June is the peak month for catching king salmon at most Mat-Su Valley fishing locations. In 2016 we’ve scheduled most of our king salmon trips for the Deshka and Little Susitna River where guests have the opportunity to keep king salmon. At Deshka River anglers may harvest king salmon 7 days per week. while on Little Susitna River anglers may harvest king salmon on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays of each week.
June 1, 2016 — Today was the opening day of bait fishing on the Deshka River. I fished with with 5 friends in the morning and each of us caught a king salmon while drifting salmon roe cured with Pautzke’s Fire Cure and drifted under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we saw numerous bald eagles and a bull moose that came out to feed beside the river. We also saw a lone young calf moose as we were boating up the river looking for a spot to fish.
I guided 4 friends in the afternoon, each of whom caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. Being able to use bait has made a huge difference in out success rate, but I also know that bait was even more effective today — when the salmon in the river had not been fished with bait up until today. During the afternoon trip one of my guests spotted a cow moose with small twin calves along the river. Once again we saw numerous eagles along with plenty of ducks.
JUNE 2, 2016 — I guided a group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. Bites were more difficult to come by than on the first day of bait, but everyone managed to get a few. During the trip we saw and heard a plethora of bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. Even with bait, bites were more difficult to get in the afternoon, and everyone did not get a chance to hook a fish. We covered lots of water, but only found a few king salmon willing to strike. During the trip we once again saw plenty of bald eagles and enjoyed some warm sunny weather.
June 3, 2016 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a jack king salmon and also hooked, but lost a larger king salmon both on a Spinning Cheater. During the trip we fished lots of water, but did not see or feel much for fish. On the drive to the river, one of the guests saw 4 moose along the road to the landing.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, and one of them briefly hooked but lost a king salmon on a Spinning Cheater. A couple members of the group also had fish bump their line or lures, but never give a definite bite. During the trip we saw several king salmon surface, but were never able to draw a strike where we saw the fish. While returning to the landing we saw a sleek looking bull moose along the river.
June 4, 2016 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish and 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater. In addition another guest hooked but lost a king salmon on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. On the way to the river before the trip I saw a moose along the road and a fox crossing the road at another location.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart, and 2 king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters. During the afternoon trip all of us saw a single cow moose and another cow moose with twin calves.
June 5, 2016 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon. One king salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart and one king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater. Driving home after the trip I saw two large moose feeding in an opening beside the road.
June 6, 2016 — I took my wife and 3 friends fishing and they caught 2 king salmon and a king salmon jack. 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish and 1 king salmon and the jack were caught on a Spinning Cheater. It was a cold wet trip, but we had some other action and simply lost the fish before we could land them.
June 7 – I guided a morning group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. All of the fish were caught while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we also saw a moose and a beaver along the river along with a plethora of bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. We once again saw lots of bald eagles along the river.
June 8 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests and the water was up and flowing fast. We had to work a bit more to catch fish today, but each of my guests caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.
Rather than guide an afternoon trip, I towed a boat in for some work, made two boat test runs, did a bit of boat work myself, and wrote my weekly column for the Frontiersman Newspaper in the Mat-Su Valley.
June 9 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we saw a beaver and lots of bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon, and 1 of whom caught a rainbow trout. All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. During the afternoon trip we saw a moose down feeding along and wading in the river and also saw lots of bald eagles.
June 10 — I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 4 of whom caught a king salmon and one guest also caught a sockeye salmon before catching her king salmon. Two other individuals caught jack king salmon before landing their larger king salmon. The sockeye salmon and 1 king salmon were caught on a Kwikfish. 2 king salmon were caught on a Spinning Cheater. 1 king salmon and 1 jack salmon were caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. 1 jack king salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 3 king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters and 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish.
June 11 — I guided a morning group of 5 anglers, each of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters and 3 king salmon were caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. We also heard and saw some sandhill cranes during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish and 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater. During the trip we also rescued a calf moose that was stuck in the water and could not make it up a steep bank.
June 12 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. All 3 salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon — and one of those 3 also caught a sockeye salmon before catching his king salmon. The sockeye salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. 1 king salmon wa caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish, 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater, and 1 king salmon was caught on a Spin – N – Glo.
June 13 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Spinning Cheater and 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. We fished lot of places with fish that seemed uninterested in biting on the morning trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters, 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. In addition we also had more bites in the afternoon.
June 14 — I guided a morning group of 5 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. We saw lots of bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, and the difference was amazing. Even though there were lots of salmon in the river, and we covered plenty of water we were unable to hook a single salmon in the afternoon. Water is dropping.
June 15 — I guided a group of 5 people in the morning, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we saw a moose crossing the river in front of us and lots of bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon. That one fish was the only king salmon we were able to hook in the afternoon. Water is low and clear, and the weather has been warm.
June 16 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon — although the first couple fish were released. Two guests ended up keeping larger king salmon, and also of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. There were many more boats than good places to fish along the river this morning and plenty of boats driving through the holes looking for a place to fish. Seemed to be plenty of fish in the river. Water continues to drop so boating is becoming more difficult. We saw the usual plethora of bald eagles during the trip.
My job this afternoon involved taking a nap to catch up on sleep — changing oil in my boat, and getting gear ready to go for more fishing, posting this report.
June 17 — I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 4 of whom caught king salmon, 3 of which were rather small. 1 king salmon were caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish, 3 king salmon were caught on Kwikfish, 2 kings salmon were caught on Spinning Cheaters. Driving to the river before the trip I saw two young bull moose near the road.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish. In addition the group had a few other light bites, but was unable to hook any other fish. During the trip we saw a few fish roll, and fished near them, but could not draw any good strikes.
June 18 — Guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon that he released. The salmon was caught on a Kwikfish. We fished lots of beautiful water, and although we found a few fish we only had the one solid bite. We did see a moose along the river, and plenty of others out looking to catch a salmon as well.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. Both salmon were caught on the same Mag lip Flatfish. One guest also hooked 3 other salmon on the same Flatfish. Aside from that lure on the afternoon trip we had not other bites. It was a good trip and we once again fished plenty of prime water.
June 19– I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish. Another guest hooked 1 king salmon on a Spinning Cheater and 1 king salmon on a Magnum Wiggle Wart, but we were unable to land both fish. We saw plenty of other people fishing and plenty of rain today.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on a Spin-n-glo and 1 kings salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. In addition another king salmon was hooked but lost on a Magnum Wiggle Wart. Plenty more rain in the afternoon and the last member of the group decided to quite a bit early.
June 20– I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 3 smallish king salmon were caught on Kwikfish, but only two were kept. Another king salmon was lost right at the boat after striking a Mag Lip Flatfish as it was retrieved near the boat. Fishing pressure was light in the morning.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught nice sized king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish and 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish. The group also hooked, but lost 2 additional king salmon. FIshing pressure was light in the afternoon.
June 21 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a nice king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under an ESB Bobber. There were other boats and people fishing most of the holes in the morning and we only had a few other bites.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe dried under ESB Bobbers. Other guest also hooked 2 king salmon on Flashtrap Spinners, but lost them both before we had a chance to net them. During both trips we saw plenty of bald eagles.
June 22– I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we saw lots of bald eagles and a cow moose with twin calves.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. We had a few additional chances at king salmon, but were unable to get them anywhere near the boat.
June 23 — I fished with 3 Pautzke Bait Company guests this morning, and each of us caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe that had been soaked in Pautzke’s Nectar. We drifted the baits under ESB Bobbers and had quick results. Chris Schaffer took plenty of pictures that may be used in a future Pautzke’s Fire Blog article. Nothing posted yet — but if interested you could check the following blog spot in the future: http://www.pautzke.com/fire-blog/ Don’t know the timeline, as Chris is presently on a whirlwind fishing tour in Alaska. We saw quite a few immature bald eagles during the trip — but no success spotting one or more moose that the group was hopeful of seeing.
June 24 — I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Spin-n-glos and 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 6 guests, 3 of whom caught a king salmon. I king salmon was caught on a Spin-n-glo, I king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish, and 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish.
June 25 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Spin -n-glo, and 1 king salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart.
I guide an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Magnum Wiggle Wart, and 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. Part of the afternoon group spotted a moose while driving to the river before the trip.
June 26 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught and released a smaller king salmon and also caught and kept a larger king salmon. Both of those fish were caught on a Spin -N-Glo. During the trip a second guest caught a jack king salmon on a Flashtrap Spinner.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Kwikfish. A second angler hooked but lost a king salmon on a Mag Lip Flatfish — when a split ring and hook pulled free from the lure.
June 27 — I guided a group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 2 king salmon were caught on Flashtrap Spinners and 1 king salmon was caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a Spin-N-Glo. During the trip we saw a bald eagle close along the river and some eagles soaring as well.
June 28 — I had the day off from guiding trips — but worked on curing salmon roe for bait, took my truck in for maintenance / repair, and did some research for my weekly newspaper fishing column. I’ve got to get my boat ready for tomorrow’s trips as I’ll be guiding and posting a fishing report again tomorrow.
July 29 — I guided a morning group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught one smallish king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. The 3rd guest had a few bites, but action was slow and he never hooked a fish. We saw a good number of bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, and the same guest had the only two bites during the trip. He managed to hook and land a sucker — and that was the only thing we hooked during the trip. We saw a few small looking king salmon roll, and we saw the usual collection of bald eagles. We also saw and heard a beaver as it was working near where we were fishing.
June 30 — I guided a morning group of 2 guests, 1 of whom caught a nice king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under an ESB Bobber. While driving to the river my guests saw a moose along the road — and I saw 3 moose along the road. While on the trip we saw a cow moose and twin calves crossing the river. We also saw some bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests and although we spent the entire trip drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB bobbers, we were unable to hook up a single salmon. We saw only a few salmon roll, and were working the same holes many others had already fished. During the trip we saw plenty of bald eagles.
For the next update Look for a new July 2016 Alaska Fishing Reports
At this point our guiding schedule is mostly booked through July 9th.