MAY 29, 2014: Every Alaskan starts getting the "itch" just as soon as the ice goes out on the rivers. That event heralds the coming of many thousands of salmon runs from Southeast Alaska to the Bering Sea. And with the majority of Alaskans living in Southcentral and central Interior, all eyes are focussed on those fisheries that are literally in our backyards. The earliest returning runs are king salmon heading for Kenai Peninsula streams, chinook heading up Cook Inlet to the Matsu Valley and Knik drainages and even Ship Creek in the heart of Anchorage.

But Alaskan anglers REELY love fishing for sockeye, the staple in most anglers' and personal use dipnetters' freezers and also the target for many visiting anglers here on vacations. Unfortunately the month of May has scarce offerings for the prized sockeye. The exception in Southcentral is the sockeye salmon run on the Resurrection River at the head of Resurrection Bay in Seward and the Copper River sockeye run arriving from Prince William Sound. Both see the front end of those runs arriving in mid to late May.

The Copper River Red is prized for its exceptional table quality and commands the highest market price of all sockeye runs. The commercial fishing periods begin in late May in Prince William Sound and sounds the "alarm" that "The REDS are coming!" The Copper River maintains a very healthy sockeye run typically in the 800,000 to one million range but in bumper years it exceeds 1.2 million reds passing the Miles Lake ADFG Sonar Counter in the lower river. Yet during the month of May the fish are still far downstream of the popular Chitina Dipnet fishery and those sport fisheries further upstream on the tributaries of the Copper River.

As soon as the Copper River sonar starts recording fish the countdown begins and its time for anglers to start dusting off that fly rod and checking their tackle to make sure they have enough coho flies to last the season. Within a few weeks the upstream tributaries to the mighty Copper River will see their respective runs of sockeye salmon returning home to spawn and renew the cycle of life before dying. This provides anglers a golden opportunity to enjoy early season action in preparation for the major sockeye runs of the Russian, Kasilof and Kenai rivers that will arrive later in the summer.

The KLUTINA RIVER at Copper Center will become a favorite fishing hole for Interior Alaskans as well as those from Anchorage and the Valley who make the 4 hour 200 mile road trip to intercept this world class fish. When its the only game in town one can't be choosy. But is that long drive worth it? Let's analyze the situation for 2014 as it applies to the conditions that are falling into place and adding up to a great fishery this season.

The first thing to realize is that for every sockeye salmon counted at the Miles Lake ADFG sonar counter, 35-50% of those fish will enter the Klutina River to spawn. An average year is generally 37% of the Copper count. That is a lot of fish in the Klutina when the Copper produces numbers hitting one million or more.

Next on the agenda, the 2012 Klutina River sockeye run was a very good one for early season anglers. By June 1st the sockeye were arriving in numbers large enough to catch your limit of three with a few hours of effort. More anglers arrived, some with the wife and kids, and everyone had a great time catching fish. Water conditions during early June were stable making access to the waterline easy for most folks and a definite disadvantage for the fish. The chart at right shows the red bar graph of the 2012 accumulated sockeye counts for the Copper River through May 28th. So those numbers of fish in those daily proportions resulted in a very good sockeye fishery on the Klutina River by June 1st.

Note the GREEN area graph on the chart representing the 2014 Copper River sockeye counts through May 28th. As you can see, by May 28th both years have counted nearly identical fish numbers to that date. The most important thing to realize is that the 2014 sockeye run started out earlier than 2012 and also each day's counts were significantly more than the same day in 2012.

One can come to the conclusion that if there were more fish running the Copper earlier than 2012, that there will be a very hot sockeye fishery developing on the Klutina around the beginning of June. So let's take a look at a few other variables that support this prediction of a good start to the Klutina sockeye fishery.

Water levels in the Copper River have major impacts on the movement of salmon upstream. And often enough during the summer there are significant amounts of rainfall in the Copper drainage to raise the river level many feet overnight and even to flood stage in just a few days. Salmon migration comes to a standstill as fish hangout in whatever protected areas they can find.

Comparing the 2012 Copper River level period to the 2014 Copper River level period, you can see that during both years the water levels were fairly stable and nowhere near levels which would impair salmon movements upstream. This stable river condition is what allowed the 2012 run to arrive at the Klutina right on schedule at the beginning of June. Since we have a mirror image condition in 2014 it can be assumed that the sockeye are traveling at the same easy pace and will show up at Copper Center with the same timing as 2012.

And although I'm not going to post it here, the Klutina River level has been stable and flat as a table top this entire time too. Water conditions in the river are ideal for fishing once the fish show up.

MY SUGGESTION: If you want to participate in this early season sockeye fishery I suggest you call one of the campgrounds around Copper Center before making a long 400 mile round trip. One day will make a difference between almost and they're here! Public access points are the highway and road right of ways at both bridge crossings and several riverbank sections that have a dedicated TEN FOOT Public Access Easement for anglers. There is also the Klutina River RV Campground on the riverbank. Public access and private lands are denoted on the two aerial maps provided. This information is duplicated from the ADFG video on Klutina River Sockeye Fishing listed below.

     

How to Fish for Klutina River Red Salmon from ADF&G

Good Luck, Good Fishing, and Always Keep Your Hooks Sharp~! -Klondike Kid-