Where to find August coho in Mat-Su

What you need to know:

• Fish Creek and Jim Creek are the top local spots for coho heading into the last weekend of August, with solid numbers of silvers passing their weirs. Cottonwood Creek and Rabbit Slough/Wasilla Creek are also options.
• Coho fishing remains restricted in the Susitna River drainage and Little Susitna River, where anglers must use artificial lures and immediately release coho under emergency regulations. Anglers are increasingly targeting rainbow trout and grayling instead.
• Salmon opportunities remain elsewhere as the season winds down, including coho fishing on the Kenai River and at Valdez and personal-use sockeye and coho fishing at Chitina.
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When I talked with Alaska Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist Samantha Oslund early this week, Fish Creek and Jim Creek topped her list of local coho fisheries. Both had solid numbers of silvers past their weirs, she said, and fishing had been good during the past week.

Oslund also suggested two other Knik Arm prospects for the last weekend of August: Cottonwood Creek and Rabbit Slough/Wasilla Creek.

Cottonwood Creek and Rabbit Slough/Wasilla Creek are open to salmon fishing Saturdays and Sundays from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Jim Creek is also open Wednesday through Sunday. The lower end of Fish Creek is open daily. Bait remains legal at all four locations, and anglers may harvest three salmon per day, including no more than two coho.

Eklutna Tailrace

Anglers continue to catch some coho salmon at this easily accessible fishery off the Old Glenn Highway across from the Eklutna Power Plant. The site has two large parking areas, with outhouses at the lower lot closer to the river. A fish-cleaning table is just downstream from the tailrace/Knik River confluence, and a footbridge crosses the tailrace at the lower parking lot.

The Knik River side channel below Eklutna Tailrace is the only location in Mat-Su Valley waters where anglers may currently harvest a three-salmon bag limit, all of which may be coho. Based on my recent experience guiding salmon anglers there, the number of salmon appears to have dropped significantly during the past week.

Fishing in the Knik River below the tailrace is also negatively affected by rain events that raise and muddy the river. This fishery remains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Emergency Regulations Continue in Susitna River Drainage and Little Susitna River

These major Mat-Su Valley boat-fishing locations remain restricted to artificial lures, and any coho salmon caught must be released immediately under emergency orders issued Aug. 17.

Those regulations dramatically decreased the number of anglers pursuing silvers at these locations. Oslund said visitors to the Palmer state fish and game office have mostly shifted from anglers to hunters this week.

Although these fisheries are now restricted to artificial lures and coho salmon must be released, late August is prime time for catching coho salmon in the Talkeetna River drainage and other upper Susitna River tributary streams, as mentioned in last week’s column.

Oslund also said Susitna River drainage anglers have been shifting to rainbow trout and grayling in tributary streams north of Willow. Trout and grayling fishing, however, can be negatively affected when significant rainfall raises and muddies the tributary streams.

More Susitna River drainage fisheries will be restricted to single-hook artificial lures starting Sept. 1. Check the regulations for the location where you intend to fish.

Mat-Su Salmon Weirs

Although floodwaters have caused problems at several Mat-Su Valley salmon-counting projects in 2026, these weir projects are valuable public resources that provide some of the best available information for managing Mat-Su Valley salmon fisheries.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission has worked with Mat-Su Valley legislators for several years to secure adequate funding for these projects.

Under stable water conditions, weirs allow each salmon passing upstream to be identified by species. Other counting methods, such as sonar or aerial counts, may be less accurate in identifying species or may fail to count a larger portion of the salmon migrating upstream.

For these reasons, it is essential that funding for Mat-Su weir projects continue and that money not used this year for specific projects affected by floodwaters remain available for those projects in the future.

Status of Mat-Su Salmon Counting Projects Through Aug. 23, 2026

Fish Creek — 138,743 sockeye and 4,185 coho tallied.
Jim Creek — 3,872 coho and 1,297 sockeye tallied.
Larson Lake — 19,230 sockeye tallied. Project ended Aug. 21.
Judd Lake — 13,857 sockeye tallied. Project ended Aug. 21.
Little Susitna River — 689 kings, 1,494 coho, 579 sockeye, 5,902 chum and 545 pinks tallied.
Deshka River — 6,687 kings, no coho and one chum tallied before the project was terminated July 15 because of flooding.
Chelatna Lake — No sockeye tallied. The weir could not be installed in 2026 because of persistent high water.
Lake Creek Sonar — 1,899 kings tallied through July 11.

Although some Mat-Su salmon counts were incomplete or could not be conducted because of high water, the data obtained were valuable in making science-based salmon management decisions during the 2026 season.

For example, weir data led to multiple liberalizations at Fish Creek. The Little Susitna River and Susitna River drainage coho restrictions also were based in part on weir counts and other available information. Although restrictions have been painful, they can be necessary to rebuild and maintain Mat-Su salmon returns.

Road Trip Salmon Harvest Opportunities

Kenai River Coho

I was able to harvest some of these later-running coho on two days during the past week. Bait remains legal in the lower Kenai River, and the limit is two coho per day. The bag limit is scheduled to increase to three coho per day starting Sept. 1.

Valdez Coho

Every year, Mat-Su anglers travel to Valdez to catch coho from boats or the beach. Fishing at Allison Point within a couple of hours before or after high tide is a common practice among successful beach anglers. Expect some of the season’s best coho fishing in Valdez through Labor Day weekend, especially from the beach.

Chitina Personal Use Sockeye and Coho

The fishery is open from noon Friday, Aug. 28, through noon Sunday, Aug. 30, then from Sept. 1-30. This is a beautiful time of year to visit the Chitina fishery, but dip netters should plan to be self-sufficient because few other dip netters or river users may be around.

Many salmon may be dark, but chrome sockeye and coho are also available, so dip netters may want to be selective about what they harvest.

Note: Steelhead may be present but must be released if caught. A sport fishing license and household Chitina personal use permit are required to participate.

With salmon harvest opportunities winding down quickly and many Mat-Su anglers soon shifting to other activities, I expect the Sept. 3 Mat-Su Anglers column may be my last regular weekly fishing column of 2026. After that, I’ll see you again next summer!

Good luck and fish on!

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