe there can be little doubt that low and warm water at least retards Deshka River king salmon migration timing. Although I am definitely the type of guy who normally prefers an opportunity to harvest king salmon, when my guests happen to land one, catching opportunities will likely be so limited at Mat-Su locations where king salmon may be harvested, that I would enjoy an opportunity to fish one or more of the tributary streams along the Parks Highway this weekend. After all, anglers may only keep two kings per year from the Susinta Drainage and Little Susitna River combined, so that leaves at least a few opportunities to choose a higher quality/lower use fishery over harvest on at least a few occasions during the king salmon season.

Notes on Susitna River hooligan

The huge abundance of fish that was so readily available recently out of Deshka Landing is already on the decline. I saw some successful hooligan hunters again this week, but they are having to do a bit more looking to find the fish, and some hooligan anglers are going as far as the Yentna River drainage once again. It is a short window and closing quickly for another year. Whatever Mat-Su fishing opportunity you choose, it is great to get out and enjoy the Alaska outdoors in the summer time.