Fish and Game loosens King Salmon restrictions on the Little Susitna River

Fishermen in the Mat-Su Valley were granted an additional opportunity to harvest a king salmon over the holiday weekend.  

On July 2nd, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that they were reopening the Little Susitna River to harvesting kings.  The annual limit will be restricted to two king salmon, 20 inches or greater in length. 

While bait will not be allowed on the Little Su, artificial lures with multiple hooks will be permitted and may be used downstream of the weir.  

Anglers were made aware of the opportunity shortly before the holiday weekend, just after the escapement goal for kings was met on the river.

Fish and Game opened the Deshka River to king salmon harvest earlier this month, when the escapement goal on that river was met early in the season.  King salmon numbers have remained strong on the Deshka, with 17,294 fish passing the weir by July 3rd.  That’s a better fish return than the previous two years combined.

King salmon fishing on both rivers will officially end on July 13th. This leaves Mat-Su anglers with just one more week to try to put a king, the largest of the Alaskan salmon species, in the freezer.

Complete regulations for salmon fishing can be found at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.