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Alaska Fishing Reports 2005

2005 Alaska fishing reports and forecasts cover Deshka River and Little Susitna River king salmon and silver salmon fishing trips in Alaska summer seasons and winter ice fishing in Mat-Su Valley lakes road accessible from Anchorage, Palmer, and Wasilla. Our season fishing forecast is posted first, however, you may skip the forecast by scrolling down, or clicking fishing report.

2005 Alaska Salmon Fishing Forecast - Excellent for Deshka River King Salmon
The Deshka River king salmon run has exceeded 30,000 fish each of the past 6 years, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game data collected at Deshka River Weir indicates another excellent run, over 30,000 fish, should return in 2005. Deshka River produces king salmon by May 15, and in 2005 we plan to guide considerably more May trips to the Deshka. Our availability for Deshka River and other Susitna River tributary trips is limited, so please make reservations well in advance if you would like to fish Susitna River tributaries with us in 2005.

Big Salmon Alert: In 2004, guests on Fishtale trips caught the 2nd place, 7th place, and 17th place adult division king salmon in the Mat-Su King Salmon Derby. Focusing effort based on daily fishing conditions, and providing guests an opportunity to participate in the Derby (through ticket sales) contributed to our success. In 2005 we're hoping to guide guests to at least 3 kings in the top 20 of the adult division and add at least 1 king salmon in the top 20 of the youth division of the derby. Consider joining us for some derby fun.

Little Susitna Produces Larger Average King Salmon
We have limited availability for Deshka River trips, because we guide most of our salmon fishing trips on Little Su. The number of king salmon in this river is considerably less than the Deshka, however, Little Su kings average about 10 pounds heavier. Recent Alaska Department of Fish and Game spawning index counts for Little Susitna River indicate the 2005 Little Su king salmon run should provide consistent fishing with past years.

Silver Salmon Forecasts - Expect Strong Little Susitna and Deshka Runs
Alaska Department of Fish and Game silver salmon weir counts for Deshka and Little Susitna Rivers from the past 4 years indicate above average runs of silver salmon should return to both rivers in 2005. In addition, Alaska silver salmon seem to grow larger and enjoy better survival rates following warmer El Nino type winters, and the National Weather Service has predicted the 2004 - 2005 winter as warmer than normal, so with the El Nino winter, we're hoping for strong runs of large silver salmon in 2005.

Our goal is to post a report for each trip we run, but if time constraints delay us from updating for a few days, you can click on links for other  year's reports to see what has happened in previous seasons.   Enjoy the reports, and you may want to bookmark this page for easy future reference.

Viewing: Oct - Dec 2005

November 24, 2005

Kepler Bradley Lake System near Palmer -- My sister`s family came out from Anchorage for Thanksgiving Dinner -- but before we ate, we went fishing for about an hour. Fishing was good and the kids (down to 3 years old) caught mainly landlocked salmon of about 10 - 12 inches. They also caught a couple Arctic Char. Total number of fish caught ws probably 15 - 20, decent action for only about an hour of fishing. All of the fish were caught using salmon eggs on single hooks. The ice was about 10 inches thick, which is quite thick for this early in the season.

December 27, 2005

Kepler Bradley Lake System near Palmer -- I took 4 guests fishing and the caught at least 50 landlocked salmon and also caught a couple rainbow trout and perhaps 10 Arctic Char. They ended up keeping 30 salmon, 1 rainbow trout, and 4 Arctic Char. All of the fish were caught on salmon eggs in about 3 hours of fishing. Ice was about 18 inches thick and the temperature was about 20 degrees. It was a fun trip with every one catching plenty of fish.