Four species that dominate Mat-Su fall fishing

What you need to know:

• Trout, Arctic char, northern pike and grayling offer some of the Mat-Su Valley’s best fall fishing, with opportunities in Parks Highway tributaries, Big Lake, Long Lake and stocked lakes.
• Fish Creek, Jim Creek and Eklutna Tailrace may still produce coho this month, but fishing is increasingly sporadic. Coho harvest remains closed in flowing waters of the Susitna River drainage and the Little Susitna River.
• Overharvest by the federal Cook Inlet drift gillnet fishery may have contributed to poor Mat-Su coho returns. Interested anglers can listen to upcoming fisheries debates featuring candidates for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

From early September until lakes and streams start freezing over, four fish species provide most of the fishing opportunities for anglers in the Mat-Su Valley: Trout, Char, Pike and Grayling.

When I talked with Mike Hudson and Saul Correa at 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle in Wasilla on Tuesday, they pointed to Susitna River tributary streams crossing the Parks Highway as some of the better places to fish in the Mat-Su Valley for those who enjoy flowing waters.

Rainbow trout are generally the most sought-after species and are widespread throughout these streams. Mike mentioned Willow Creek in particular was producing good grayling catches, with some fish in the 18-inch class. The Kashwitna River and Talkeetna River drainages both have some of the better Dolly Varden populations, with fish over 20 inches available.

Look for catchable numbers of northern pike in lakes or slow-water sloughs connected to the Susitna River. By standard regulation, sport fishing throughout flowing waters of the Susitna River drainage is restricted to single-hook artificial lures during the fall and winter beginning Sept. 1.

While the invasive northern pike may be harvested without limit, harvest caps for other resident species are low. These streams are managed conservatively in an effort to maintain healthy populations that can support fishing opportunities throughout the year.

Lake fisheries

For anglers looking for the best harvest opportunities, daily bag limits are significantly larger in most lakes stocked by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. A few lakes and fish species, however, are managed more conservatively to provide a variety of fishing opportunities.

For that reason, anglers should check regulations before fishing or harvesting fish from lakes where they have not fished before. Those interested in catching larger fish or targeting a specific species may also want to seek out locations managed for those purposes.

Lakes with flowing-water outlets are often not stocked by the state and may provide unique opportunities to catch wild resident species. Big Lake falls squarely in this category, with a wild population of Arctic char, a species similar to Dolly Varden. These fish develop brilliant fall spawning colors and grow much larger than most Dolly Varden in the Mat-Su Valley.

Because of their popularity and the desire to maintain sizable fish in the population, Big Lake Arctic char are managed strictly on a catch-and-release basis. They are an extremely popular draw during the fall and winter for anglers looking to catch large fish and take photos with some of the most colorful fish in the Mat-Su.

Big Lake’s northern pike population provides anglers an opportunity to harvest considerably more fish, with no daily limit, and some of the largest pike in the Mat-Su are harvested there. Wild rainbow trout to about 20 inches and burbot are also available, with limited harvest opportunities.

Note: While trout and char are often targeted by Big Lake anglers near spawning groups of salmon, salmon fishing is closed in the lake, and any salmon caught must be released.

Long Lake in the Kepler-Bradley Lake system is popular with fly fishers and managed as catch-and-release. Long Lake at times produces particularly large rainbow trout and can also provide good numbers of fish.

Don’t expect fishing to be good at every location in the lake. Be prepared to spend some time finding the fish before you start catching them.

Most stocked Mat-Su Valley lakes are managed to provide anglers with put-and-take harvest opportunities. In August, a few Mat-Su lakes were stocked with larger rainbow trout averaging about 14 inches.

Mat-Su anglers can get the latest information about which lakes are stocked, along with the species and size of fish. I would suggest narrowing the information by stocking date, area and species stocked.

Mat-Su coho salmon weir counts through Sept. 1:

Fish Creek — 6,052 coho

Jim Creek — 4,726 coho

Little Susitna River — 1,657 coho

Deshka River — No count

September salmon fishing expectations

According to Mike Hudson and state fisheries biologist Samantha Oslund, opportunities to catch and harvest salmon in the Mat-Su Valley are winding down quickly.

Recent coho salmon weir counts at Fish Creek and Jim Creek still indicate a harvestable surplus of salmon migrating upstream. However, anglers are likely to see sporadic fishing this time of year.

For example, after noting that Fish Creek coho weir counts had topped 100 fish each day for the previous week, I made a fishing trip there on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

I fished as the tide came in and stayed until it had already dropped at least a foot. There were approximately eight people fishing at that time from the high-tide mark downstream. I did not see or hear of anyone catching a fish.

I also did not see any salmon surface that looked large enough to be a coho, although I saw a few small circles on the surface that I suspected were pink salmon. Other people saw a few pink salmon, and I talked with one angler who had caught three pink salmon at about 7 a.m., before I arrived.

Later, I saw that 143 coho were counted through the Fish Creek weir on Sept. 1 — the same day I had fished there.

Perhaps those coho migrated upstream earlier in the morning or later in the day. Maybe some were holding below the weir and simply chose to migrate past it on Tuesday.

From a spot-fishing standpoint, however, there appeared to be hardly any coho, if any, migrating through the legal fishing area on the morning incoming tide.

If a person happens to be in the legal fishing area when most of these coho are migrating through, the fishing might be quite good. Just don’t expect a significant number of salmon to move through on every, or even most, high tides at this time of year.

Some of those fish may still be bright chrome and prime for eating. However, expect a significant portion of the available salmon to be getting darker as spawning season approaches.

For anglers wanting to try for salmon — even if fishing may be sporadic and some salmon may need to be released before finding one or two prime chrome fish — Mike Hudson and Samantha Oslund both suggested trying Fish Creek or Jim Creek for coho.

These locations have somewhat later run timing than many other Mat-Su locations. In addition, Samantha Oslund mentioned that people were still catching some coho at Eklutna Tailrace.

State fisheries scientist Gene Sandone told me that in the past he caught coho at Fish Creek into October. A few years ago, I was at Eklutna Tailrace and saw another angler catch an ocean-chrome coho there in October, when most of the fish were quite dark.

I remember another year when my younger brother was catching a few chrome-bright coho near the Jim Creek/Knik River confluence through the end of September.

Similar opportunities may be available this September at these three locations. However, expect it may take quite a bit of fishing to catch a chrome coho at any of them.

Remember also that coho harvest remains closed in flowing waters throughout the Susitna River drainage and is also closed at Little Susitna River.

What went wrong for Susitna River drainage and Little Susitna River coho? 

As reported in the Aug. 6, 2026, column, coho salmon overharvest occurred in the federally managed commercial drift gillnet fishery in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone.

Before July 30, 9,565 coho were harvested from the 16,619-coho Total Allowable Catch (TAC). Then, on Thursday, July 30, the drift gillnet fishery surpassed the coho TAC with an additional one-day harvest of 18,203 coho.

To make matters worse, the federal fishery could not be closed in time to prevent another drift harvest of 8,619 coho from the EEZ on Monday, Aug. 3.

The net result was a 2026 commercial harvest of 36,588 coho salmon from the EEZ — more than double the amount set as the 2026 total allowable catch.

If Mat-Su anglers are concerned about declining Susitna River and Little Susitna River coho salmon returns, this overharvest is an issue that must be addressed in the federal fishery during the upcoming 2027 fall and winter regulatory process.

The consequences of the EEZ overharvest can also be seen in the considerably more conservative Northern Cook Inlet commercial setnet fishery and the Susitna River drainage and Little Susitna River sport coho salmon fisheries, which were first restricted and then closed.

After earlier restrictions reduced the number of nets each permit holder could fish, the Northern District setnet fishery was closed beginning Aug. 6.

That same day, fishing with bait was prohibited and the daily coho salmon limit was cut to one fish in the Susitna River drainage and Little Susitna River sport fisheries.

On Aug. 19, sport harvest of coho salmon was closed in all flowing waters of the Susitna River drainage and Little Susitna River.

Despite having a far greater impact on the more conservative setnet and sport fisheries, these restrictions and closures were too little and too late to counter the EEZ drift overharvest that occurred during two days.

The Little Susitna River coho salmon spawning escapement goal calls for 9,200-17,700 coho upstream of the Little Susitna River Weir. With daily coho counts declining and the scheduled weir project nearly over, it is doubtful that even one-quarter of the 13,450-fish goal midpoint will be counted in 2026.

The Deshka River weir, the state’s primary coho salmon escapement assessment tool for the entire Susitna River drainage, was taken out of operation by floodwaters on July 15. Even without those counts, the state’s severe restrictions and closures in the setnet and sport fisheries show concern that Susitna River drainage coho salmon spawning escapements may be similar to those documented by weir counts at Little Susitna River.

After four years of restrictions, closures and failure to document adequate coho salmon escapements at the state’s sustainable escapement goal levels, it appears Little Susitna River and Deshka River coho salmon stocks should be listed as Stocks of Management Concern.

A suite of more conservative fishery regulations should also be adopted to address these coho salmon stock declines at the Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries meeting scheduled for March 2027.

In addition, legal review and signing of those regulations should occur before the start of the 2027 Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishery season.

Gubernatorial candidates' fisheries debate

The next governor of Alaska will appoint a new Fish and Game commissioner and make future appointments to the Alaska Board of Fisheries. Those appointments will likely help determine whether salmon stocks such as king salmon, the official state fish, and Northern Cook Inlet coho salmon are managed on a sustainable basis or passively managed for continued decline to maximize harvest of other fish species.

Interested voters and Mat-Su anglers may want to watch or listen to the statewide gubernatorial fisheries debate scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 9, 2026.

U.S. House and Senate candidates’ fisheries debate

Alaska’s federal legislative delegation has considerable influence on federal fisheries regulations, as evidenced by the amount of advertising Alaskans are being bombarded with recently.

This debate may provide an opportunity to hear how the candidates describe their efforts to support sustainable fisheries statewide through federal regulation and legislation.

It will be up to voters to determine whether real changes are being proposed or whether it is merely business as usual — perhaps under a different legislative name.

The debate is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 12, 2026.

Writing for Sustainable Fisheries in Which All Alaskans May Participate,

Andy Couch has guided Mat-Su Valley fishing trips for over 40 years and is a member of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee. However, statements and quotes in this column represent specific organizations or individuals only when so noted.