June is the peak month for catching king salmon at most Mat-Su Valley fishing locations. The 2017 season will start with king salmon harvest allowed 7 days per week on both the Little Susitna River and the Deshka River. On the Deshka River, only, we will be allowed to use scent and bait while fishing for king salmon starting on June 1. The Little Susitna River will start the season restricted to artificial lures — however — during each of the previous two years we were allowed to start using bait sometime in July, after adequate numbers of king salmon had migrated upstream past the Little Susitna River salmon counting weir. If any bait fishing were to be allowed for king salmon on Little Susitna River in 2017, we would expect it to likely occur for a limited amount of time in July. We intend to spend our king salmon season fishing at these two locations so our guests may have the opportunity to harvest a king salmon each day of the season.
June 1, 2017
I fished the Deshka River on the first day of bait and guided a morning group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. In addition, the group had more bites and lost 3 additional king salmon before they could be boated while fishing roe under ESB bobbers. Later in the trip one guest hooked and fought a king salmon on a Mag Lip Flatfish and another guest fought and lost a king salmon on a Kwikfish. During the trip we saw a couple moose with calves, bald eagles, and beavers.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom hooked and briefly fought king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. Those were the only salmon we hooked in the afternoon. It was a warm beautiful afternoon and we saw several bald eagles.
June 2, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. All of the fish were caught on Kwikfish. During the trip we saw some bald eagles and a moose.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish. That was the only bite the group had, but we enjoyed a warm sunny afternoon on the water.
June 3, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish. During the trip we saw several bald eagles and a moose.
l guided an afternoon group of 3 anglers, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikfish and the 3rd of whom caught a jack king salmon on a Kwikfish. We enjoyed another warm sunny afternoon on the water and the group also saw some bald eagles and a moose that crossed the river in front of the boat.
June 4, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guest, who caught 2 king salmon on Kwikfish. During the trip we saw two moose and a pair of trumpeter swans.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, and although we fished lots of water none of the guests caught a fish. The largest number of people out fishing the river for the season occurred today.
June 5, 2017
I guided a group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish and the other king salmon was caught on a Spin-N-Glo. It was a wet rainy trip, and with little wildlife spotted along the river — we saw 1 sandhill crane. While driving to the river each member of the trip was able to see a moose alongside the road.
June 6, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. All of the morning king salmon were caught on Kwikfish. During the trip we saw some bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. One king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater and the other king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish. During the afternoon trip we also saw some bald eagles.
June 7, 2017
I guided a group of 4 guests as part of a larger group with Ben Allen of Miller’s Riverboat Service. 3 of the guests caught king salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB bobbers. Ben’s boat load of anglers had similar success. There were lots of boats on the river and even with a departure from Deshka Landing before 5 am we had trouble finding an unoccupied location to fish before 6 am. At this time 1,932 king salmon have passed the Deshka River Weir through June 6. During the trip we saw several bald eagles along the river along with many groups of other anglers.
June 8, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish and 2 king salmon were caught on a Spinning Cheater with a squid skirt. The group also caught 1 king salmon jack on a Kwikfish and saw some bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish.
June 9, 2017
I guided a group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon, and 1 of whom caught a king salmon jack. The two king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters and the jack king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish. There was lots of pressure and we did not get many bites. We did see several bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. All of the fish were caught on Killerfish plugs. During the trip we saw several bald eagles.
June 10, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, who had one bite on a Kwikfish, but did not manage to catch a fish. The water was quite dark from the rain and had a lot of debris from boat traffic where we were fishing.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 people fishing, two of whom caught king salmon that bit the same Kwikfish. Those were the only bites we had, but it was much nicer to end up with fish in the boat.
June 11, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests and we had one bite on a Kwikfish, but did not caught the fish. The water was dark from the rain yesterday with debris floating down, but still seemed plenty good enough for catching some fish.
I guided an afternoon group of 6 guests and once again we had a single bite on a Kwikfish, but did not catch the fish.
June 12, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests each of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Mag Lip Flatfish and 2 king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. All of the salmon were caught on Kwikfish.
June 13, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under an ESB Bobber. There were fish rolling most of the morning where we were fishing, but with all the boat traffic we could not draw many bites.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught an king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. The group managed to get more bites than the morning group, and also briefly hooked but lost two additional king salmon. During the trip we saw two moose, bald eagles, and a beaver.
June 14, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under an ESB Bobber. One other member also hooked but lost a king salmon. During the trip we saw several bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 1 of whom hooked but lost a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under an ESB bobber. During the trip we saw several bald eagles.
June 15, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikfish. During the trip we saw some beavers, moose, and bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikfish. During the trip we saw several bald eagles.
June 16, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon and 1 of whom caught 2 jack king salmon. All of the fish were caught on Kwikfish during the trip the group saw twin calf moose.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon and one of those two guests also caught a jack king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish and the other king salmon and a jack king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish.
June 17, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish. We also had 2 other bites on a Mag Lip Flatfish, and one guests hooked and fought a king salmon that got away on a Kwikfish.
June 18, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon and 1 of whom caught a jack king salmon. Both king salmon and the jack king salmon were caught on Kwikfish, while another king salmon was hooked but lost on a Spinning Cheater. During the trip we saw some eagles and a beaver.
June 19, 2017
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 4 of whom caught a king salmon. All of the salmon were caught on Kwikfish. 1 guest also caught a jack king salmon before harvesting a larger fish.
i guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikifsh. 1 guest also caught a jack king salmon on a Kwikfish.
June 20, 2017
I guided a group of 4 guests each of whom hooked a king salmon on Kwikfish. 3 of the 4 guests caught a king salmon and one of those guests also caught a jack king salmon before keeping her larger salmon. It was a wet cool trip, but everyone was prepared for the weather with layers of clothing and rain gear.
June 21, 2017
I guided a group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. Two other salmon were hooked but lost before they could be brought to the net. 4 salmon were hooked on Kwikfish and 1 salmon was hooked on a Mag Lip Flatfish. Water has been low the last few days, but rose slightly today.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Spin-N-Glo and the other king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish.
NOTE: Today the Alaska Department of FIsh and Game announced the Deshka River king salmon fishery will be artificial lures only starting on Friday June 23, 2017.
June 22, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Flashtrap Spinner and 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. Another member of the group also hooked but lost 2 king salmon on a Spin-n-glo. During the morning trip we saw several bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikfish. 1 jack king salmon was also hooked on a Kwikfish, but came loose before he could be boated.
June 23, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, and although we fished lots of prime water only one of the guests had a strike, but was unable to hook it.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught small king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Flatfish and the other king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish. During the day we saw a few bald eagles, a loon, and some beavers.
NOTE: The Alaska Department of FIsh and Game closed the Little Susitna River to king salmon fishing starting Saturday June 24 — but the river MAY reopen on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of July 1, 2, 3 — if adequate king salmon have passed Little Susitna River weir by that time.
June 24, 2017
Both of my previously scheduled king salmon trips for June 24 — a morning trip with 5 guests and an afternoon trip with 4 guests — were cancelled because of regulation changes to the Deshka River and Little Susitna River king salmon fisheries.
June 25, 2017
My morning trip of 4 people and my afternoon trip of 4 people were refunded for their reservation because of regulation restrictions.
June 26, 2017
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, and although we saw a few salmon roll no one was able to hook a fish. We was some bald eagles during the trip — and on the drive to the boat launch area I saw 5 moose along the road. We covered lots of water, but simply could not get many bites.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 1 of whom caught a rainbow trout on a Kwikfish. The same individual also briefly hooked two king salmon on the same Kwikfish. One of the other guests briefly hooked a king salmon on a Magnum Wiggle Wart, the final member of the group briefly hooked a king salmon on a Spin-N-Glo.
June 27, 2017
My two guide groups for 3 people each cancelled because of emergency restrictions caused by low king salmon numbers to the Little Susitna and Deshka Rivers.
June 28, 2017
My guide trip for June 28 was cancelled.
June 29, 2017
I guided a group of 6 guests, one of whom caught a small king salmon — released it and caught a larger king salmon. which he kept. Two other guests hooked nice-sized king salmon, but lost them before they could be landed. One guest caught a jack king salmon. One guest caught a northern pike. One guest caught 5 clams. During the trip we saw several bald eagles. Since my guests fished the entire time with #5 Flashtrap Spinners — all the fish we caught were hooked on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.
June 30, 2017
I guided a late afternoon group of 2 guests, and although we saw a few salmon rolling in different holes the only fish the guests caught was a northern pike from one of the sloughs. The guests spotted a moose and also saw several bald eagles during the trip.
Today the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the Deshka River and all other Susitna River drainage streams will close to king salmon fishing (including catch and release ) starting Tuesday July 4.
For Our Next 2017 Fishing Report Update refer to our July 2017 Alaska Fishing Reports page.