Youth king salmon fisheries

Saturday, June 21, Eklutna Tailrace from the tailrace/Knik River confluence upstream to the pedestrian bridge will be reserved for youth anglers less than 16 years old from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. With warm weather in the past week, the Knik River has risen enough to facilitate king salmon migration into the tailrace. According to ADF&G fishery biologist, Samantha Oslund, the youth fishery is scheduled to occur in what has historically been the peak week of king salmon fishing at Eklutna Tailrace. Anglers over 15 years old may fish at the tailrace/Knik River 365 days per year, however, during the third Saturday in June and the third Saturday in August between the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. older anglers are restricted to fishing waters upstream of the pedestrian bridge or downstream on the tailrace / Kink River confluence. These special youth fishery days are designed to provide younger anglers a better opportunity to participate and catch salmon without having to compete with older more experienced anglers. Adults often provide instruction or may help net fish in the Youth Only Fishing Waters on these days.

Ship Creek in Anchorage will also host a Youth Fishery Day on Saturday June 21. Ship Creek waters downstream of the Bridge Restaurant to the upstream edge of the C Street Bridge will only be open to anglers less than 16 years old from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. According to Dustin Slinker, with The Bait Shack, 2025 has seen one of the best king salmon returns to Ship Creek in the past eight years. Dustin also mentioned free hot dogs /chips/drinks will be available to youth anglers during this event. Check out The Bait Shack Facebook page for information about youth entries in the Slam’n Salmon Derby and specific timeframe of when food may be available.

Palmer-Wasilla Zone Streams Open

Flowing waters in the Palmer Wasilla Zone recently opened to fishing on Sunday June 15. Samantha Oslund mentioned that anglers interested in catching sockeye salmon may now start prospecting for early salmon (other than king salmon) at Fish Creek near Knik Goose Bay Road now open to sport fishing on a daily basis through July 14. The lower section of Cottonwood Creek is also now open to salmon fishing (but only on Saturdays and Sundays). The earliest I’ve seen salmon at these two locations has been right around the 4th of July Holiday. ADF&G usually installs the Fish Creek weir in early July and will post salmon passage numbers during weekdays as it occurs.

Knik River King Salmon Fishery I have recently guided several groups of guests for king salmon in the Knik River side channel below Eklutna Tailrace where king salmon fishing is open and harvest is allowed. Success rates have been significantly better than last year, with a considerably higher number of larger fish in the 20-pound range. I’ve watched several additional anglers catch king salmon during these outings as well.

Road Tripping Salmon Opportunities

The Copper River personal use dip net fishery, subsistence dipnet fishery, and subsistence fish wheel fishery are now open, although participation is for Alaska residents only, a household permit is required, and each household may only participate in one of these three fisheries. Basic regulations are available with a permit. I had the opportunity to travel to Chitina, camp, and participate in a Copper River dipnet fishery this past week, and my wife, brother, a nephew, niece, two friends, and I all came back with plenty of chrome sockeye salmon. The Copper River water level has been low, and salmon have been migrating upstream quickly. Salmon passage upstream from the Miles Lake sonar counter has peaked since we fished, and fishing this weekend and during the coming week may provide some of the best sockeye salmon harvest opportunities of the entire 2025 season (partially dependent on stable water conditions).

Klutina River Sockeye Salmon When we drove over the Klutina River bridge two times last week, we saw several anglers below the bridge fishing for sockeye salmon on each trip. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has also been mentioning this salmon fishery to anglers recently. A couple weeks ago I learned that some years over 50% of the Upper Copper River sockeye salmon return may migrate up the Klutina River. This is the largest sockeye salmon sport fishery in the Copper River drainage.

Gulkana River King Salmon ADF&G has been counting king salmon passing the department’s salmon counting tower, upstream of Sourdough, since June 8, however, a low preseason king salmon abundance forecast, combined with low commercial king salmon harvests in the Copper River District, and low numbers of large king salmon observed passing the Miles Lake sonar project all indicate Copper River drainage sport king salmon fishery restrictions may be a reality before long. Before making the hours long drive north to the Gulkana River, Mat-Su anglers should review ADF&G’s Upper Copper/Upper Susitna Emergency Orders and Press Releases.

Note: Adjusted Copper River Use Fishing Schedules are also posted on the same web page.

Kenai Peninsula/Kasilof River

Traveling south? I’ve heard reports of anglers catching limits of sockeye salmon from the Kasilof River. At this location, early season sockeye are often caught by anglers targeting king salmon and back trolling plugs downstream of the Sterling Highway bridge. Flipping flies from bank locations is another technique used to harvest Kasilof sockeye, with anglers often accessing locations downstream of Tustumena Lake to the Sterling Highway by drift boat. On the first day of 2025 Kasilof River sonar counts (June 15) 11,004 salmon were counted passing the Kasilof sonar site just upstream of the Sterling Highway. For sockeye salmon harvest opportunities in the coming week, this will likely be the hottest opportunity in the Upper Cook Inlet area.

The Kasilof River Personal Use Gillnet Fishery is the first Upper Cook Inlet personal use fishery to open. The season is short, however lasting only 7 days in 2025 from June 18 - 24. A February 11, 2025 Press Release on ADF&G’s Southcentral Emergency Orders and Press Releases web page provides regulatory information about this fishery.

It will be followed by the much longer Kasilof River Personal Use Dipnet Fishery with a season from June 25-August 7 (the longest season personal use fishery in all of Upper Cook Inlet).

Russian River Sockeye Salmon

Paul Warta told me about his fishing trip to the Russian River on Thursday June 12, where he said the abundance of inriver sockeye salmon was low at that time, A fishing partner caught and harvested 3 sockeye, while Paul only managed to catch 1 sockeye in several hours of fishing. Weir passage of Russian River sockeye posted on the ADF&G website through June 15 was 1,088 fish, but the number of salmon available and fishing success will likely increase significantly, at this extremely popular fishery, by the time this column is published.

Good Luck and Fish On.

Andy Couch is a member of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee, however, statements/opinions expressed in this column are his own, unless noted otherwise.