Updates from Mat-Su fishing 'hotspots'

Eklutna Without Current

On Friday May 24 my wife and I drove over and took a look at Eklutna Tailrace just before the start of Memorial Weekend. The water looked still and silty-brown-colored, almost as if the outflow from Eklutna Power Plant had been shut off, and silty Knik River water had pushed up into the tailrace. Over the years I’ve experienced this many times, when the power plant outflow is shut down for annual maintenance. It is more than ironic that this maintenance should occur over Memorial Weekend in 2024, after a long-running public debate over how the power plant operations could, /should /might be modified to mitigate the damages done to wild salmon returning to an Eklunta River whose upper reaches below the dam at Eklutna Lake had been mostly dewatered for years. Memorial Weekend is considered by many to be the unofficial start to Upper Cook Inlet king salmon fisheries. In 2024 nearly all Upper Cook Inlet king salmon fisheries had been closed for the season from May 1 - July 31 (With the primary exception being: sport king salmon fisheries would occur in locations with returning hatchery king salmon.). In the entire Mat-Su Valley the only location that remains open to sport fishing for king salmon is the Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River fishery. Then, just when some of the earliest arriving ocean-run king salmon would possibly be available for bank anglers to catch and harvest at the tailrace over a 3-day holiday weekend, the water flow is either entirely cut off or possibly only reduced to a level that provides hardly any current or outflowing water for the returning salmon to home in on.

My wife and I saw people out trying their luck under these nearly hopeless conditions at the tailrace on Friday afternoon. I returned to the tailrace on Memorial Monday to see a similar scenario, with perhaps an even lower volume of water in the tailrace and river channel below the tailrace. Was the Eklutna water flow cut off / reduced over the entire holiday weekend? I don’t know, but in terms of getting Alaska’s best bang for the buck from extremely expensive, hatchery-enhanced king salmon, I doubt that is accomplished by shutting down / greatly reducing water flow during late May / early June for even two, but possibly many more days, and especially over the holiday weekend.

Susitna Hooligan?

In last week’s fishing column I mentioned my expectation that Memorial Weekend would likely be the best weekend of the entire season for dipping hooligan in that portion of the Susitna River upstream of the Deshka River confluence. That may indeed be the case, however, since that column was written I’ve boated from Deshka Landing downstream to the Deshka River confluence 3 different days ( actively looking for hooligan each time) without seeing a single hooligan. In addition, I little bird activity along this section of the river, and abundances of hooligan often attract an abundance of bird activity. Therefore, it appeared, hooligan dipping, in the Susitna drainage upstream of the Deshka confluence, was possibly a bust/poor for the 2024 season.

Deshka River Weir Installation

While high water volume / stream flow down the Deshka River had prevented earlier installation, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) crew was actively working at installation on Tuesday May 28. From what I saw, I expect installation may be completed soon, possibly before this column is printed. Fish counts through Deshka River weir should be posted shortly after installation is completed at the following location: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/

Remember that Deshka River and the entire Susitna River drainage, and Little Susitna River were closed to sport fishing for the entire season by ADF&G emergency order. Hopefully, Deshka River and Little Susitna River king salmon weir counts will show positive improvements from the closure(s).

ADF&G Weirs/Studies for Mat-Su Salmon?

The Mat-Su Valley legislative delegation worked together this session putting forth a funding package that should (with Governor Dunleavy’s approval) provide the best inseason assessment of Mat-Su Valley salmon returns in the past 5 years. A special thanks is due Representative DeLena Johnson and her staff, who have been particularly active in supporting funding for Mat-Su weir projects and salmon studies over the past two years. I intend to provide additional information on this subject in future columns, as it becomes finalized / available.

Mat-Su Wildlife Meeting — in June?

Do you enjoy seeing wildlife while fishing Mat-Su waterbodies? If so, you may want to learn more about the status of several species of wildlife, and their habitats in the Mat-Su Valley by attending a meeting with ADF&G wildlife staff / hosted by the Matanuska Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission. The public meeting is scheduled in the Mat-Su Borough Assembly Chambers starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday June 6, 2024. Online participation will also be available, for more information on online participation contact Maija DiSalvo at 907-861-7865.

Fish On!

Andy Couch currently chairs the Matanuska -Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission, however, all opinions and thoughts expressed in this column are his own.