Saturday June 1, 2013
I guided 5 people on the Little Susitna River, and although we did not hook a single king salmon, we watched several moose with new born calves taking some of their first steps along the river. We also watched trumpeter swans, bald eagles, and and some ducks as we fished different holes up and down the river. We inquired at the weir and learned that in addition to the 2 king salmon that had been passed earlier, 3 sockeye salmon had also passed through as of Saturday. The Little Susitna River is high and murky with the amount of debris floating down river increasing as the day went on. The water was high enough that the Department of Fish and Game salmon counting weir was completely under water in the main section spanning the river –and had been underwater since Thursday. With the past couple days of cooler weather I expect the high run off flow on Little Susitna River to at least stabilize over the next few days, but at this point according to the USGS water chart, the river will likely maintain high flow volumes for several days — and perhaps, for a week or more. High water volumes are likely making it more difficult to catch what few fish are present, but according to average run timings the number of king salmon passing both Little Susitna River and Deshka River weirs should start climbing rapidly over the next week or 10 days.
A borough road crew was adding gravel to Little Susitna River Access Road through the mud holes that had been so horrendous a week earlier, and the drive to the boat launch was smooth and uneventful — despite two Borough Road Maintenance signs along the road which proclaimed, “Proceed at Your Own Risk.”
June 2, 2013 — I had a day off.
June 3, 2013 — FIRST KING SALMON BOATED
I guided a morning group of 3 guests who did not see or hook a king salmon — the group fished with K14 and K15 Kwikfish, and a orange Spin-n-glo. On the morning trip we saw a couple of moose, a sandhill crane, a couple muskrats, and the usual ducks and bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, each of whom hooked a king salmon, and two of whom caught king salmon. Two fish were hooked on silver and blue Magnum Wiggle Warts, and one king salmon was hooked on a metallic magenta Magnum Wiggle Wart. The king salmon that were caught weighed 34 and 23 pounds, the king salmon that shook loose beside the boat looked to be about 10 pounds. During the afternoon trip we saw some bald eagles, moose, and waterfowl. At this point, I do not have charters scheduled for the next two days so it may be a few days before our next Alaska Fishing Report.
June 5, 2013
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, one of whom caught and released a rainbow trout on a K14 Kwikfish. Another member of the group briefly hooked, but then lost a king salmon on a K14 Kwikfish. The group also casted Vibrax and Flashtrap Spinners and Magnum Wiggle Warts with no bites. We talked with two other groups of boaters who had landed one king salmon per boat.
June 6, 2013
I guided a morning group of 3 guests, one of whom briefly hooked, but lost a king salmon on a #6 Silver / Purple Vibrax Spinner. I also saw king salmon roll 5 times during the trip, and we watched two other boats of anglers land one king salmon per boat. We also saw another boat of anglers loose a king salmon near the boat. Not a whole lot of action for us, but the number of fish arriving is starting to pick up and I expect to catch something tomorrow. Check back in the evening to see how we do.
Friday June 7, 2013
I guided a group of 3 guests, 1 of whom caught and released a small king salmon, and another of whom hooked and briefly battled a nice-sized ( 20 – 30 lb) king salmon before it managed to pull loose. The group had 3 bites, two bites on K14 Kwikfish and one bite on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. In addition one guest also fished a #6 silver / purple Vibrax Spinner without drawing a strike. Water levels continue to drop, and we enjoyed a beautiful sunny day. Both the guests and I saw a fox along the road as we drove in separate vehicles to the landing this morning. During the trip we saw the usual bald eagles, arctic terns, beavers, and assorted ducks. I’m scheduled to guide two trips for each of the next couple days and will post results when I can.
Saturday June 8,
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught king salmon. The kings weighed from 18 – 22 pounds and two were caught on Spin-N=Glos and one was caught on a K15 Kwikfish. During the trip the group also saw two cow moose each with one calf.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon of 18 pounds on a Spin-n-glo. One other group member also hooked but lost a king salmon on a Spin-N-Glo.
Sunday June 9
i guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom hooked a king salmon, but only 3 of whom caught king salmon. The king salmon ranged in weight form 16 – 27 pounds. Two of the fish were caught on K15 Kwikfish and the other one was caught on a Spin-N-Glo. Weather over the entire weekend was picture perfect blue skies, sunny, and warm. Check back Monday evening for the next update.
Monday June 10
Guided 2 anglers who did not hook any fish this morning. Guided 4 anglers this afternoon one of whom caught a rainbow trout and hooked and lost a king salmon on K15 Kwikfish.
Tuesday June 11
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, one of whom caught a small king salmon on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. Two other members of the group also briefly hooked but lost fish.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 people and although we saw several king salmon rolling where we were fishing, the anglers were unable to hook even a single fish. Water is warming up and the fish were mostly not interested in biting. We did see a few other anglers catch king salmon.
Wednesday June 12
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, who caught 3 king salmon. One small king salmon was caught on a Vibrax Spinner and released. One of the two keepers was caught on a #6 Vibrax Spinner and the other was caught on a K14 Kwikfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, one of whom caught and released a rainbow trout on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. A second guests hooked and brought a jack king salmon to the boat before it shook loose from the hook. For the group fished hard, but could not draw any more strikes. We saw several king salmon rolling around the boat, and tried a variety of lures without success.
Thursday June 13
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, and although we fished lots of good water, no one managed to hook a king salmon. We also did not see many king salmon on this trip.
Friday June 14
I guided a morning group of 3 guests and we spent the entire time casting near the Deshka River mouth, and one guest managed to get a couple bites, but never managed to hook the fish. There were very few king salmon being hooked by other boaters on this morning, but we did see 5 king salmon get caught.
Saturday June 15
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, two of whom caught king salmon. One king salmon was caught on a K15 Kwikfish and one king salmon was caught on a Beau Mac Spinning Cheater.
I took family and friends fishing in the afternoon, and one of them caught a 28 pound king salmon on a Beau Mac Spinning Cheater. Two other king salmon were also hooked on the same lure, and another king salmon was hooked on a K14 Kwikfish, but all of them got pulled free before we could bring them to the boat. I will be fishing again tomorrow, and should have a report posted in the evening.
June 16, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon, although one of the king salmon was small and turned loose. Two king salmon were caught on Beau Mac Spinning Cheaters, 1 king salmon was caught on a K15 Kwikfish, and 1 king salmon was caught on a #6 Vibrax Spinner.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, one of whom caught a nice king salmon on a Beau Mac Spinning Cheater. Two other guests had good bites, but did not manage to hook the fish. In addition on our afternoon charter we saw several moose along the river, including one that stood right on the edge of the river and allowed us to get close for some pictures. I will be guiding two trips again on Monday, and should have a new report posted on Monday evening.
Monday June 17, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Spinning Cheater. 3 of the 4 group members had a strike they were unable to hook. One of the group members also landed a snagged king salmon which we released.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon while casting with a #5 Silver / Black Flashtrap Spinner. We also saw a young bull moose along the river on our trip back to the landing. I will be fishing again tomorrow and hope to have a report posted later in the day.
Tuesday June 18, 2013
I guided a group of 4 people who got a few bites, but caught no king salmon. We fished mostly spinners and one Magnum Wiggle Wart during the trip. We saw several other groups of people fishing, but did not see anyone land a fish today. There were quite a few king salmon rolling, but not biting in the warm water. On the trip back to the landing we saw a cow moose with a young calf along the river that allowed us to approach quite close, before they meandered off into the brush. Check back late tomorrow for another update.
Wednesday June 19, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, and no one caught a king salmon. We saw king salmon rolling around our boat for a good part of our trip, but could not manage to hook any of them.
I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests, one of whom hooked a king salmon, but the fish ran into our boat and immediately came off the hook, once again we saw plenty of king salmon rolling, but could not manage to get many bites.
Thursday June 20, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 people, 2 of whom caught king salmon. A third person hooked but lost a king salmon. The fish were caught on a #5 Silver/Chartruese Flashtrap Spinner and a Vibrax Spinner.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 people and 2 of them caught king salmon. All 4 of the anglers hooked a king salmon. All of the fish were hooked on #6 Vibrax Spinners. I hope to have my next fishing report update posted on Friday afternoon. Check back to see if better fishing continues.
Friday June 21, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. All of the king salmon were caught on #6 Silver blade / purple body Vibrax Spinners. 1 guest caught his king salmon on his first cast — the first time that has happened for us while casting lures this year. 3 guests kept their king salmon, and the 4th guest released his king salmon, but was unable to catch another larger one like he was hoping for. Cooler weather has definitely been helping our guests get more strikes and land more king salmon the past couple days. I will be very busy guiding trips over the coming weekend — but will attempt to get fishing reports posted as time allows.
Saturday June 22, 2013
I fished with 4 people in the morning who caught 3 king salmon. All 3 king salmon were caught on Beau Mac Spinning Cheaters. In addition, we had one other bite that was briefly hooked but pulled loose.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a K15 Kwikfish and 3 king salmon were caught on a #2 Spin-n-glo.
Sunday June 23, 2013
I guided a morning group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. The group caught king salmon on a Vibrax Spinnner, a Flashtrap Spinner, a K15 Kwikfish, and #2 Spin-N-Glo. During the trip some members of the group saw a moose along the river.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. All 5 king salmon were caught on #2 Spin- N-Glos. I’ll be busy tomorrow, so the next fishing report update will likley be late or the following day.
Monday June 24, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters and 2 king salmon were caught on #2 Spin-N-Glos.
I guided an afternoon trip of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. One king salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart, and 3 king salmon were caught on #2 Spin-N-Glos. I am scheduled to guide two more groups tomorrow, so check back in the evening for the latest fishing report update.
Tuesday June 25, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom hooked but lost a king salmon and the another of whom caught a king salmon which was snagged and had to be released. We fished on plenty of rolling king salmon, but simply could not coax them to bite.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon, but it was snagged in the back so we turned it loose. As in the morning trip we saw plenty of king salmon at several spots we stopped to fish, but we simply could not coax them into biting. Other people on the river seemed to be having mostly the same type luck. The Deshka River is in serious need of a large cooling rain or several days of cooler weather to allow the water to cool down. The weir count is getting close to 8,000 king salmon, but needs to reach a minimum goal of 13,000.
Friday June 28, 2013
I guided a morning group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. All 3 king salmon were caught by casting with #5 Flashtrap Spinners. Two fish were caught on the silver / black pattern and 1 king salmon was caught on chartreuse / silver. The group also saw several eagles and a moose during the trip.
I guided an afternoon trip of 5 guests, 4 of whom caught king salmon and one angler also caught a king salmon jack. Two adult king salmon were caught on a #5 chartreuse / silver Flashtrap Spinner and two adult king salmon were caught on a #6 silver / purple Vibrax Spinner. The jack king salmon was caught on a #5 pink Flashtrap Spinner. The group also watched several bald eagles during the trip. Cool weather over the past couple days definitely helped us get more bites — although the river water still seems warm. Additional cool weather is in the forecast, so I expect better catch rates will continue.
DESHKA RIVER OPENS TO BAIT FISHING— Alaska Department of Fish & Game announced by Emergency Order today that the Deshka River will open to the use of bait and multiple hooks at 6 a.m. on Saturday June 29. I expect this will increase harvest rates for Deshka RIver king salmon surplus to spawning escapement needs.
Saturday June 29, 2013
I guided a morning group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater, 1 king salmon was caught on a K15 Kwikfish, and 1 king salmon was caught on a #2 Spin-N=Glo.
I guided an afternoon trip of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. All 4 king salmon were caught on a #2 Spin-N-Glo.
Sunday June 30, 2013
I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater, and 3 king salmon were caught on #2 Spin-N-Glos.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a K14 Kwikfish, and 3 king salmon were caught on #2 Spin-N-Glos.
Check out our July 2013 Alaska Fishing Reports for the next update.