Area Sport Fishing Reports
Mat-Su

August 30, 2024

Fall Fishing Report 2024

This is the last fishing report for the 2024 fishing season. This fishing report will be updated when additional information is available in the spring. For current seasonal information, please contact the Palmer office at (907) 746-6300.

Freshwater Fishing

Salmon

• Please see emergency order section below for streams that have been closed to fishing for coho salmon.
• Eklutna Tailrace is a stocked fishery for coho salmon. Fishing is open 7 days a week and bait and multiple hooks are allowed. Bag limits are 3 per day/ 3 in possession. Coho fishing is slow.

Rainbow Trout, Arctic Grayling, and Dolly Varden

• Flesh flies, and cotton candy will be good as fall fast approaches and rainbows search for flesh. Don’t rule out a strike indicator, they can be very helpful with hook sets.
• Rainbow trout fishing should be good to excellent well into freeze up. Look for trout with the spawning coho during the last two weeks in September. When the waters do drop, target trout in deeper holes and near or below the mouths of streams draining into the Susitna. Flesh flies, beads, and sculpin patterns work well in late fall as the fish migrate to bigger waters to over winter.

Northern Pike

• Fishing is best when water temperatures are lowest, such as early in the morning or late in the day.
• For road-accessible pike fishing, try just about any lake in the Nancy Lake canoe system, plus Memory, Prator, and Big Lakes.
• Fly-in fishing for pike can be excellent. Try Alexander or Trapper Lakes.

Local Lakes

• With the cooler temperatures of fall approaching, Mat-Su Valley lakes provide excellent fishing as fish become much more active, and feed in shallower water.
• Lake trout are stocked in Matanuska and Long Lake (mile 86).
• In the Palmer/Wasilla area, Lorraine, Carpenter, Knik, Lucille, Kepler, Rocky, and Echo lakes are stocked with rainbow trout.
• Lakes stocked with landlocked salmon are Matanuska, Finger, Beverly, Loberg and Klaire.
• Arctic Char are stocked in Finger, Irene, Long, Lynne, Marion, Matanuska, Prator, and Seventeenmile lakes.
• Along the Glenn Highway northeast of Palmer, Seventeenmile, Slipper, Long, Ravine, Weiner, Knob and North Knob lakes all have rainbow trout.
• Wishbone Lake, X Lake, and Long Lake (Matanuska Lakes Complex) have special catch and release, single-hook restrictions and close to all fishing November 1st-April 30th.

Emergency Orders

Please review the emergency orders and advisory announcements below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip.

• Emergency Order 2-SS -2-47-24 Closes coho fishing in the Susitna river drainage (Units 1-6) and bait is prohibited.
• Emergency Order 2-SS-2-48-24 Closes coho fishing on the Knik arm streams.
• Emergency Order 2-22-2-61-24 reduces the bag and possession limit for coho in West Cook Inlet streams to two per day and four in possession.

Don't forget to purchase your 2024 sport fishing license and king stamp! You can purchase and display your fishing license and king stamp, record your annual harvest (i.e. king salmon), access sport fishing regulations and locations, and so much more on your mobile device. Download the ADF&G Mobile App today. You can also purchase licenses through the ADF&G online store and print it off from the comfort of your own home. Make sure to review emergency orders, advisory announcements, and the 2024 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary booklet for the area you are fishing before you head out.

For additional information, please contact the ADF&G Palmer Area Office at 907-746-6300.