By Lee Leschper
There are king salmon in Ship Creek.
And if you put in enough time, are good enough, and especially lucky enough, you might catch one this week.
I watched one of the regulars, who I know only as Peter, hook and land an honest 30-pound king Monday evening. It was a beautiful fish, the first of that size reported this year and an encouraging sign.
But a lot of us, spoiled by the last two seasons of early runs, low and clear water and frankly great king fishing, are still looking for that first fish of this year.
I’m hardly an expect at fishing the creek, although the last few years I’ve managed to fill my 5-king tag there, and released other kings. Usually by today I’d have two or three kings in the freezer.
Not this year. Based on now eight trips, fishing one to two hours, over the past three weeks, and yet to hook my first king, we have to say it’s going to be a different season. For starters, the creek is two feet higher than this time last year and still the color of chocolate milk. That’s okay for bait fishermen but a challenge for flippers and lure chunkers. The flow is also faster, making wading difficult.
Dustin Slinker at the creek’s Bait Shack says this year is going to be more the norm than the last two years. He had predicted an influx of fish June 4 and about a dozen were caught on the morning tide on the June 4. Given the success of building the Ship Creek runs thanks the the Hernandez hatchery the past few years, there’s no reason to expect that this run will be any different–whenever it finally kicks into high gear.
The Slam’n Salm’n Derby starts Friday and will depend on more fish in the creek to bring fishermen and contributions for its charities.
Until then, the only way to know is to go (fishing, that is)! See you on the creek.
Lee Leschper is publisher of AlaskaOutdoorDigest.com and a dedicated Ship Creek fisherman.
