Alaska 2018 in Review

Mat-Su Valley

The 2018 season started off early May in Southcentral Alaska guiding on the Little Susitna and Deshka Rivers for iFishAlaska. The boat was a 24′ flat bottom with an outboard tiller jet seating up to 6 clients at a time. King salmon were the target and numbers were low. Catch-and-release fishing on the Deshka River was good, but mostly because so few people were fishing considering you could not keep or technically even remove fish from the water. Even so, people were still happy to be catching fish.

Matanuska-Susitna Valley is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about 35 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska. It includes the valleys of the Matanuska, Knik, and Susitna Rivers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matanuska-Susitna_Valley

Little Susitna River King Salmon — Little Susitna River Kings

The Little Susitna River was regulated to harvesting fish only on weekends. With low numbers and high, turbid water which made fish counting difficult, it went to all catch-and-release and shortly after closed completely to king salmon fishing.

The Deshka River soon after closed to fishing for king salmon as well as pretty much everywhere else in Southcentral Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula.

Someone must have been looking out for me because shortly after the closures, one thing led to another and I was offered a position guiding halibut and salmon in Lower Cook Inlet for King of Kings Guide Service and Lodge. We fished out of 20′ Bayrunners with a center console and 4 passengers at a time.

Beach launching Lower Cook Inlet — Launching and landing on the beach requires a special 1980’s “beach rig” suburban with deflated tires

Feeding Eagles in Alaska — Early in the summer, eagles are plentiful along the beach and willing to eat from your hand. Once the salmon start moving into the rivers, the birds follow.

Alaska Range Lower Cook Inlet — Late night sunsets were spectacular.

Mount Iliamna Volcano Lower Cook Inlet Alaska — Mount Iliamna looking approximately 35 miles across the inlet from the lodge.

Halibut Fishing Lower Cook Inlet Alaska — Mount Iliamna on the left, Mount Redoubt on the right. Halibut in the middle.

King of Kings Lodge is a family run service located on the Kenai Peninsula. Our halibut and salmon charters are very unique when compared to most of the other Alaska fishing charters. If you’ve ever experienced a halibut or salmon charter where it felt like they were herding cattle, you will enjoy the refreshing difference of our personalized service.

We Fish Near Shore – No long boats rides, wasting time, and being beat up by rough seas. We Fish Shallow Water – No tired arms and back, or reeling up 300 feet of line with a 5# weight.