Winter / Spring 2026 Alaska Fishing Reports
I am often available to guide our 4-hour ice fishing trips on Mat-Su Valley lakes in the Palmer-Wasilla core area north of Anchorage from January through March — and depending upon ice conditions sometimes into early April. Many visitors choose this trip, because it provides a good opportunity to experience winter fun in Alaska. We often start our ice fishing trips around 10 a.m. during January, however, longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures can make for very enjoyable ice fishing conditions in March. We target rainbow trout, Arctic char, and landlocked salmon through the ice with most fish our guest catch running in the 8 – 15 inch range, with occasional rainbow trout and / or Arctic char topping 20 inches. I provide custom-built ice fishing rods and all the additional ice fishing gear, along with helpful instruction. Guests often catch several fish per person on these trips. Guests over 16 years of age are required to have and Alaska fishing license and need to provide their own warm clothes.
NOTE: We do not start guiding open water fishing trips until the ice breaks up on Mat-Su Valley rivers / usually sometime in the month of May.
***Alaska Board of Fisheries — Makes Changes to Pass More Salmon Into Northern Cook Inlet*** —See March 20, 2026 Report Below —
Scroll Down for the Lates Fishing Report Update
December 2025 — Wow that month went quickly! My wife and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation to the Kona, Hawaii area, and I also was able to update and make our 5-hour guided salmon fishing reservation dates available through our online reservation service on this website. For 2026 we have shortened our trips by an hour, and will be offering a wider variety of trip starting times, in an effort to better meet what some of our guests have been requesting. With the new additional starting times — some of the trip reservations will need to be made through phone request — others will be live to book on the website. This system of having some trips only available through phone request allows us the option of having different start time options — while helping us keep the reservations in order so overbookings may not occur.
Friday January 2, 2026 — Happy New Year. Today I went to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Palmer and renewed my guide and business aport fishing registrations for 2026 — So I am getting ready to guide some ice fishing trips — although the temperatures have recently dropped below zero. That make for cool fishing. Ice is plenty thick on Mat-Su Valley lakes, and I’ve heard some decent ice fishing reports.
New Year — New Fishing Gear! I have some new hooks I want to try for ice fishing this year, but most of our new fishing tackle will be geared toward our summer salmon fishing trips. I’ve already built about a dozen new custom fishing rods with more to be built before the season starts. I’ve also purchased a variety of new lures to try, and also intend to fish in locations where bait will be legal for salmon harvest additional days. I am still using Pautzke bait company baits, scents, and cures, and intend to experiment considerably more next summer. Some may have noticed that guest caught more sockeye salmon in particular from my personal guide boat during the summer of 2025 — I attribute some of that to Pautzke krill scent used when I was curing salmon roe and also to fishing in locations where there was a greater abundance of sockeye salmon. I suspect that I may be able to help guest boost sockeye salmon catches even further by experimenting with different hook combinations — so that is part of the game plan for next summer as well. I’ve also purchased a few new spinning reels — including a Daiwa Prorex MQ LT 3000D-C (which appears built stout — while also being one of the lightest weight spinning reels my guests will have ever fished with!). Guest will still have the opportunities to fish with the Daiwa Procyon 3000s and 4000s and / or also the Shimano Stradic 3000s that have worked so well for us the past few years.
Saturday January 3, 2026 — After my new Daiwa Prorex MQ LT 3000 arrived yesterday, I put it on a spinning rod and -examined it thoroughly. As expected it was very smooth with light start up inertia, and felt light as well. This is the compact size reel – meaning it has a similar (or same) gear box compared to the 2500 reel in this series. It has a deep spool which according to specifications will hold considerably more line than I am likely to need on this reel. It has a 5:2:1 gear ratio, which I prefer, because it will provide more cranking power that a higher gear ratio. I intend to spool this reel with a superbraid line rated at approximately 25 lb. and also intend to use it most of next summer (anytime I or my guests are casting lures for coho, chum, sockeye, or pink salmon). Next New Reel: Daiwa Prorex MQ LT 2500-XH — I ordered it this morning, as I know of no business currently stocking them in Alaska. This 2500 size reel has a smaller spool capacity (110 years of 8 lb mono), although I intend to spool it with lower strength superbraid (compared to the 3000 sized reel). I intend to test this reel out thoroughly next summer as well — using it heavily when guiding for trout, arctic grayling, and northern pike. In addition, I intend to use it in some situations when casting for salmon — I believe it would make an exceptional reel for casting small lures at Deshka River for coho and pink salmon.
March 16, 2026 — I travelled to Anchorage to participate in the Statewide Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting scheduled to start tomorrow at the Egan Convention and Visitors Center in Anchorage that starts on Tuesday March 17. I had earlier submitted Agenda Change Request #5 that was considered by the Board of Fisheries (BOF) at its October 2025 work session, found by the BOF to meet the Agenda Change Request criteria, and then scheduled for public consideration at this Statewide meeting. Agenda Change Request #5 was subsequently retitled Proposal 186 for this meeting. Proposal 186 seeks to amend the Central District Drift Gillnet Fishery Management Plan so that enough coho salmon may migrate past the drift gillnet fishing area, and into Northern Cook Inlet drainages so that coho salmon spawning escapement goals may be met on a more consistent basis in the Deshka River and Little Susitna River.
March 17, 2026 — Today I submitted a record copy (RC) to the Statewide Board of Fisheries meeting — which will be a written copy of my public testimony before the BOF. I also talked with several other people in attendance at the meeting throughout the day — some supporting Proposal 186 and others not. I am working as a member of the Matanuska – Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission at this meeting, and the Commission is focussed exclusively on supporting Proposal 186 – which seeks for more conservative management of Northern Cook Inlet bound coho salmon stocks. Commission team members’ public testimony is scheduled for the start of the meeting on Wednesday March 18 at approximately 8 a.m. There will be 6 people involved in this testimony effort, and each of us has worked at providing what we believe be should compelling rationale for board members to adopt some Central District Drift Gillnet Fishery Management Plan change(s) for coho salmon conservation. Thank you to all who put in public comments in support of Proposal 186 before the meeting even started. There was a total of 510 public comments submitted to the BOF in advance of this meeting.
Friday March 20, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted new regulation in the Central District Drift Gillnet Fishery Management Plan designed to better, “manage the commercial drift gillnet fishery to minimize the harvest of Northern District salmon and Kenai River coho salmon in order to provide all users with a reasonable opportunity to harvest these salmon stocks over the entire run, as measured by the frequency of inriver restrictions.” Bottomline: Expect a larger and more consistent number of coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon migrating into Northern Cook Inlet drainages and increasing the likelihood that sustainable escapement goals (SEGs) will be met on a more consistent basis better ensuring sustainable management of the Mat-Su Valley salmon stocks upon which our guide salmon fishing trips are based. This is Great News for 2026 and beyond!
April 14, 2026 — Additional Tow Vehicle Added — I looked at pickups today, searching for another option for towing my guide boats starting in May, then purchased a 2019 Toyota. I still have my 2006 pickup which I intend to continue using as well, and now I have another option anytime either vehicle needs to be serviced . The newer pickup is a bit larger with 4-wheel drive, both which may help at times during open-water and winter ice fishing trips.
Seasons Are Changing — Much of the snow cover has now melted from our yard, and when we were driving today my wife and I saw some open and flowing water at both the Matanuska River and Knik River — although there is still plenty of ice remaining along the banks of both rivers. We also saw 5 Trumpeter swans flying near or setting on small points of water on the Palmer Hay Flats. Before long I’ll likely head over to where Eklutna Tailrace flowing into the Knik River side-channel and do some open water fishing — not because I would expect to catch fish, but it has been a long winter and I always enjoy getting out on the water each spring and casting. I also have some new custom built fishing rods and new spinning reels that are begging to be checked out == sooner or later.
April 15, 2026 — The Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show will be at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla from noon until 6 p.m. on Friday April 17, from 10 am until 6 pm on Saturday April 16, and from 10 am until 5 pm on April 17. This is another way to celebrate spring and the coming summer outdoor season. Although my business does not have a booth at the show this year, I intend to attend the show. I want to see what different vendors are offering this year, will undoubtedly look at some fishing or hunting gear, may attend a seminar or two, and intend meet and talk with friends I have not seen for too long. I Hope to see you act the show.
April 20, 2024 — I wrote the Mat-Su Anglers column for the Friday April 24, 2024 Frontiersman newspaper today.
April 24, 2026 — I had an arthroscopic knee surgery to clean up some damage that occurred in February, when I was clearing snow from our driveway and parking pad. I am already walking slowly and carefully, and look forward to another season of guiding salmon fishing trips.
Saturday April 25, 2026 — The pain meds the operating team used on my knee yesterday must of worn off a bit, and perhaps I overdid my exercise to rehabilitate today, as there was definitely more pain and restricted movement in my knee today. It felt better by evening again, and I will continue to “work” at walking around and regaining motion / strength in that knee. Since my knee was limiting movement, I spent some of the afternoon hours re-wrapped and finishing a custom fishing rod (improving the spacing of the guide train).
Sunday April 26, 2026 — Kepler – Bradley Lakes near Palmer — After the Mat-Su Outdoorsman show last weekend the Alaska Department of FIsh and Game stocked approximately 2000 rainbow trout remaining from the Kid’s Fishing Pond into Kepler – Bradley Lakes beside the Glenn Highway near Palmer. This is often one of the first Mat-Su Valley locations where the ice melts and there is enough open water for people to catch fish in the spring. I’ve taken a look at this location a couple times since the fist were stocked, and although there was only a bit of open water, there certainly appeared to be enough open water for people to catch fish if they were sw2imming into the area on both side of the bridge between the two lakes as they often do during the spring. According to the Department’s recent stocking report, the fish they most recently stocked average about ten and half inches, but there are also some larger older trout in these lakes as well. For anyone wishing to scratch their open water fishing itch and possibly catch a few fish this may be one of the better Mat-Su Valley options right now.
Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River — I often drive over to Eklutna Tailrace in late April to cast some lures and let them swing in the outflow from the power plant. Flowing Water is usually available all year at this location. This is more of an opportunity to cast and retrieve lures than to actually see or catch, however, over 20 years ago now – in my 2006 fishing reports — one can see that I actually caught a chrome ocean-run coho salmon from Eklutna Tailrace in late April. What that species of salmon was doing at the tailrace that time of year may never be know, however it certainly provided a thrill and good meal for my wife and I. The Knik River below the tailrace is often one of the first rivers ice free and providing boating access — although launching over the bank at the Knik River Access off the Glenn Highway may be a bit soft at this time.
Susitna River — looking at the weather cam from Deshka Landing, there is still plenty of snow on the ground down at the boat launch and things definitely look a bit wintery — however — water and ice are flowing down the Susitna River in front of the boat launch. There is still some ice in the boat launch itself, but it appears quite a bit of river ice could start washing down as soon as the weather is warm enough for enough hours during the day to raise the river. I am hopeful I may be running one of my guide boats on the Susitna River this year by May 15.
Tuesday April 28, 2026 — I wrote the weekly Mat-Su Anglers column for the Friday May 1, 2026 Frontiersman Newspaper today. We received a significant rain shower this morning, which undoubtedly speeded up ice melting along many Mat-Su waterbodies. In talking with Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) fisheries biologist Samantha Oslund today, I learned that the streams bridged by the Parks Highway between Willow and Talkeetna have lost their ice cover and are now free flowing. These streams remain high and off-colored from spring runoff, however a few eager beaver anglers will likely be out fishing them for nature species like rainbow trout, arctic grayling, and Dolly Varden during the upcoming first weekend of May. While fish catching from these locations will likely be spotty at best during the coming weekend, the best early season results usually occurs with anglers fishing near the lower ends of these streams near their confluences with the Susitna River.