Use of bait in Little Su is big news

In case you haven’t heard, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is allowing the use of bait for fishing king salmon on the Little Susitna River effective July 6 through the end of the season on July 13.

Allowing bait might not seem like a big deal, especially since this Little Susitna liberalization will only be in effect one week (eight days), but it really is.

Think about it. When was the last time you remember being able to use bait to fish for kings anywhere in the Valley except the Deshka River or the Eklutna Tailrace locations? I honestly can’t remember when, but then, I’m getting old. It’s been close to a decade at least.

When the king runs started tanking back about 2007/2008, the department began a series of restrictions meant to reduce the harvest of kings while still allowing the opportunity to fish for them. One of those restrictions was a complete closure to the use of bait. The department estimated that restriction alone would reduce the harvest by 60 percent or more.

Personally, I stopped fishing for king salmon altogether back then. I felt if the runs were so poor that harvest needed to be restricted, then I didn’t need to be trying to catch-and-release the few valuable fish which actually returned.

After the runs had bottomed out and then started showing signs of recovering the last couple of years, I began thinking of returning to the fishery. I have seriously fished for kings the past two years. I caught one maybe 25-pound fish last year, along with a couple of jacks. My wife also caught a king. I’ve caught one king so far this season (maybe 20 pounds). While I enjoy the fishing, my family really doesn’t need more than one or two kings in the 20-plus pound range per year.

My wife actually prefers silvers to kings for eating. I’m not enough of a salmon connoisseur to appreciate the difference between the two. Since silvers have been more abundant recently, I prefer concentrating on catching them. Besides, I hate stopping with just one fish landed, as is required with kings. I’m not a catch-and-release angler — if it’s legal, it’s in the bag. Current regulations allow a harvest of two coho with an option for a third chum, sockeye or pink depending on the location and run timings. Maybe we’ll even see a time in the not-too-distant future when a third coho can be harvested.

I’ll try to get out one more time for kings before the close of the season just to try fishing some bait. I’m planning to try my version of Andy Couch’s “bobbers and bait” technique. I was putting together a couple of terminal set-ups before working on this column.

I also need to get out on my local lake to try for some rainbows. That ultralight baitcasting rig I mentioned a while ago still needs to get initiated.

This time of year is always tough for me, but in a good way. In addition to the fishing opportunities present, I usually begin thinking about the upcoming hunting season and where to go for a given species. That generally entails starting to go through gear and trying to find items I stowed last fall where I could find them again, or so I thought! I also usually start scouting some new areas for potential hunting spots. That will give me an excuse to run my 6x6 in areas where I don’t want to get the truck stuck.

Along with planning for the upcoming hunting season, I need to start shooting my bow more often to get back in shape. That includes my crossbow in case I decide to take it out and sit on a stand during moose season. I also need to get my new 2016-2017 harvest tickets for black bear, moose and caribou too.

I’ve got a ladder tree stand that I was checking the other day to make sure I still had all the parts and getting them organized. I found that I needed to order a couple of accessory items to make the unit fully usable in all weather conditions. I’ve got a ground blind with a good chair in case the ground setup works better at a given site.

On top of all this, there’s still the yard work and I’ve been promising to build my wife a permanent flower bed in the front yard for four or five years now. This is a tough time of year!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This column is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications. You can leave Delo a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.