Area Sport Fishing Reports
Mat-Su

Recent Emergency Orders & Press Releases for Mat-Su

Archived Sport Fishing Report

By emergency order, Fish Creek will be liberalized to 7 days per week beginning 6:00 a.m., Thursday, August 22, 2013. Sport fishing in Cottonwood and Wasilla creeks remains open only on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Anglers are reminded that sport fishing is only allowed in all of these waters from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. The bag and possession limit for salmon, other than king salmon, 16 inches or greater in length remains at three per day and in possession, of which all three may be coho salmon, in the waters of Fish Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Wasilla Creek.
Bait is allowed in many – but not all – Susitna River tributaries. Check for exceptions to the general regulations before heading out.
Bodenburg Creek, including all waters of the Knik River within a 100-yd radius of the mouth of the creek, is closed year–round to fishing for salmon.
Coho salmon 16 inches or longer removed from fresh water must be retained and become part of the bag limit of the person who originally hooked the fish. A person may not remove a coho salmon 16 inches or longer from the water before releasing it. • Only catch and release fishing for rainbow trout and grayling is allowed year-round on Montana Creek. On Willow Creek, rainbow trout are catch-and-release only downstream of the Parks Highway.

Fishing at the Eklutna Tailrace for coho salmon is good. Try fishing early in the day.
Waters have dropped at the mouth of Jim Creek; however, coho fishing should continue to be good there.
Coho fishing has been good on the Little Susitna River. As of August 20, over 11,800 coho have been counted through the weir. Try a float trip down from Houston this weekend.
Coho fishing on the Deshka River has been good; over 17,000 coho have been counted through the weir.
Yentna River sloughs and tributaries are producing a good number of silvers. Lake Creek should provide good to excellent fishing. The Talachulitna is also producing good coho catches.
On the west side of Cook Inlet, coho fishing on the Chuit, Kustatan and Theodore rivers should be good.
Good numbers of coho, pinks, and chum salmon are being caught along the Parks Highway streams of Willow, Little Willow, Sheep, Goose, Caswell, and Montana creeks. Great coho fishing can be had on the Kashwitna River.
Coho, chum, and pink fishing in the Talkeetna River drainage is good to excellent, with limits of salmon being reported at the mouth of Clear Creek. Coho fishing here should be excellent this weekend.
Coho salmon may still be had at the mouth of Cottonwood Creek; however, coho should be in strong numbers at Wasilla Creek (Rabbit Slough) and also at Fish Creek.
Silvers are showing up in good numbers in Wasilla Creek.

Rainbow trout fishing along the Parks Highway streams has been very good.
Try fishing egg and flesh fly patterns as rainbow trout are now targeting king eggs and feeding on king carcasses.

Pike fishing has been good in the Nancy Lake canoe system lakes; try using a weedless mouse or frog lure through the weedy areas. Fishing is best when water temperatures are lowest, such as early in the morning or late in the day. For road-accessible pike fishing, try just about any lake in the Nancy Lake canoe system, plus Memory and Prator lakes.
Fly-in fishing for pike can be excellent. Try Alexander, Trapper, Hewitt, Whiskey, Vern, and Donkey lakes.

Fishing continues to be excellent in Valley lakes. Check the stocking website for more information. A list of the stocked lakes can also be found on page 19 of the 2013 Southcentral Alaska regulation booklet.
With the cooler temperatures of fall approaching, lake fishing should improve. Fish become more active and feed in shallower water.
In the Palmer/Wasilla area Irene, Kepler-Bradley, Echo, Meirs, and Knik lakes are stocked with rainbow trout.
Further north on the Parks Highway, North Rolly, Rhein, Christiansen, South Friend, and "Y" lakes have rainbow trout.
Arctic char are stocked in Echo, Long Lake (mile 86), Matanuska, and Seventeenmile lakes.
Along the Glenn Highway northeast of Palmer, Seventeenmile, Long, Ravine, Weiner, and Wishbone lakes all have rainbow trout.
If it's Arctic grayling you're looking for, try, Canoe, Finger, Meirs, and Lorraine lakes.