July 2025 Alaska Fishing Reports
July is the month where our guests catch all 5 species of Alaska salmon. It is rare for a person to catch all 5 species on the same trip, but it is possible — and especially around mid-month. This year king salmon fishing has been closed on both the Little Susitna River and Deshka River, however, there should be solid numbers of other salmon to catch at both of these location during July. July 14 is the date bait fishing opens on the Susitna River drainage, so we often have guests interested in fishing at that time. Little Susitna River is restricted to artificial lures through August 5, but the cooler water temperatures of Little Susitna River, during July, and the presence of all 5 salmon species often make it our top choice for the month.
Timing wise, king salmon are in largest abundance early in July, and the only location we are allowed to fish for king salmon this year is the Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River side-channel fishery. Sockeye salmon are available all the way through July at Little Susitna River and Knik River, but often with greater availability during the later half of the month. Chum salmon start a bit later, but on an early run-timing year may also be available from the start of July — with larger abundances of chum salmon starting about July 20. Pink salmon can show up in large numbers early in July — and particularly at Deshka River (where the bonus pink salmon limit is 6 per day) — on Little Susitna River the greatest pink salmon abundance is often during the last 10 days of July. Our guests have caught a few early coho on Little Susitna in late June and on the Deshka River during the first week of July, however the best coho catching usually occurs after July 20 and throughout August. Currently our earliest group with a reservation in July is scheduled for July 3. The young man pictured above caught his first ocean-fresh coho salmon from Little Susitna River on a July 10 charter.
Scroll Down for the most recent July 2025 Fishing Report:
July 1, 2025 — Fish Creek Weir — An Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) fisheries biologist told me yesterday (June 30) the Fish Creek salmon counting Weir was installed. Therefore, the first counts of salmon passing the weir should be available on the ADF&G website shortly (during periods of low water flow salmon may school below a weir for a few days before migrating on upstream). P. S. Later in the day I noticed ADF&G had posted a single sockeye salmon had passed the Fish Creek Weir on June 30 – the same day of installation. This is the earliest passage of sockeye salmon through the Fish Creek weir I found in searching through 30 years of records — however — June 30 is also the earliest Fish Creek weir installation in 30 years of records posted on ADF&G’s website.
I am writing my weekly fishing column for the Frontiersman Newspaper (for the Friday July 4th paper), making an Anchorage shopping trip with my wife, and also have an afternoon dental appointment today, so no fishing charters are scheduled for today.
July 2, 2025 — Eklutna Tailrace I fished and watched others fishing at Eklutna Tailrace this morning for a couple hours. When I arrived one angler had already caught a large king salmon near the tailrace / Knik River confluence. Most anglers in that area were drifting bait under bobbers. I casted a #4 spinner without any strikes, and worked my way up to where the tailrace emerges from under the Old Glenn Highway. I only saw one fish surface upstream of the pedestrian bridge. I saw several salmon surface downstream gof the tailrace / Knik confluence and watched two anglers hook king salmon. One salmon got away, while the other was caught — which I would estimate to weigh over 20 pounds. Both fish I saw that anglers had caught were developing a dark reddish hue. One fish was obviously a male, and the other looked to be a female. When I arrived there was a dozen vehicles in the parking lot, and when I left there were 14 vehicles. Most of the fish surfacing that I saw were early in the morning with considerably less fish activity when I left a bit after 8 a.m.
King Salmon Restrictions: Upper Copper River (including Gulkana, Klutina, Tonsina) sport king salmon fishing will be Restricted to Catch and Release Only starting Monday July 7, 2025. In addition all Upper Copper River drainage flowing waters are restricted to fishing with single hook artificial lures through August 10.
July 3, 2025 — First Chum Salmon of 2025 I guided a morning group of 3 guests who caught 1 chum salmon, several jack king salmon and a few larger king salmon. The jacks and kings were released without removing them from the water. All the fish were caught on diving plugs rigged with 1/2 inch gap single hooks. Each guest caught a fish. During the trip we saw ducks and a bald eagle along the river.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a fish. During the trip 1 chum salmon, 1 rainbow trout, some jack kings and some larger kings were caught. The only fish harvested was the chum salmon. All of the fish were caught on diving plugs with a 1/2 inch gap single hook. Each guest caught a salmon. We saw multiple bald eagles along the river in the afternoon. The water was high and dark colored during both trips.
Note: Today Dustin Slinker with The Bait Shack on Ship Creek in downtown Anchorage posted on his Facebook page that an angler caught the first know pink salmon of the season from Ship Creek. Dustin also mention that anglers had been seeing pinks on some of the recent high tides.
July 4, 2025 — I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests from New York. One of them caught a king salmon and a king salmon jack. The other guest brief hooked, but lost a salmon. We had a tougher time finding fish today, and did not see any surface during the trip. All of the fish were hooked on small plugs with a 1/2 inch gap single hook. Both fish were released. Near the end of the trip we heard and saw a bald eagle. With the warm sunny weather the river wasp a bit more today.
July 5, 2025 — First Sockeye of 2025 –-I guided a morning group of 4 guests, who caught 2 sockeye salmon, 1 jack king salmon, and 3 king salmon while fishing with small plugs. The two sockeye salmon were kept, while jack king and kings were released. We’ve been fishing lots of water to find a few salmon each trip during the past three days. During our trip we saw a beaver, a couple bald eagles and some ducks and ducklings along the river.
NOTE: We have morning fishing charter availability for the next three days (Sunday July 6, Monday July 7, and Tuesday July 8). To schedule a trip with less than 24 hour notice — you will need to call. Trips more than 24 hours in the future can be booked on this website — using our online reservation service or through a phone call.
July 6, 2025 — Eklutna Tailrace — No charters today, so I drove over and fished the tailrace for about an hour in the morning. I casted a #4 spinner and did not get any bites. I watched the other 6 anglers fishing near the Tailrace / Knik River confluence, but did not see anyone hook a salmon. I did see one sockeye salmon on the bank that had been caught before I arrived, and talked with another angler who mentioned a couple other nearly identical salmon had also been caught earlier. There was a good amount of water flowing out from the tailrace, however, the Knik River water volume looked to have increased, so likely the Eklutna Tailrace lens of cleaner water may not extend as far down the Knik River side-channel as it did earlier in the season. While at the tailrace I observed several salmon surfacing — some of which appeared to be sockeye to me.
Monday July 7, 2025 — I wrote my weekly fishing column for the Frontiersman Newspaper today. The Mat-Su Anglers column should be available in print in the Friday July 11 Frontiersman — possible sooner online. We had no salmon fishing charter scheduled for today July 7, however, our salmon fishing charter availability is filling rapidly for the next couple weeks.
Mat-Su Valley salmon counts through the Lake Creek sonar, Deshka River Weir, and Fish Creek weir were posted on the ADF&G website — after no updates since the start of the Independence Day holiday weekend. Salmon passages through July 6 include:
Deshka Weir — 1,364 Chinook (king) pink, coho, and limited sockeye and chum counts likely by approximately July 20.
Fish Creek Weir — 91 sockeye (red). with daily counts of coho, pink, and chum likely to start sometime in mid or late-July.
Lake Creek sonar –477 Chinook (king) through July 2
Little Susitna River Weir — no salmon counts yet, but ADF&G is prioritizing installation of Little Susitna River Weir, as soon as possible, awaiting subsidence of high stream flows caused by late snow melt / recent rain. I expect to see positive daily counts for Chinook, sockeye, and chum salmon as soon as this weir is installed (at a further upstream location for 2025) with positive counts of coho and pink salmon to follow soon — or at the same time depending upon installation date.
Jim Creek Weir — scheduled for installation during the later half of July — with sockeye and coho salmon counts to follow installation.
Larson Lake Weir — (Talkeetna River drainage) — may post sockeye salmon counts starting approximately July 20.
Chelatna Lake Weir –-(headwaters of Lake Creek) — will post sockeye salmon counts starting approximately July 20.
July 8, 2025 — No fishing charters scheduled today, so I posted data on when the first coho and sockeye salmon passed Mat-Su salmon counting weirs during 2024 (last year). See the Italic Reports Below. Note: Dustin Slinker with the Bait Shack at Ship Creek posted that the first coho salmon of 2025 was caught at that location on Monday July 7. Also I looked at the commercial harvest report from July 7 and noticed 62 coho were caught in the Northern District set gillnet fishery, so I am confident a few coho are likely in milling in the lower reaches of some Mat -Su Valley streams by now.
July 9, 2025 — First Pink Salmon of 2025 —I guided a group of 4 guests from Iowa on a salmon fishing trip that started at 9 a.m.. Each of them caught 3 or more salmon. They caught 2 sockeye, 9 chum, 2 pink, 1 king salmon, and 1 king salmon jack. All of the fish were caught on small plugs with a 1/2 inch gap single hook as required by regulation. The group kept 9 chum salmon, 1 sockeye salmon, and 1 pink salmon. All of the other fish were released without removing them from the water. Once again we fished lots of spots along the river searching for fish. During the trip we only saw one salmon surface — other than the ones my guests hooked. While fishing we saw some bald eagles along the river and some ducks. Water appeared a bit higher today and was dark colored.
Note: Sockeye escapement numbers through Fish Creek Weir have jumped up with over 300 salmon passing the weir on both July 7 and 8. I imagine there is likely now a consistent number of sockeye available downstream of Knik Goose Bay Road on every high tide. This sport fishery is only open through July 14 and between the hours of 5 a.m. — 10 p.m.
Thursday July 10, 2025 — I guided a husband and wife from Iowa who caught 1 sockeye, 4 chum, and 6 king salmon on small plugs equipped with one small single hook. All the salmon were released, except for the sockeye salmon. The woman was interested in the wild flowers along the river. I identified Fireweed, Dwarf Fireweed, Geraniums, and also saw some blue bells. We also saw some ducks along the river. The water may have dropped a little today, but not much.
Friday July 11, 2025 — I am scheduled to guide salmon fishing guests. Check back in the evening to see the fishing report.
Saturday July 12, 2025 — This is the first day of Personal Use Dip Netting for Alaska residents on the lower Susitna River (near Susitna Station) in 2025. This fishery is open from 6 a.m. — 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Wednesdays ONLY through July 30. During 2025 there will be 6 total days of legal dip netting in the lower Susitna River fishery.
July 13, 2025 — Scheduled to guide salmon fishing — check back Sunday evening for our fishing report update.
July 14, 2025 — First 2 coho salmon passed Deshka River Weir during 2024 season
July 15, 20125– First 14 coho salmon passed Little Susitna River Weir during 2024 season
July 16, 2025
July 17, 2025
July 18, 2025
July 19, 2025
July 20, 2025
July 21, 2025
July 22, 2025
July 23, 2025 — First 100 sockeye salmon passed Larson Lake Weir (Talkeetna River drainage) during 2024 season
July 24, 2025
July 25, 2025
July 26, 2025 — First 3 coho salmon passed Jim Creek Weir during 2024 season. First 452 sockeye also passed Jim Creek Weir on the same day in 2024.
July 27, 2025
July 28, 2025
July 29, 2025
July 30, 2025
July 31, 2025