High water has Southcentral anglers waiting it out

Flooding has knocked out fishing across much of Southcentral Alaska this week, from the Mat-Su rivers to Anchorage's creeks, and the wind is now making the Cook Inlet dipnet beaches dangerous too.

The Mat-Su has it worst. Nearly every river system there is either unproductive or unsafe, and Samantha Oslund, area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said anglers should not expect decent conditions until at least three to five days after water levels start dropping. Both the Deshka and Little Susitna weirs are underwater, so there are no fish counts on either system. The Yentna River at Lake Creek hit 21.5 feet Wednesday morning, past the point where water starts entering cabins at nearby lodges, and the Mat-Su Assembly declared a local emergency over Susitna River erosion at Talkeetna the same day.

Anchorage-area streams are running high and murky on top of existing restrictions. Eagle River is closed to king fishing outright by emergency order. Ship Creek is open for everything but kings, which must be released, and coho fishing there has been slow — a few fish a tide. Campbell Creek is coho-only through July 31, single unbaited hook, and not producing much. "Coho salmon fishing has been very slow with the flood-like conditions on Campbell Creek," Oslund's Anchorage counterpart, Brittany Blain-Roth, said. "Look for fishing to improve later into the month and as the water levels drop."

On the Kenai, the problem is wind. The National Weather Service warned of gusts to 50 mph and 8-to-12-foot waves along Cook Inlet beaches from the Kenai River to Nikiski, with the worst between 7 a.m. and noon Thursday — squarely inside the dipnet window. The advisory also flags hard driving for anyone towing a boat or trailer to a beach access.