Valley lakes +++

Trout, grayling, landlocked salmon, pike

Record rainfall Wednesday will guarantee high water in rivers and creeks, making lakes a good option over the next few days. Loon, Diamond and West Beaver lakes have rainbows. Irene and Carpenter have char.

Willow area lakes +++

Trout, char, grayling, pike

Mile 180 and Seventeen-mile lakes have char. Pike are getting more active in Nancy Lake canoe system. Got a yen for big pike? Fly in to Alexander Lake.

Sheep Creek +++

Rainbows

Expect high water, but beneath flood stage. Silver run had been shaping up as a good one. Egg-hungry trout may be lurking upstream.

Montana Creek ++

Silver salmon, trout, grayling

Murky, high water likely, but the silvers are in. Catch-and-release-only fishing for rainbow trout and grayling.

Little Susitna River +++

Silver, Pink, chum salmon, rainbows

Crowd expected here Friday when bait is allowed for the first time. Bag limit is two fish, and fishing can build into September. Chum and pink salmon are also being taken.

Willow Creek ++

Silver salmon, rainbows, grayling

High water could prove problematic, but silvers are making their way upstream. Rainbow trout fishing has been good, but trout caught downstream of the Parks Highway must be released.

Jim Creek +++

Red and silver salmon

Good fishing at the mouth for silvers and reds, but you may have to deal with both crowds and the occasional snagger. Several hundred anglers typically show up on weekends. Bag limit is three salmon, two of which can be silvers.

Eklutna Tailrace +++

Silver salmon

Probably the best fishing of the year here as silvers make their way back. Limit is three salmon. Bait and multiple hooks are legal. Vibrax or pink No. 4 Mepps spinners have proven productive. Cured roe has been handy too. Beware of a sow with cubs -- and without much fear of humans -- wandering the area.

Rabbit Slough, Cottonwood Cr. +++

Silver salmon

Expect good fishing at both small waterways. A strong silver run has allowed Fish and Game to expand the weekend-only fisheries to Monday. Beware: Fishing limited to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. You may be ticketed if you linger.

Fish Creek +++

Strong silver return pegged at 1,462 so far by the river's weir has allowed biologists to open fishery a week early, beginning Saturday. Fishing legal Saturday through Monday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. only. A mammoth run of 121,000 reds has been counted.

REMOTE FISHERIES

Deshka River ++++

Silver, pink and chum salmon

Gangs of silvers continue to flow upstream. Some 7,675 are past the upstream weir as of Tuesday -- a whopping 6,400 more than there were on Aug. 3 last year. Is it a special run, or an early one? Back in 2006, more than 46,000 silver ambushed the weir during three days in mid-August. Could it happen again? Among the effective lures -- No. 5 Flashtrap Spinners and K-13X Kwikfish backtrolled.

Lake Creek +++

Silver salmon, rainbow trout

Should offer good silver and rainbow fishing this week. If it tails off, try other Yentna River tributaries and sloughs such as Moose and Indian creeks.

Talkeetna River ++

Chum, silver salmon, rainbow trout

Chums and silvers should be gathering at the mouth of Clear Creek.

ANCHORAGE AREA

Local lakes & streams +++

Trout, graying, char, pike, salmon

Sand and Campbell Point lakes may be your best bet for char. Remember, the bag limit at Anchorage-area lakes has been cut to two rainbows, two grayling and two Arctic char per day, with only one 12 inches or longer. Bait is banned in Chester Creek. Symphony Lake has grayling if you're up for a long hike for a small fish.

Campbell Creek +

Silver salmon, Dolly Varden

Silver salmon anglers can prospect in the legal area upstream of Dimond Boulevard to Fish and Game markers near Piper Street -- except for a section closed to all fishing from Fish and Game markers just downstream of Shelikof Street to Lake Otis Parkway. That section is closed to all fishing year-round. Morning tends to be best.

Ship Creek ++

Silver salmon

Silver fishing is picking up with the occasional anglers hauling in a limit. Expect it to keep improving. Beware: The creek upstream of the Chugach Power Plant to the Reeve Boulevard bridge is closed through Sept. 30 to protect wild populations of spawning rainbows.

Bird Creek ++

Pink, chum and silver salmon

Silver fishing remains very slow, but pinks are available in significant numbers. Fishing is legal from Turnagain Arm to regulatory markers located about 500 yards upstream.

KENAI PENINSULA

Deep Creek ++

Silver, pink salmon, Dolly Varden

Visit the creek mouth around high tide for your best silver prospects. Pink fishing has been slow. Fishing upstream of regulatory markers at river mile 2 opened Sunday for Dolly Varden, steelhead and rainbows. Salmon are off-limits there.

Ninilchik River ++

King, silver salmon

More silvers are arriving daily. Near the creek mouth best. Fishing upstream of regulatory markers at river mile 2 opened Sunday for Dolly Varden, steelhead and rainbows. Salmon are off-limits there.

Homer Spit ++

Silver salmon, Dolly Varden

A youth-only fishing day runs all day Saturday at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon, with a portion of the lagoon set aside for kids 15 and younger. Fish and Game staffers can help young anglers set up fishing gear and show them how to cast for silvers. Snagging is illegal in the lagoon. Silvers are concentrated at the lagoon entrance.

Anchor River +

Silver, pink salmon, Dolly Varden

Silvers should pick up over the next couple of weeks and pinks are available. Fishing upstream of regulatory markers at river mile 2 opened Sunday for Dolly Varden, steelhead and rainbows. Salmon are off-limits there.

Kasilof River +++

Red, silver salmon, Dolly Varden

Silver fishing starting to crank up and the red run is continuing. Anglers fishing between slack-water near the Tustumena Lake outlet and the Sterling Highway Bridge are having success.

Russian River +

Red salmon, rainbows

A disappointing late red salmon run is rated "slow" by Fish and Game. Through Monday, 12,000 reds have been counted past the weir near Lower Russian Lake, well short of the minimum of 33,000 fish biologists seek to ensure future runs. But two years ago, about the same number of reds had been counted at the same date, and 46,000 fish eventually showed up. Upstream, rainbow trout fishing has been excellent.

Upper Kenai River +++

Rainbows, red salmon

Reds are between Skilak and Kenai lakes but hard to reach with limited access points. "While there are lots of fish in the river, the ability to get at them is limited," says Fish and Game biologist Ken Tarbox. "If you have a boat and can get to the outlet of Skilak Lake, it can be great fishing." Rainbow fishing has been dependable.

Lower Kenai River ++

Silver, red, pink salmon

More than 800,000 reds have passed the Kenai River sonar, but Fish and Game says the best fishing is behind us. "The number of sockeye moving into the river is now expected to remain relatively low for the remainder of the season and will not provide good fishing success," according to the department. Nevertheless, Tuesday saw a big slug of reds in the river with anglers at Airport Hole scoring well. By today, though, they should be gone. Commercial fishermen were due to have their nets in the water 7 a.m. today for 12 hours, which will have an impact going forward.

Kasilof dipnetting ++

Red salmon

Open around the clock until Saturday night. Dipnetters are asked to not camp, drive cars or ATV's, or otherwise disturb the Kasilof River dunes, and to pack out all trash.

Clam Gulch +++

Razor clams

The next series of good clamming tides run Sunday to Aug. 13. Razor clams can be found on the sandy beaches from Kasilof to Homer and are exposed on any minus tides. Larger clams may be difficult to locate. All razor clams that are dug must be kept regardless of size.

MARINE FISHERIES

Outside Resurrection Bay +++

Halibut, rockfish, lingcod, silver salmon

Halibut fishing has been very good all summer in the North Gulf Coast, with Montague Island and Nuka Bay favored destinations. Remember, once you harvest a lingcod, you cannot fish inside Resurrection Bay on your way back to the harbor.

Resurrection Bay +++

Silver salmon, halibut, rockfish

Trolling is often the best way to track hot-and-cold silvers spread throughout Resurrection Bay. Derby doesn't begin until next weekend. For halibut, fish the slack tide and keep your bait on the bottom. Rockfish are active and often easy to catch, but keep what you pull in because rockfish don't survive release well. Limit is four per day.

Deep Creek offshore ++

Silver salmon, halibut

Halibut averaging 15 pounds are common and the silver run continues to build, with fishing moving a little closer to shore. Trollers continue to pick up king salmon from Bluff Point to Ninilchik.

Kachemak Bay +++

Halibut, pink, silver salmon, rockfish

Halibut up to 30 pounds have been found about 15 miles out. Expect solid lingcod fishing by Elizabeth Island at the end of the Peninsula. Pink and chum salmon are arriving, with good numbers of pink salmon reported in Tutka Bay. China Poot personal-use red salmon dipnet fishery continues through Saturday, with netters having the most success early in the morning.

Prince William Sound +++

Halibut, lingcod, shrimp, salmon

Chum and pink salmon are abundant throughout the Sound. Silver salmon have shown up in Eyak River and Ibeck Creek, and fishing should improve over the next few weeks. Shrimpers continue to score, with pots as deep as 500 feet and as shallow as 70. Halibut angling is consistently good, with a 254-pounder landed by local angler Mark Sams leading Valdez derby. A beefy 18.68-pound silver caught Sunday by Pat Crisenbery of Fairbanks tops the town's silver salmon derby.