Anchorage Daily News

SUSITNA VALLEY

Matanuska Valley lakes

Trout, grayling, arctic char, pike

Decent fishing in the evenings and mornings. Look for rainbows around drop-offs. Blue damsels and dragonflies are buzzing about, making for good dry-fly prospects on trout and grayling lakes. Long Lake in the Kepler-Bradley system was stocked with 5,000 rainbows on June 19.

Willow area lakes

Trout, grayling, pike

Rainbow action in lakes like Willow, Christiansen and Crystal should be good. Fish deep early and late in the day for best luck.

Sheep Creek (3)

Trout, grayling

Closed to king salmon fishing. Trout and grayling fishing should be good if stream levels cooperate.

Montana Creek (2)

Trout, grayling

Try Egg-sucking Leeches, Bunny Bugs and Muddlers for trout feasting on salmon eggs. Dry flies might take grayling. Closed to king salmon fishing.

Little Susitna River (1)

King salmon, silvers

Fish and Game rates the king fishing here only "poor to fair" and the catch rate all season has been among the worst for the last seven years. Mike Hudson of Three Rivers Fly and Tackle said boaters are having more success than shoreline anglers.

Willow Creek (4)

Trout, grayling

Trout and grayling fishing will have to suffice until the silver salmon start showing up.

Eklutna Tailrace (27)

King salmon

King fishing in this 24-hour fishery off the Old Glenn Highway never really took off, and Fish and Game still considers it slow. Fish early in the morning with a Vibrax or cured roe.

REMOTE FISHERIES

Deshka River (6)

Closed to all fishing. The minimum spawning goal to ensure good future returns is 13,000 kings, and 6,583 have passed through the weir. A couple hundred a day continue to trickle through. The silver salmon peak is still about a month away.

Lake Creek (7)

King salmon, trout, grayling

King salmon fishing should be poor to fair, Fish and Game forecasts, but the nearby Talachulitna River is expected to be fair to good. Smaller tributaries and sloughs off the Yentna River such as Fish Lakes Creek, Moose Creek, Indian Creek, Fish Creek, or Hewitt Creek can be productive.

Talkeetna River (9)

King salmon, trout, Dollies, grayling

Decent fishing for kings at the mouth of Clear Creek, but watch for flying hooks and brush up on your combat-fishing technique. Last Sunday, anglers were lined up shoulder to shoulder, waiting to cast and checking watches until the 6 a.m. opening. By 11 a.m., only a few fish were landed legally despite dozens of anglers flogging the water. Best action was

just downstream of the mouth, where the clear water mixed with the silty Talkeetna.

ANCHORAGE AREA

Local lakes

Trout, grayling, char, pike, salmon

Sand Lake is producing some nice pike catches. Stocked rainbows this month in Jewel, Delong, Fish, Mirror, Spring and Triangle lakes average six inches. Campbell and Chester creeks can produce rainbows or Dolly Varden. Remember, though, that rainbows cannot be kept.

Ship Creek (11)

King salmon, silvers

Try to hit the deep holes where fish have rested unmolested all night when the creek opens at 6 a.m. Fish still moving in but more and more in their spawning colors. Use cured roe and

Corkies, Spin-N-Glos or eggs and a bobber

with a treble hook on the high tide.

Bird Creek (10)

Pink salmon, chums

Fish and Game says its hasn't received any reports of pink or chum salmon on this popular creek -- for anglers and brown bears -- along the Turnagain Arm. Sportfish biologist Dan Bosch expects a good pink run. "They should start poking their noses around now," he said.

KENAI PENINSULA

Deep Creek (22)

Dolly Varden, pinks, silvers

The daily bag limit for Dollies are two per day/two in possession. Use small spinners, spoons or flip with flies or beads that imitate salmon eggs.

Ninilchik River (19)

King salmon, trout

Fish early morning hours and around the incoming tides. Also try fishing the harbor for

fresh fish. The daily bag limit for hatchery kings

are two per day/two in possession. Hatchery fish are missing their adipose fin and healed fin clip scar. Rainbow/steelhead fishing is catch-and-release only.

Homer Spit (15)

King salmon

Fresh kings are still rolling into the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon and it should be good this weekend. Kings are hitting spinners and herring drifted beneath bobbers. Try fishing on the incoming tide.

Anchor River (13)

Dollies, pinks, silvers

The daily bag limit for Dollies are two per day/two in possession.

Kasilof River (16)

King salmon, red salmon

Red salmon are still storming upstream. More than 5,800 reds passed the sonar Monday, bringing the yearly total to 91,207. "We're the only game in town," said Lori Garreau, park hostess of Crooked Creek RV Park and Guide Service, about reds here compared to the Kenai and Russian rivers.

Upper Kenai River (18)

Red salmon, rainbows, Dollies

Anglers are reporting slow fishing for reds from Jim's Landing upstream. Fishing for trout and Dolly Varden has been good -- Battle Creek Specials and other fly patters imitating salmon flesh are good bets.

Russian River (20)

Red salmon, trout

The early-run of reds is beginning to fade, but anglers report they are still limiting. Try fishing

the early-morning hours when the reds migrate from the sanctuary into the river. Over the last two days, less than 700 fish have passed the weir at Lower Russian Lake.

Lower Kenai River (17)

King salmon, reds, trout, Dollies

Fish and Game reports poor to fair king salmon fishing. Its in-season data summary reports as of Tuesday that through July 7, the late king run is the third lowest in 22 years. To catch a king, guided anglers average 32 hours, while unguided anglers average 50.

Clam Gulch (12)

Razor clams

Good clamming tides run July 17-22 and July 30-Aug. 4.

MARINE FISHERIES

(boat or charter required)

Outside Resurrection Bay (25)

Halibut, lingcod, silvers

The first silver salmon have been caught and should improve as the month continues. Tides indicate good halibut fishing, so try heading east out of Resurrection Bay. Two- to three-foot seas are expected this weekend.

Resurrection Bay (24)

King salmon, halibut, rockfish

The king limit inside Resurrection Bay is now two per day, any size, and the fishing this weekend should be fair. Start fishing outside of the harbor and troll toward Callisto Head. Good catches of rockfish in near shore areas.

Deep Creek offshore (22)

King salmon, halibut

Tides should help anglers to keep their bait on the bottom. Anglers can expect excellent halibut fishing and should load up on 25-to-40 pounders fishing about 10 miles offshore in at least 80 feet of water. Circle hooks with herring are preferred.

Prince William Sound (26)

Halibut, Dollies, chum salmon

Anglers are picking up reds on the Coghill River. More than 16,800 reds passed through the weir as of Tuesday. Favorable tides out of Valdez will make it easy to keep your bait on the bottom.

Kachemak Bay (23)

King salmon, halibut, rockfish

Fish and Game reports excellent halibut fishing, ranging from 30-50 pounds. Point Pogibshi, Flat Island and Point Adam all seem good. Most fish have been less than 25 pounds, with an occasional heavyweight mixed in. Seas this weekend are expected to be 2-4 feet.

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