07/01/2011
King Salmon season extends through July 13 on rivers where we guide our charter fishing trips. Although we catch some bright king salmon through the entire season on Deshka River, this river definitely seems to have a greater abundance of chrome king salmon in early to mid-July, while Little Susitna River offers an opportunity to catch chum, sockeye, coho, and pink salmon in early July.
Starting July 14 (the day after king salmon season closes) we focus primarily on coho ( silver) salmon and chum salmon. Deshka River provides a good bait fishing opportunity early in the season on some years, while Little Susitna River fishing involves casting spinners or back trolling plugs for chum and coho salmon that are often larger in size than those caught on the Deshka.
July 1 charters — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, one of whom caught a chrome king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under an ESB Bobber.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a chrome king salmon while drifting salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.
I`ll be guiding two more trips on Saturday. Depending upon how much I`m needing sleep at the end of those trips I may have results posted tomorrow night.
Number of salmon available and catch rates often increase significantly from July 20 through the end of the month. Visit this page in July to see our July 2011 salmon catching success.
07/02/2011
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon on K-15X Kwikfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon on K-15X Kwikfish.
07/02/2011
Chum Bonanaza
I guided a morning group of 3 guests that kept one chum per person and caught and released many additional chums. In addition 2 of the 3 guests kept limits of coho with the 3rd guest catching one coho. One chum was caught on a K11X Kwikfish and all the other fish were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests each of whom kept one chum salmon, and 4 of who caught limits of coho salmon. All of the fish were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners in either the Pink or Silver / Black patterns.
07/03/2011
I guided 4 anglers today, each of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on K-15X Kwikfish, and 2 king salmon were caught on K-14X Kwikfish.
I`ll be guiding one trip on July 4, and hope to report on it by early evening. Kings are still available, but becoming harder to catch as we head into the last 10 days of the king salmon season.
07/04/2011
I guided a group of 5 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. Water was low and the fish were somewhat reluctantly biting. The two king salmon weighed 21 and 23 pounds.
I`ll be fishing again tomorrow, and hope to report late in the evening or the following morning, as the afternoon trip will start later than usual.
07/05/2011
I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. Water is low and dropping even more.
07/06/2011
Today was the first day I did not guide a salmon fishing trip since May 25. Although I had a day off from guiding, there is plenty of work to get caught up on, as I`ve been taking care of fishing gear, curing salmon eggs, attempting to get caught up on communications, and getting a little extra sleep — I will also be writing my weekly fishing column for the Frontiersman newspaper.
July 7 – 13 will be our last week of guiding king salmon fishing trips, as king salmon fishing in nearly all Mat-Su Valley locations closes July 14. We still have some king salmon charter space available. 907-746-2199.
I looked at the most recent Upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishing catches today, and out in the Inlet the commercial boats have started catching red, chum, and silver salmon, so I expect a few people on our king salmon charters may catch some bonus silver salmon sometime during the coming week. We will be guiding charters for all salmon except king salmon starting July 14, and have good charter availability during the last half of July and entire month of August. Give us a call at 907-746-2199 if you would like to join us on one of these trips.
07/07/2011
I guided 5 people in the morning, 2 of whom caught king salmon. One king salmon was caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under and ESB Bobber and one king salmon was caught on a SIlver blade Flashtrap Spinner. In addition, the group hooked but lost two other king salmon and had some additional bites on the bobbers and bait.
I guided 4 people in the afternoon, each of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. One of the king salmon was blushed, but the other 3 were chrome. During the trip the group also saw a bull moose along the river. During both the morning and afternoon trips we also saw several bald eagles.
LAST CHANCE FOR MAT-SU KINGS
There are only 6 days of king salmon season left for Mat-Su king salmon fisheries that target wild salmon. We still have king salmon charter availability during the next several days. Give us a call at 907-746-2199 to join us on a king salmon fishing trip before the season ends.
07/08/2011
I guided a group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. Water was at the lowest level this year, and a challenge to navigate in places. During the trip the group saw a cow moose with twin calves along the river and some bald eagles.
LAST CHANCE KING SALMON — Only 5 days left to our king salmon season. We have availability give us a call at 907-746-2199 if you would like to join us on one last Mat-Su Valley king salmon fishing trip for 2011.
07/09/2011
I guided 5 guests, one of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under an ESB Bobber. We seemed to be the first boat on the river today, we fished several prime holes, and switched out bait regularly, but could not seem to find any significant number of fish that wanted ot bite.
4 Days of King Salmon Season Remain — Give us a call at 907-746-2199 if you would like to schedule a king salmon trip on or before July 13. We are also scheduling July, and August trips for silver salmon at this time.
07/10/2011
I guided a morning group of 4 guests — and was unable to help any of them catch a salmon. We saw a few salmon rolling in some of the hole the group was fishing, but were unable to get many bites.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, and once again was unable to help my guests land a single salmon. We once again saw salmon rolling in a couple spots we fished, but were unable to get many bites.
We still have 3 days of king salmon fishing season left, and I am scheduled to guide another trip tomorrow.
07/11/2011
MAT-Su KING SALMON FISHING — Last 3 Days
What to expect for remaining 3 days of Deshka River king salmon fishing? — with the slow down in king salmon catches of my charter trips over the previous 3 days, I`m expecting slow or spotty king salmon fishing for July 11, 12, and 13. There are still a few chrome fresh king salmon available, and other guides have also caught a very few early arriving silver salmon — however, at this time water levels on the Deshka River and other Mat-Su Valley salmon streams are extremely low — low enough that I`ve made a conscious decision to avoid boating through some of the shallower Deshka River riffles which I normally run through at higher water levels. The chance of damaging my boat and motor is too great. This, of course, restricts the amount of water available to fish for both myself and other groups fishing the Deshka River and other Mat-Su Valley streams. I will continue guiding — but will shortly be switching focus to silver and chum salmon trips — possibly even before the king salmon season ends, depending upon the preferences of my fishing guests.
The guided fishing trip I have scheduled for today is a late evening trip, so I anticipate I may not be able to post the fishing report for today`s trip until sometime on Tuesday July 12 — check back then for the latest update.
EVENING TRIP RESULTS —
I guided 3 people, and the Deshka River water level was even lower. The group spent a considerable amount of time fishing 3 holes — and although we saw salmon rolling and moving around in the water, no one was able to hook a fish. The anglers fished both with bait and a Flashtrap Spinner, but the fish simply were not much interested in biting. I suspect the salmon we fished over likely had been fished over for several additional anglers before we got to the river as well. The Good News — is that it rained ( if only lightly) nearly the entire time we were fishing, so hopefully that will start the process of raising and cooling the water in several of our Mat-Su Valley Rivers. Such a change would help make the salmon more active and should also draw additional salmon into our rivers and streams.
07/12/2011
I have no trips scheduled today and am taking the day off. I will be guiding the final fishing trip of our king salmon season tomorrow, and should have a report posted in the afternoon / evening for the final day of our season July 13, 2011.
SILVER SALMON REPORT —
People have been asking us about silver salmon, so I want to include what I know in today`s report. On Deshka River there have been a few (very few) silver salmon caught. So far no one on my boat has managed to land any, but on one trip I thought we hooked a couple, and I`ve seen a few small fish that I thought could be silver salmon rolling. Since I`ve spent all my time recently on Deshka River, I have no personal knowledge from the other Mat-Su Rivers. I did talk with Samantha Oslund, assistant area sportfish biologist with the Alaska Department of FIsh and Game — she mentioned that the Department had heard very little about silver salmon and not much from the Little Susitna River, yet.
Commercial fishing harvests from the Central District of Upper Cook Inlet have been showing small silver salmon catches since late June, and with a commercial fishing area restriction occurring on Monday July 11 in order to allow some salmon passage of fish bound for Northern Cook Inlet streams, I am confident silver salmon and chum salmon abundances should be increasing in Mat-Su Valley streams later this week. Check back on Wednesday and Thursday for the latest updates.
07/13/2011
Last Day King Salmon Season —
Just goes to show you never know how the fish might show up. I guided two guests who each caught a king salmon and had lots of action on a guided trip this morning. Lots of king salmon seemed to be moving upriver, and many of them were in a biting mood. My guests caught their salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.
Tomorrow I`ll be guiding a trip on Little Susitna River for silver and chum salmon — check back in the afternoon / evening for a report on the trip. — Andy
07/14/2011
Little Susitna River Report —
I guided a group of 6 guests on a morning trip — result one of them hooked a single salmon, but lost it beside the boat. There were very few salmon present of any kind, and we fished down into the tide zone looking for them. I heard another charter boat out today caught 3 fish — but did not know what kind of fish they caught.
After my charter was over I looked around a bit on my own, and managed to catch 3 chum salmon — all from one spot — but once again it looked to me like the number of salmon present in the Little Susinta River is rather low at present.
07/15/2011
On Vacation
07/16/2011
On Vacation
07/17/2011
On Vacation — Next Guide trip on July 19
07/18/2011
On Vacation — Next Guide trip tomorrow — fishing report to follow.
07/19/2011
I guided an afternoon trip of 4 guests, each of whom caught a salmon. Each member of the group caught one of more chum salmon, two people caught 3 king salmon, and one member of the group caught a silver salmon. The group wanted as much action as possible, so I focused on chum salmon. The only fish that the group kept was the silver salmon. All of the fish were caught on Flashtrap Spinners. Spinner patterns that caught salmon were #5 silver / black, #4 silver /black, #3 black, and #4 orange/ silver.
Some of the other boaters that focused on silver salmon caught more silvers than we did.
We currently have charter availability and will be fishing primarily for silver salmon and chum salmon.
07/20/2011
I guided a group of 4 guests. each of whom caught at least one salmon. The group caught 11 chum salmon, 5 silver salmon, and 1 king salmon while fishing with Flashtrap Spinners. The hot patterns were #5 silver / black, #4 orange, and #5 pink.
07/21/2011
Although I did not guide a charter trip today, I went fishing with a friend and fellow guide, Ben Allen, owner of Miller`s Riverboat Service. We each caught limits of coho salmon while casting spinners. I caught my limit of coho with a #5 pink Flashtrap Spinner, while Ben caught his cohos on a #5 Vibrax Spinner. In addition we also caught a few chum salmon on K11X Kwikfish plugs.
I`lll be guiding trips and posting reports again tomorrow.
07/22/2011
I guided one angler in the morning who caught a chum salmon on a #3 black Flashtrap Spinner. He hooked a couple other salmon, but although we fished over a considerable number of chum salmon, we were having trouble drawing strikes.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught limits of silver and chum salmon, and 2 of whom each caught one silver salmon. One silver salmon was caught on a K11X Kwikfish and all of the rest of the fish were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners. Pink and Silver / Black were the hot patterns.
07/23/2011
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, who caught 2 silver salmon and one chum salmon. One silver was caught on a #5 Flashtrap Spinner and the other two salmon were caught on a K11x Kwikfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, who caught 2 silver salmon and 10 chum salmon on K11X Kwikfish.
07/25/2011
CHUM SALMON BONANZA
I Guided a morning group of 3 guests each of whom kept one chum salmon and then caught and released a bunch of them as a group. In addition the also caught 5 coho salmon. One fish was caught on a K11x Kwikfish and the rest were caught on #5 Flshtrap Spinners.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, each of whom caught and kept a chum salmon, with 4 guests also limiting on silver (coho) salmon and one guest catching one silver salmon. All of the fish were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners in either the Pink or Silver/Black patterns. Up and down the river anglers seemed were catching lots of chum salmon.
07/26/2011
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, all of whom caught a limit of salmon. Most of the salmon caught by the group were chum, but half of the salmon they kept were silver salmon. All of the fish were caught on #5 Silver/ Black or #5 Pink Flashtrap Spinners.
07/27/2011
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 4 of whom caught limits of chum and coho salmon, and one of whom caught one chum salmon. All of the fish were caught by casting #5 Flashtrap Spinners. There was considerable more anglers and boat traffic on the river today.
The Fish Creek personal use dip net fishery will open for 3 days July 29, 30, and 31 after large numbers of sockeye salmon swam past the Fish Creek Weir the last three days.
Sockeye salmon are also available in good numbers at Lake Creek and the Talkeetna River.
07/28/2011
I guided 4 people, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon while casting with #5 Flashtrap Spinners. In addition the group also caught some chum salmon on the same lures, but released all those fish. Water conditions are low and clear.
07/29/2011
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a limit of silver salmon while casting #5 Flashtrap Spinners. The 4th member of the group wanted to go back earlier and did not catch a salmon.
I guided and afternoon group of 4 anglers who caught 4 silvers salmon and 3 chum salmon while casting #5 Flashtrap Spinners.
During each trip I experienced a rare widllife sighting — on each of these trips I saw a squirrel swimming the river. Something I can not recall seeing in the past.
07/30/2011
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon while casting #5 Flashtrap Spinners. Like most of the past week we were using the Pink blade pattern and the Silver blade / black body pattern with good success. Two member of the group also caught a single chum salmon each.
I`m scheduled to guide again tomorrow and expect similar success.
07/31/2011
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on #5 Flashtrap Spinners. In addition, the group also caught and released several chum salmon during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, two of whom limited on silver salmon and one of whom caught and kept a limit of chum salmon. All of the fish were caught on #5 Pink or #5 Silver / Black Flashtrap Spinners.
07/31/2011
Rather than guide a fishing trip, I spent the day writing an ice fishing article for Fish Alaska Magazine.
Greg Acord guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon. All but one of the fish were caught on Flashtrap Spinners, and the remaining fish was caught back trolling with a small plug.
Greg guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners.