06/01/2005
Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a group of 5 guests who caught one king salmon which weighed 35 pounds. We spent the entire trip searching for big fish, but only hooked two kings and lost the first one. Both king salmon were hooked on Spinning Cheaters. Water was high and partially off color on the streams we fished.
Little Susitna River — Dave Osgood guided a group of 4 guests who caught 3 king salmon, and Greg Acord guided a group of 4 guests who each caught a king salmon. One of our long time guests who was fishing with Greg caught a 57 pound king salmon over the weekend on the Deshka River — but had no derby ticket so could not enter his fish. We`ve heard of several large king salmon like that, but do not know of any fish over 50 pounds that have been entered in the derby, yet. I would expect more 50 pounders will be caught this week and someone will have a derby ticket.
According to the Mat-Su King Salmon Derby website, results from the first week of the Derby should be posted soon. I`m anxious to see if any of our guests are amongst the prize winners.
06/02/2005
Deshka River and Susitna Tributaries — I guided a group of 5 guests who caught 1 king salmon which weighed about 15 pounds. The group hooked 6 king salmon and had some other bites, but for some reason the fish won most of the battles today. On many king salmon trips there is a limited amount of opportunites to catch fish, so on trips where everyone catches king salmon we may get no more bites than on some trips where few king salmon are caught. At the Deshka River we stopped at the weir and saw that as of this morning less than 400 king salmon total had passed upstream, so the bulk of Deshka River king salmon has yet to arrive. So far the highest daily total of king salmon passing the weir has been only 113 fish, but before long 1000 fish pre day should be passing the weir, expect numbers of upriver Deshka king salmon to increase significantly any day between now and June 10.
Little Susitna River — Dave Osgood and Greg Acord guided groups today, but all I did after getting home today was sleep, so I have not heard how they did. Water remains higher than normal, but fishing has been good recently. I`ll try to post their results on this page tomorrow –but once I get behind it is hard to catch up.
I`ll be fishing the Deshka and/or other Susitna Tributaries again tomorrow, while Greg, Neal, and Dave will be fishing the Little Su.
Weekly results have been posted for the Mat Su King Salmon Derby and can be seen at http://www.matsukingsalmonderby.com then click on the Winner`s Circle page. Of interest to us is that Taylor Nufer, one of our guests won a weekly overall prize in the Youth Division and also won the weekly weight match prize. Congratulations, Taylor, we look forward to fishing with you again.
Note: Only 2 fish were entered in the Youth Division for the first week of the Derby, and there are 7 overall prizes available, so 5 of them were not won this week. Most Youths are still attending school on weekdays, but the second week of the Derby should also provide a prime opportunity for Youths entering fish to win prizes. Get your derby tickets and catch a prize winner — that`s what weekends are for.
06/03/2005
Susitna River Tributaries — i guided a mroning group of 5 guests who caught 2 king salmon the largest of which weighed 38 pounds. The two kings were caught on Spinning Cheaters and one member of the group also caught and released a large rainbow trout of about 5 pounds on a Spinning Cheater as well.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who also caught 2 king salmon and a rainbow trout. One king was caught on a Spinning Cheater and the other fish were caught on a T50 Flatfish.
Little Susitna River — Dave Osgood guided a group on the Little Su, and Frede knew they caught some king salmon, but did not know how many.
06/04/2005
Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 5 guests who caught 1 king salmon on a K-15 Kwickfish. One other member of the group also hooked a king salmon which broke the line before we could land it, so we did not have much action.
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a group of 3 guests who caught 2 king salmon, but both of them were snagged. We saw plenty of salmon surfacing at one hole on the Deshka River, but we could not get them to bite.
06/05/2005
Little Susitna River — Greg Acord and Neal Sanderlin guided morning groups who each limited on king salmon.
I stayed home and worked on a boat, and did not fish.
I`ll be fishing the Deshka and other Susitna Tributaries again on Monday.
06/06/2005
Deshka Rivre and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 6 guests to the Deshka and we fished most of the trip before finding some kings in a biting mood, but then caught 4 king salmon in fairly short order. All of the fish were caught on Spinnning Cheaters and salmon eggs. Numbers of king salmon at the Deshka are starting to pick up substancially — over 500 swam through the weir yesterday, and I saw quite a few fish moving around in holes below the weir or being fought by anglers as we motored up and down the river. The water has dropped to where casting spinners or bait from the bank is about as effective as any other method on the upstream holes. People are also starting to fish bait under bobbers and that can be a hot method as well.
I fished along with 5 other family members in the afternoon and we caught 4 king salmon the largest of which weighed about 25 pounds. 3 kings were caught on Spinning Cheaters and the other king was caught on a T50 Flatfish.
I`ll be working on a new boat tomorrow, and then putting it in the river for the first time tomorrow and fishing with family members for the remainder of the day (I`m hoping they can catch some good fish to enter in the king salmon derby as they have derby tickets). I will be back chartering again on Wednesday.
06/07/2005
Little Susitna River — I took 12 family members fishing who caught 6 king salmon and a jack king salmon in about 7 hours fishing from my boat. 2 king salmon and the jack king salmon were caught on Beau Mac Spinning Cheaters, while the remaining 5 king salmon were caught on K-15 Kwickfish. Water is higher than normal and dark colored, but patience can pay off. My great Uncle Al, who is 99 years young, managed to catch the largest fish on this trip — a husky 38 pounder. Tonight he was already talking about possibly travelling to Alaska next summer to fish with us again. This was the first day of fishing in our newest boat – the Rowable I and it was a joy to fish in. Couldn`t have had a much better day.
Greg, Neal, and Dave also fished the Little Su today, but I did not get to talk to them as I attended a family dinner instead.
We`ll be guiding several full boats of guests tomorrow on the Little Susitna.
06/08/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a group of 4 guests who did not catch a king salmon, although they did manage to hook 3 salmon that got away. Two kings were hooked on K-15 Kwickfish and one was hooked on a Spinning Cheater. We also saw several fish break water that we could not get to strike even though we worked those areas where we saw fish extra well.
Neal Sanderlin guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 2 king salmon and an afternoon group that caught 2 king salmon as well. In addition his morning and afternoon groups each hooked 2 king salmon which they lost.
Dave Osgood guided a group of 4 guests who I believe did not catch a king salmon.
Matt Peterson guided 5 guests who each caught a king salmon.
Nathan Drake guided a group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon.
According to the USGS water chart the Little Susitna River should be starting to drop slightly by tomorrow, although to people not used to the river it will likely still look high and muddy. I expect other local Mat-Su Valley rivers may be starting to drop once again as well.
Deshka River — The king salmon run continues to build on the Deshka River and I noticed that Alaska Department of Fish and Game`s Deshka River Weir count topped 1000 king salmon in one day for the first time this year on the Deshka. I would expect those type of count numbers to continue for the next couple weeks now.
We`ll be guiding mostly full boats again on the Little Susitna River, so check back late tomorrow if you would like to know how we do.
06/09/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a morning group of 3 guests who caught 3 king salmon, two were caught on Spinning Cheaters and one was caught on a K-15 Kwickfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests who caught 2 king salmon on Spinning Cheaters.
The water has dropped and cleared a bit overnight.
06/10/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River tributaries — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 3 king salmon. 2 kings were caught on Spinning Cheaters and the remaining king salmon was caught on a K-15 Kwickfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon on a magnum Wiggle Wart and 1 rainbow trout on a Spinning Cheater.
1700 king salmon swam past the Deshka River Weir yesterday, making it the highest fish passage day this year, but when I talked to several Deshka River guides today they said there were people all over the river and the salmon were reluctent to bite.
06/11/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 6 guest, 4 of whom caught king salmon. 3 king salmon were caught on K-15 Kwickfish and 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater. Water color was dark and water level was rising.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who did not even hook a salmon. We spent most of that trip at the Deshka and saw some salmon rolling, but could not get any of them to bite.
06/12/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 2 king salmon and had 4 other strikes they did not catch.
I guided an afternoon group that caught 3 king salmon and only missed 1 other strike.
The water was higher and rising with sticks and grass floating downstream from yesterday`s day of rain. I expect wter will be even higher tomorrow, but still fishable. Like usual, catching a few bites will make or break the trip.
06/13/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 5 king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Flashtrap Spinners, 2 were caught on Magnum Wiggle Warts, and 1 was caught on a K-15 Kwickfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. Other members of the group also hooked but failed to land king salmon while fishing with a Beau Mac Spinning Cheater, and K-15 Kwickfish.
06/14/2005
Deahka River and Susinta River Tributaries — I guided a group of 6 people who caught 7 king salmon on Corkies and salmon eggs, Magnum Wiggle Warts, and K-15 Kwickfish. The Susitna River and some of the tributaries rose dramaticly overnight making some places nearly unfishable and the main river more exciting to boat.
06/15/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a group of 4 guests who caught 5 king salmon on K-15 Kwickfish, Maganum Wiggle Warts, and Corkies and salmon eggs. Hot weather continued to increase water and debris volumes in the Susitna River creating tricky currents in several spots between Deshka Landing and Susitna Landing. While boating back to Susitna Landing from Deshka River I stopped the engine to clean debris out of the jet unit at least 3 times.
06/16/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 2 king salmon on K-15 Kwickfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 2 king salmon and also caught and released a snagged king salmon. The 2 legal salmon were caught on a Beua Mac Spinning Cheater fished behind a Jet Planer.
Water is mre than twice normal height and muddy. According to the USGS site the water should continue to go up.
06/17/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a group of 4 people who caught 4 king salmon – 3 of which weighed about 20 pounds each and the 4th which weighed about 10 pounds which was released. 3 of the king salmon were caught on K-15 Kwickfish and 4th was caught on a Spinning Cheater.
Water is high and muddy and rising, but our catch rates show that conditions remain good enough to catch some salmon — although we fished quite hard for most bites.
06/18/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon on a K-15 Kwickfish. Water was high and dark colored and it rained nearly the entire trip. We got few other bites.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon on a Spinning Cheaters and also caught a second king salmon which was snagged and released. The rain let up somewhat in the afternoon.
06/19/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a group of 6 guests who caught 4 king salmon, the largest of which weighed about 40 pounds. One salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart, one salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater, and two salmon were caught on K-15 Kwickfish. The group also hooked but lost two additional kings on K-15 Kwickfish. The river waterlevel chart shows that the water may have finally crested in the upper river, but the water may even creep up a bit more tomorrow in the lower river before starting to decrease down there as well.
Susitna River — Marilyn Wilson of Susitna Landing told me the Susitna River is extremely high and that it has backed up water levels on all of the tributary streams.
06/20/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a group of 6 guests in the morning who caught 1 king salmon and hooked and lost a second king salmon. Both fish were hooked on Spinning Cheaters.
Dave Osgood also guided a morning group of 6 guests who caught 1 king salmon. That fish was hooked on a K-15 Kwickfish.
Water level was even higher than yesterday on the lower river today, but I expect it will slowly start dropping by tomorrow.
06/21/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon on a Spinning Cheater. The water has started to drop slightly on the lower river, but remains high and muddy. Most of the fishing pressure has dropped off along the lower Little Su.
Dave Osgood guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 2 king salmon.
I expect to see the first significant drop in water level on the lower river sometime tomorrow. I`m scheduled to guide a morning group on June 22, so check back in the evening if you`d like to know how I do.
06/22/2005
I guided a morning group of 5 guests who caught 2 king salmon and a rainbow trout. The king salmon were caught on a Spinning Cheater and a K-13 Kwickfish. The raibow trout was caught on the K-13 Kwickfish.
Neal Sanderlin guided a group of 2 guests who each caught a king salmon.
Dave Osgood guided a group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon.
Greg Acord guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who did not catch a king salmon.
Water has dropped about a foot, but still remained high and muddy. I expect water to continue dropping and clearing, and would also expect someone to catch the first Little Susitna River chum salmon in the next week or so.
06/23/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who each caught a king salmon. 3 of the king salmon were caught on an ornage Spinning Cheater and one king salmon was caught on a K-13 Kwickfish. 2 of the morning fish were bright fresh salmon and the remaining 2 were getting red.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 2 king salmon. One of the fish was caught the orange Spinning Cheater and the other salmon was caught on a K-13 Kwickfish. Both of these afternoon fish were bright fresh salmon and one of them still had sea lice clinging to it.
Neal Sanderlin guided a morning group of 3 guests who caught 1 king salmon.
Dave Osgood guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 1 king salmon.
Water continues to drop and clear up.
06/24/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a morning group of 6 guests who caught 4 king salmon. The smallest king salmon only weighed about 5 pounds and was released. The other 3 king salmon wieghed from 21 – 24 pounds. All of the king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters and ond an additional king salmon was hooked and lost on the same lure. 2 other king salmon were also hooked and lost on K-13 Kwickfish.
In the afternoon I guided a group of 4 guests who each caught and kept a king salmon. 2 of the fish were caught on Spinning Cheaters, 1 king salmon was caught on a K-13 Kwickfish, and 1 king salmon was caught on a K-15 Kwickfish.
06/25/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 5 guests who each caught and kept a king salmon with 2 smaller king salmon also caught and released. The king salmon were caught on a Fatfish plug, K-15 Kwickfish, K-16X Kwickfish, and Spinning Cheater.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who each caught and kept a king salmon and the group also caught and released 3 king salmon.
Fishing was good enough that after guiding my two trips I also fished with Frede for a few hours. She caught and released about a 10 pound king salmon on a Spinning Cheater, then caught and kept a bright female of about 25 pounds on a K-16 Kwickfish. I caught and released a male king salmon of about 20 pounds on a Spinning Cheaters, then caught and kept another male of about 35 pounds on a Spinning Cheater.
06/26/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 5 guests who caught and kept 5 king salmon and also released 1 smaller king salmon. Salmon were caught on K-15 Kwickfish and Spinning Cheaters.
In the afternoon I fished with my Mother, Frede, and a family friend and 3 of us caught and kept king salmon. Most of our fish were caught on Spinning Cheaters, but one was also caught on a K-15 Kwickfish and some were also hooked and lost on both the Cheaters and Kwickfish.
On the charter and during our personal fishing trip both we caught some large fish on my boat today. The largest 3 kings weighed 41, 42, and 48 pounds.
06/27/2005
Deshka River and Susitna River Tributaries — I guided a morning group of 5 guests for 4 hours and they caught and kept 4 king salmon. After the Charter was over I went back out with my mother (who had been on the charter and she also caught a 28 pound king salmon. The largest fish in the morning weighed 42 pounds and was caught on a Spinning Cheater.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 4 king salmon which they kept. The fish weighed 26, 32, 33, and 42 pounds. All of these fish were caught on K-15 Kwickfish. One of the members of the group also caught a king salmon of about 8 pounds which she released before landing her larger king salmon.
I`m planning to fish the Little Susitna River tomorrow, so check back in the evening if you`d like to know how my group does there.
06/28/2005
Little Susitna River — I guided a group of 3 guests who caught 4 king salmon. They kept 2 fish which weighed 20 and 25 pounds and released 2 smaller king of about 10 pounds. In addition, one of the guests also caught a jack king salmon. The 2 smaller king salmon and the jack king salmon were caught on a K-13 Kwickfish, while the 2 larger king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters.
The water remains higher than normal and dark colored on the Little Su, which may actually make fishing better at this time — and especially during the warmer sunnier weather days we have been experiencing lately. We currently have some morning availability for guided fishing on the Little Su, so give us a call at 907-746-2199 if you would like to make a reservation to fish with us in the next week or two.
Deshka River — good numbers of king salmon continue to pass through the Deshka River Weir, so I may take a few of my charters over there for some variety later this week. Check back if you`d like to know how we do.
06/30/2005
Deshka River — I guided a group of 5 guests, but we started 2 hours later than scheduled and evidently got to the Deshka too late. The group hooked 3 king salmon,but ended up losing all of them. There were plenty of other boaters fishing most of the better holes that we also wanted to fish. Early morning fishing seems to be the best on the Deshka as the salmon go off the bite later in the day.