Welcome to the Frontiersman’s 2011 fishing column

During 2010, this column ran weekly from May 7 through Aug. 27 and focused on Mat-Su Valley open-water fishing opportunities.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the vast majority of fish harvested by sport anglers on a yearly basis in the Mat-Su area are ocean-run salmon, and since I own a Mat-Su salmon charter business, it was relatively easy to keep track of and report on Mat-Su salmon fishing throughout the entire May to August period. I plan on salmon being a significant portion of this column again this year.

New for 2011

Having written the column for a year, I now have a self-produced rough schedule of how fishing opportunities may unfold, but there are additional topics I hope to cover as opportunities present themselves. For instance, this past winter the Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted regulation changes — some of which should change in a positive manner the numbers of salmon returning to Mat-Su streams during July and August for the next three years.

In addition, the board also adopted new king salmon sportfishing regulations for some Mat-Su Valley streams that will likely take some getting used to for those familiar with the past regulations. As the king salmon fishery and then the July-August coho/sockeye/chum/pink salmon fisheries start to progress it is my intent to go into further detail on those regulation changes and provide some insight on what anglers might expect to see as a result on specific Mat-Su Valley streams.

King salmon returning to streams throughout Alaska (and also within the Mat-Su Valley) have experienced a downturn for the past several years. The board’s recently adopted king salmon regulations for the Mat-Su Valley were an attempt to continue providing a highly valued recreational opportunity and economic engine for the Mat-Su Valley to be used by the public, while at the same time scale back the sport king salmon harvest to where we may once again experience more bountiful king salmon returns in the future.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) will be closely monitoring Deshka River Weir and king salmon angler exit surveys from the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility in May and early June to learn relative abundances of king salmon returning to these systems. By sometime in the ballpark of June 8-10 the department should have a solid idea of how the king salmon runs are progressing in relation to previous years.

At that point in the season, ADF&G will evaluate the need to further restrict king salmon regulations — or if there is an extra abundance of fish — to potentially liberalize king salmon regulations to provide additional harvest opportunity. I plan to have information available in this column as early as possible, so the public has a chance to plan Mat-Su Valley fishing opportunities appropriately, and with as much advance notice as possible.

Fishing education, events, meetings

My plan is to use this column to make anglers aware of all types of fishing-related opportunities available in the Mat-Su Valley, and perhaps a few important opportunities located beyond the Valley as well. With that thought in mind I invite those who have useful news for Frontiersman readers to submit it for consideration in this column.

I will report regularly on some of the activities and opportunities provided by the Mat-Su Anglers Sport Fishing Club, including the newly adopted kid’s fishery weekend that will happen the first weekend in August at Fish Creek. For those interested in joining Mat-Su Anglers Club or learning about additional club learning opportunities and activities visit matsuangler.org or call club president Julie Busch at 892-7543.

Valley open-water

season to begin

Why spend valuable summer fishing time purchasing licenses, king salmon stamps or preparing your boat for the water when you could do it now while many waters are still covered with quickly deteriorating ice pack? Fishing licenses and stamps can be purchased at many local license vendors like Sportsman’s Warehouse, Carrs, Fred Meyer or Walmart, or by using a credit card directly from the state licensing website, admin.adfg.state.ak.us/buyonline.

For those interested in preparing their boats for the coming season and meeting all safety requirements, a Coast Guard Auxiliary courtesy exam of boats and boating equipment is May 14 at Great Land Welding and Machine located on the right side of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway just past Trunk Road heading toward Palmer. Greatland Welding can schedule boat repair work and has boating safety equipment available for sale. Visit the Greatland website at greatlandwelding.com or contact owner Gary Feaster at 745-2383 for additional information.

I plan to have a personal Mat-Su Valley open water fishing report available for Friday’s column. Check back then for the latest in Mat-Su Fishing.

Andy Couch owns and operates Fishtale River Guides (fish4salmon.com), is a Mat-Su Anglers Club member (matsuanglers.org) and member of the Mat-Su Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee. Email this column at sports@frontiersman.com if you have Mat-Su fishing questions or information readers may find useful.