My Creek Trail: Little Su trail offers easy hike, good access to silver salmon fishing

POINT MACKENZIE -- As the bloodlust for sockeye salmon subsides on the Kenai Peninsula and local freezers brim with fresh filets, many people begin looking for a silver lining to the dwindling summer days.

A sunny day in early August, an easy 30-minute hike and a good place to wet a line in search of silver salmon make for an experience that will sooth the most restless of hearts. Heck, kids along on the trip may even forget they own an Xbox for a day.

Such was the case earlier this week at My Creek Trail on the Little Susitna River, where the banks were uncrowded and the fish were plentiful if elusive.

For land-locked urbanites looking to get away from it all for a few hours, the Little Su is a sure bet. Located in Mat-Su, about a 90-minute drive from Anchorage, the river rolls through the Susitna Flats Game Refuge. And so far this year, the waterway has seen large numbers of silver salmon. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, more than 8,000 silver salmon have been counted at a weir on the river through Wednesday.

That's about 80 percent of the minimum number the department estimates is needed to keep the run viable. And thousands more are expected to roll in.

It's been so good, in fact, that the department issued an emergency order on Wednesday, increasing the daily coho bag limit from two to three fish. And to make things even better for silver seekers, bait is now allowed.

"We are seeing it's been a little bit above average as far as fishing success," said Fish and Game's Mat-Su Area Biologist Sam Ivey. "It's been good, especially in light of the low water conditions out there right now."

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If the river level rises -- rain is in the forecast Saturday through Monday -- the fishing should get even better as more cohos push their way into the stream.

One of the easiest places to walk to the river is at the Little Susitna River Public Use Facility, a combination boat launch, parking lot and river access point. Ivey said there are a lot of good places for walking anglers to try their luck.

When the fish are in, as they are these days, the boat launch can become a cacophony of engine noise, loud conversations and vehicular chaos.

But less than a mile before the public-use facility is a little-used trail head that boasts just enough parking for four cars and an unattended ranger fee station. My Creek Trail is maintained by the State of Alaska. It runs 1.4 miles through well-maintained and mostly flat terrain, ending at a small campground, complete with outhouse, near the gravel banks of the Little Su.

A lonely sign sticking out of the willow bushes announces the persistent presence of bears in the area. A few signs of bear scat and a days-old paw print were the only evidence found earlier this week.

After about 30 minutes, you come to the end of the trail to find a small campsite with four raised wooden pads for camping and a wooden outhouse. The river bubbles just a few feet away. On the bank, a metal platform and stairs allow access to spacious gravel banks without damaging nearby vegetation needed to prevent erosion.

Once there, a few different spinners or some salmon eggs and bait hoots are all the tackle you need. Ivey said people are having good luck casting spinners, but he predicted fish will be even easier to catch now that bait is allowed.

Even though salmon could be seen swimming along the river surface and splashing in deeper holes, the fish proved difficult to catch Monday.

"Even when there are a lot of fish in the river, you have to find them," Ivey said.

Fish don't like to enter the river system when the water is low, but when they do, they tend to concentrate in deep pools and riffles, making them harder to find. But maybe, catching isn't a necessity. Few urbanites rely on silver salmon to feed them all winter.

Despite the steady hum of far-off boats, there's a noticeable lack of manmade noise here. That makes the glow of the midday sun and a fragrant breeze more welcome.

And as the few boats pass, usually loaded with anglers headed to the river mouth, you might get some satisfaction for having walked in to fish. There is no expensive boat. You're doing it the old fashioned way -- if by old fashioned way you mean a simple, 90-minute drive from the state's largest metropolis in an air-conditioned SUV and an easy 1.4-mile walk on mostly flat trail.

For most urban Alaskans, it doesn't really matter how full your freezer is in October. Costco is just a few miles away. You aren't subsisting, but the experience of provides a greater appreciation of how hard it is for those that do.

And the exhausted yawn from a 15-year-old fishing companion, pleading to return to the river – even after being skunked – is kind of its own reward. It doesn't fill your stomach, but it will feed your soul.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said silver fishing in many Matanuska and Susitna Valley streams is good to excellent. For a complete list of regulations, emergency orders and fishing activity contact Fish and Game.

And a pro tip: If you are going to take somebody fishing, make sure you ask a friend about where to go. If the fish are jumping onto your hooks, you can claim it's because of your own prowess and skill. However, if the catching isn't as good as the scenery, then you have plausible deniability as you walk back, empty-handed.

For other fishing opportunities, Fish and Game said that good fishing can also be found at Bird Creek, Eklutna Tailrace on the Old Glenn Highway and Fish Creek, near Wasilla.

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But this weekend offers more than a chance to catch a fish. For some, it offers a chance to cash in. Several fishing derbies begin this week:

• The 60th-annual Seward Silver Salmon Derby starts Saturday. Participants must have a valid Alaska fishing license and a derby ticket. Derby tickets are $10 per day and are available at the Seward Chamber of Commerce office, derby headquarters in the Small Boat Harbor, The Fish House, The Bay Barge Company, Miller's Landing and aboard many chartered fishing vessels. Prizes are awarded for tagged fish, heaviest fish each day and heaviest fish overall. The derby runs through Aug. 16.

In Valdez, the one-day Women's Silver Salmon Derby is in its 11th year, running 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. The tournament, the only women's-only fishing derby in Alaska and among the largest of such derbies in the country, regularly sees more than 500 participants. The top prize is $1,000 cash and $1,000 in merchandise from Prospector Outfitters.

Sean Doogan

Sean Doogan is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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