Valley lakes +++

Trout, grayling, landlocked salmon, pike

Finger Lake has a nice variety of fish. Loon, Diamond and West Beaver lakes are particularly good for rainbows. Irene and Carpenter have char.

Willow area lakes +++

Trout, char, grayling, pike

Pike fishing is best when water temperatures are lowest, such as early in the morning or late in the day. As evening weather cools, pike will get more active.

Sheep Creek +++

Rainbows, silvers

Silver run is productive and egg-hungry rainbows are lurking upstream.

Montana Creek +++

Silver salmon, trout, grayling

Good numbers of silver and pink salmon being caught. Catch-and-release for rainbow trout and grayling.

Little Susitna River +++

Silver, pink salmon, rainbows

Average catch rates for silver salmon fishing. Bait is legal now. Two of your three-salmon limit may be silvers. Fishing could still take off over the next few weeks.

Willow Creek ++

Silver, pink salmon, rainbows

Decent numbers of pinks and silvers being landed. Rainbows are catch-and-release downstream of Parks Highway.

Jim Creek +++

Silver salmon

Good silver fishing, but getting to the riverbank can be a muddy mess. Expect several hundred anglers on weekends. Bag limit is three salmon, two of which can be silvers.

Eklutna Tailrace +++

Silver salmon

Silver fishing continues strong, particularly around sun up. Limit is three salmon. Bait and multiple hooks are legal. Vibrax or pink No. 4 Mepps spinners have proven productive. Shrimp can be effective, too.

Rabbit Slough, Cottonwood Cr. +++

Silver salmon

Expect good fishing at both small waterways. Fish and Game has expanded 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, with 2,535 fish past the river's weir. Fishing legal Saturday through Monday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

REMOTE FISHERIES

Deshka River +++

Silver, pink and chum salmon

Fair to good fishing for silvers. More than 9,000 have already passed the weir upstream. Among the most effective lures -- No. 5 Flashtrap Spinners and K-13X Kwikfish backtrolled.

Lake Creek ++

Silver salmon, rainbow trout

Silvers and rainbows are both available. Other Yentna River tributaries and sloughs such as Moose and Indian creeks may be worth a look too.

Talkeetna River ++++

Chum, silver salmon, rainbow trout

This may be one of your best bets this weekend, particularly if you can get to the Clear Creek tributary. Limits are common.

ANCHORAGE AREA

Local lakes & streams +++

Trout, graying, char, pike, salmon

Bag limit at Anchorage-area lakes is two rainbows, two grayling and two Arctic char per day, with only one 12 inches or longer. Bait is banned in Chester Creek.

Campbell Creek +

Silver salmon, Dolly Varden

Silver salmon anglers are prospecting 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

Not a lot of sizzle in the silver return here. Try casting an hour before high tide to an hour afterward. Late last week, silvers were staging off the mouth of Ship Creek, between the public boat ramp and the port. Boat owners might have some luck in this area. 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

Modest numbers of pinks and chums are available, but silvers are largely absent. Fishing is legal from Turnagain Arm to regulatory markers located about 500 yards upstream. For much better silver prospects, drive farther down Turnagain Arm to Twentymile River and head upstream.

KENAI PENINSULA

Deep Creek +++

Silver, pink salmon, Dolly Varden

Both silver salmon in the lower river and Dolly Varden fishing is picking up. Dolly limit is two a day and small spinners or clumps of salmon roe are effective. Egg patterns, beads and Muddler Minnows work for fly casters. Fishing upstream of regulatory markers at river Mile 2 is open for Dolly Varden, steelhead and rainbows. Salmon are off-limits there.

Ninilchik River +++

Silver salmon, Dolly Varden, rainbows

More silvers are arriving daily, and Dolly fishing is picking up. Fishing upstream of regulatory markers at river Mile 2 is open for Dolly Varden, steelhead and rainbows. Salmon are off-limits there.

Anchor River +++

Silver, pink salmon, Dolly Varden

Silvers anglers are doing better, with 450 salmon already past the weir. Fishing upstream of regulatory markers at river Mile 2 is open for Dolly Varden, steelhead and rainbows. Salmon are off-limits there.

Kasilof River +++

Red, silver salmon, Dolly Varden

Silver fishing is cranking up and a few reds continue to trickle in. Anglers fishing between slack-water near the Tustumena Lake outlet and the Sterling Highway Bridge are having success.

Russian River +

Silver salmon, rainbows

Red fishing was shut down this morning after the most disappointing late run in more than three decades. Even catch-and-release is off limits. Rainbows are upstream, and fly fishermen using nymphs below the falls have scored on trout.

Upper Kenai River ++

Rainbows, red salmon

Reds are between Skilak and Kenai lakes but hard to reach with limited access points, and the run has faltered sharply. Rainbow fishing has been dependable.

Lower Kenai River ++

Silver, pink salmon

Slow fishing for silvers in the lower river should start picking up. Plenty of pinks are available.

Clam Gulch +++

Razor clams

Good clamming tides run through Friday. 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, lingcod, silver salmon

Halibut fishing has been great all summer along the north gulf coast. Nuka or the Chiswell Islands are reliable spots outside the bay. 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

Chunky silver salmon exceeding 17 pounds are showing up on the dock -- just in time for Saturday's derby opener. Fish and Game biologist Dan Bosch reports silvers are spread throughout the bay, with some accessible from shore not far from the Alaska SeaLife Center. But trolling usually works best. Eldorado Narrows has been dependable for halibut.

Deep Creek offshore ++

Silver salmon, halibut

Halibut averaging 15 pounds are common. Silver salmon fishing is improving, particularly if you're willing to take a ride to the Point Pogibshi area on the other side of the bay.

Kachemak Bay ++

Halibut, pink, silver salmon, rockfish

Fish and Game is calling halibut fishing inside the bay "poor," and suggesting central or southern Cook Inlet as better options. Average size over the past week has been about 17 pounds. Three halibut over 200 pounds have been landed this month in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby, and there's only four entries for the August released-fish prize -- pretty good odds for pocketing $1,000 if you bring evidence you've released a 60-pounder. Marine waters of Kachemak Bay are open to snagging except in the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon. Extreme tides will make fishing a challenge, so time your trip around the low and high slack tides.

Homer Spit +

Silver salmon, Dolly Varden

A second run of silvers to the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon is expected shortly. Snagging is illegal in the lagoon.

Prince William Sound ++++

Halibut, lingcod, shrimp, salmon

Silver salmon fishing has picked up with lots of nice fish being reported throughout the Sound. Valdez Arm, Culross Island, and Naked Island have all been producing. Halibut angling is consistently good, with a 363.9-pounder landed by a local angler leading Valdez derby. Saturday, hundreds of women in pursuit of silver salmon will keep Valdez hopping in the one-day derby.