Area Sport Fishing Reports
Mat-Su

Archived Sport Fishing Report

August 12, 2021

* Just a reminder to all our anglers, please do your part to help slow the spread of Covid-19 by practicing social distancing while sport and personal use fishing, and wearing a face-covering when social distancing is not possible, and if you are needing fishing supplies from your local store.

Local Lakes

• Fall fishing is here early this year. Try one of the many stocked or wild lakes in the valley. The Alaska Lake Database on our webpage can help you find a lake any direction you want to go in the Mat-Su. As temperatures are cooling fish can be found consistently at varying depths.

Freshwater Fishing

Salmon

• Fish Creek will open this weekend from 5 a.m.-10 p.m. August 14 and 15 to sport fishing and will remain a weekend-only fishery for the rest of the season.
• Jim Creek is now closed Mondays and Tuesdays to fishing for all species, and fishing is only allowed between 5 a.m.-10 p.m. on Wednesdays through Sunday for the remainder of the season. If you retain a bag limit of coho (which is two per day) you may not fish for any species of fish in waters open to salmon fishing on that same day. Fishing has been good at Jim Creek.
• Cottonwood and Wasilla Creeks are weekend-only fisheries from 5 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Sockeye fishing has been good. Coho is starting to trickle in.
• Coho fishing on Deshka has improved with the recent rains. Fishing at the mouth has been productive.
• Little Su coho and chum fishing has improved, and fishing is good. Please use caution when navigating by boat as the waters are low.
• Parks Highway stream fishing for salmon has been good. Coho is now being caught and the pinks are slowing down. Try the mouths and lower sections of Willow, Little Willow, Kashwitna, Sheep, Caswell, Montana, Sunshine, and Talkeetna Rivers.
• Bait is now allowed in many -but not all- Susitna River tributaries. Check for exceptions to the general regulations before fishing.
• Pink salmon and a few cohos are being caught on Lake Creek and the Talachulitna in the lower river. Also, try Moose and Indian creeks of the lower Yentna.

Rainbow Trout

• Rainbow trout fishing has been consistent on the Parks highway streams; however, recent rains have muddied the waters. Willow, Montana, Sheep, and Kashwitna have all been productive and should only improve as the salmon start spawning, and the rain eventually stops.

Northern Pike

• Anglers may retain as many pike as they catch – there is no bag or possession limit. In the freshwaters of West Cook Inlet, Knik, and Susitna River drainage, anglers are not allowed to release live pike back into the water.
• Try the Deshka side-sloughs, Memory, or Prator lakes off the road system, or fly out to Sucker or Alexander lakes.

Emergency Orders

Please review the Emergency Orders and Advisory Announcements below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip.

• Emergency Order 2-RS-2-56-21 reopens Larson Creek and is within a one-quarter mile radius of its confluence with the Talkeetna River to sport fishing for all salmon, except king salmon effective 6:00 a.m. Saturday, August 14 through 11:59 p.m. Friday, December 31, 2021. Anglers are reminded that this fishery is only open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily through August 15, and then the fishery is open 24 hours. The bag and possession limit is three salmon, of which no more than two per day, and two in possession may be coho salmon.
• Emergency Order 2-R-2-03-21 adds Leech, Summit, Zero, Kings, and Anderson Lakes to the list of lakes stocked with hatchery fish. The bag and possession limit for rainbow trout in these lakes is five fish, of which only one may be 20 inches or greater in length. The bag and possession limit for Arctic grayling is five fish, with no size limit.

Don’t forget to purchase your 2021 sport fishing license and king stamp! Help maximize social distancing and purchase your 2021 sport fishing license and king stamp through the ADF&G online store and print it off from the comfort of your own home. Also, make sure to review Emergency Orders and the 2021 Southcentral Sport Fishing Regulations Summary booklet for the area you are fishing before you head out.

For additional information, please contact the ADF&G Palmer Area Office at (907) 746-6300.