Make ready with the boats! Ice is out on the Susitna.

The ice is moving out on the Susitna River in dribs and drabs this week. A single, large exodus of ice hasn’t quite happened this year, and most people suspect within the next several days the river will be open. Steve Mahay took a boat up river on Monday, and they had to turn around about four miles up due to ice. On Tuesday the ice could be seen moving downriver in the Talkeetna area, and the river level had visibly dropped almost overnight.

Mahay’s riverboat service has May 15th on their calendar as the first day for taking clients up-river, and Steve Mahay expects the river to be fully navigable by then.

With the rivers opening up, early season fishing has begun in select areas of the northern susitna valley. Anglers are reminded that footgear with absorbent felt or other fibrous material on the soles are prohibited while sport fishing in the fresh waters of Alaska. The regulation was adopted in 2010 by the Alaska Board of Fisheries to reduce the potential for introduction and spread of invasive organisms, including plants, into Alaska waters.