August 2015 Alaska Fishing Reports

August is our best month for catching silver salmon,  with consistent action through out the entire month.   Significant rain can sometimes change fishing conditions during August.   August 6 is the first day of bait fishing by normal regulation on the Little Susitna River, but at times we may fish other locations for August silver salmon as well.    During the month we will also catch some chum salmon, pink salmon, a few rainbow trout, and  an occasional sockeye salmon.

Saturday August 1 — I guided a morning group of 5 guests,  who caught 6 silver salmon and 3 chum salmon while casting with Flashtrap Spinners.  During the trip we saw some bald eagles.  The river was very busy with boats and anglers in the morning.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught limits of silver salmon on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.   In addition one guest caught a chum salmon.  During the trip we saw several bald eagles.

Sunday August 2 — I fished with a morning group of 4 guests and we ended up one silver salmon short of everyone catching a limit of silver salmon.   All of the fish were caught by casting with #5 Flashtrap Spinners.    I’m working on a boat in the afternooon.

Monday August 3 — I guided a morning group of 3 guests who caught 3 silver salmon and also reeled in 1 silver salmon which I hooked.   All of the fish were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.   While we fished over good numbers of salmon the entire trip, we had trouble getting many to bite.

I guided an afternoon group of 6 guests, who caught 3 silver salmon and 2 chum salmon on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.   Once again we saw quite a few salmon where we were fishing, but could not get many to bite.   Water level is dropping below normal levels once again and the salmon continue to migrate quickly and are spooky.   We are hopeful fishing will improve with the opening of the bait fishery on August 6.  During the trip we spotted a moose wading out in the river below where we were fishing.

August 4 —  I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a limit of coho salmon and 1 of whom caught 1 coho salmon.   All of the fish were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.  We fished over several groups of fish, but only had a limited number of bites in the morning.  During the trip we saw a bald eagle.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, who caught 5 coho salmon on #5 Flashtrap Spinners.   It was very hot and sunny and difficult getting bites in the afternoon.

August 5 — I guided a morning group of 2 guests, 1 of whom harvested 2 silver salmon and a chum salmon, and the other of whom harvested 1 chum salmon.   All of the fish were caught on Flashtrap Spinners.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, who caught 6 coho salmon.  1 of the salmon was caught on a black and white Dahli Lama fly and the other 5 salmon were caught on Flashtrap Spinners.  During the trip the group saw a cow moose with a calf and another single cow moose.  During the hot days we’ve been having the moose sometimes seem to like to get in the water during the afternoon — perhaps to cool off.

August 6 — 1st day of bait on the Little Susitna River and limit increased to 3 silver salmon.   My morning group cancelled out – so I got extra sleep.

I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, who caught 5 coho salmon and a chum salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   We saw plenty of other salmon on the trip, but they were reluctant biters.  One guest also caught a large king salmon which was immediately released.

August 7 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests who harvested 16 silver salmon on FIre Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   The group also caught and released 5 king salmon and a pink salmon.

I guided an afternoon group of 3 anglers who caught 5 silver salmon and a chum salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.  One king salmon was also caught and immediately released.

August 8 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.   The river was crowded on what will likely be the busiest weekend of the season.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of who caught a limit of silver salmon, and 1 of whom caught a large king salmon which we immediately released.  We saw lots of salmon, but after the morning of intense fishing we could not convince very many salmon to bite in the locations we tried in the afternoon.

August 9 — I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests who caught 7 silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.   The fishing was good for a weekend afternoon, and the group may have limited on silver salmon if they had all kept fishing for the full trip, but they decided to go back early.    Everyone seemed to have  a good time.

I had the morning off to get caught up on sleep and work around the house.        The coming week will also be busy with guided fishing trips.

August 10 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests, 5 of whom limited on silver salmon and 1 of whom was 1 silver salmon shy of catching a limit.   All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

August 11 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.  During the trip we saw one mature bald eagle.

I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 3 of whom caught a limit of silver salmon, and 2 of whom were 1 silver salmon short of a limit.   All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

August 12 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.   In addition we also released a few small and or dark silver salmon before keeping limits.

Later in the day I wrote my weekly fishing column for hte Frontiersmaan Newspaper.

August 13 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests who caught 16 silver salmon, 3 chum salmon, and 1 king salmon.    All of the fish were caught on FIre Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   This group also caught a couple chum salmon and a pink salmon which they released.  During the trip we saw a mature bald eagle flying by.

August 14 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a limit of silver salmon, and 1 of whom caught 2 silver salmon.   All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.   The river was very busy with other boaters and anglers this morning, and we did not happen to land on any large bunch of fish that were biting.   Instead the group managed to catch a few fish out of several places.

August 15  — I guided a morning group of 6 guests who caught 16 silvers and on FIre Cued salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, who kept 6 silver salmon salmon that they caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.   It was raining and the group decided to quit a bit early or they may have caught a few more salmon as well.

August 16  I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 4 silver salmon and 2 chum salmon by drifting FIre Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.   There had been lots of pressure on the river during the morning, and were still lots of vehicles in the parking lot and boats on the river when I arrived for the afternoon trip.   We had some additional strikes and fish on the line which we were unable to get, but it seemed we had to scratch for every bite.   Still a good trip with some fine guests.

August 17 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests, who caught and harvested 16 silver salmon and 1 chum salmon.   All of the fish were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   During the trip we also saw a bald eagle and several spawning king salmon.

I guided an afternoon group of 6 guests, who caught 13 silver salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.  We had to scratch around and fish several holes in both the morning and afternoon in order to catch the salmon.   several of the silver salmon we caught during the trip had gill net marks on them.

August 18 — I fished with 3 family members in the morning and we each caught a limit of silver salmon by drifting FIre Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.  During the trip we saw a bull moose and a mink.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, and although we went to lots of prime holes and covered plenty  of water they had very few bites and caught a single silver salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

August 19 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 9 silver salmon and a chum salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 6 silver salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon eggs under ESB Bobbers.

August 20 — I wrote my Frontiersman Fishing column in the morning, guided an afternoon fishing trip in the afternoon, and attending a Mat-Su Borough FIsh and Wildlife Commission meeting in the evening.

I guided 3 people in the afternoon who caught 4 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   During the trip we saw a couple different bald eagles.

August 21 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests who caught 13 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests who caught 8 silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

August 22 —  I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 11 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 anglers who caught 1 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   There was a good number of boaters out fishing some of the spots that had been producing well for us in the afternoon, and consequently we did not get many bites.

August 23 — I guided a morning group of 3 people who all limited on silver salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 10 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.

August 24 — I guided a morning group of 2 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon buy drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

I took 2 people fishing in the afternoon, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon by drifting FIre Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.

The number of silver salmon available is dropping off — however, we have still been catching  nice-sized chrome fish — and we have a considerable amount of availability starting on Wednesday through the rest of the week.   Call us at 907-746-2199 if you would like to join us on one of our silver salmon trips.

August 25 — I wrote my newspaper column and drove over to the Eklutna Tailrace.   I saw a few salmon rolling at the Tailrace and casted a Flashtrap Spinner for about 2 hours, but did not hook any fish nor did I see anyone else hook a salmon while I was there.   This fishery looks quite a bit slower than it was last year at this time.

August 26 — I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, who harvested 10 silver salmon.  8 of the salmon were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB bobbers, and 2 of the salmon were caught by casting #5 Flashtrap Spinner.

August 27 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests who caught 4 silver salmon and 1 sockeye salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.  It was a scratchy morning for us as the group did not get a lot of bites — even though we fished lots of prime spots — and certainly more spots than I have been fishing on most of my recent trips.  We saw both a muskrat and a beaver during the trip.

I took 3 family members fishing in the afternoon and we each caught a limit of silver salmon.   7 fish were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers and the other salmon were caught on Flashtrap Spinners.

August 28 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon.  4 of the fish harvested were caught on #5 Flashtrap Spinners, the other 8 were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.  During the morning trip we saw a mature bald eagle and a muskrat.

August 29 — I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon.  5 silver salmon were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers, and 7 silver salmon were caught by casting with Flashtrap Spinners.  During the trip we saw a pair of mink along the bank and a bald eagle.

August 30 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests who harvested 9 silver salmon and released a few others.   All of the full-sized salmon were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers.   One guest also caught a jack silver salmon on a Flashtrap Spinner.   It was a cool windy morning on the water, but we had most of the river to ourselves.     The guests caught some nice chrome fish, but also a mixture of darker fish.

If you are looking for a charter during the coming week, we currently have good availability through Labor Day September 7 —- Feel welcome go give us a call and we can talk about times we have available and what you could expect from one of our trip during the first week of September.   We currently have more trips available than what shows on our reservation system.     907-746-2199

August 31 — I spent my day working around the house.   *** See September 2015 Alaska Fishing Reports for the nest update.***