These are the regulations for fishing in the area where I live. The area is the Knik Arm Fresh Water area; Palmer/Wasilla Zone. Open season in flowing waters is June 15 – April 14.
* A total annual limit of 5 king salmon 20″ or longer may be taken from fresh waters of Cook Inlet north of the latitude of Point Adam, and from salt waters of Cook Inlet except that fish harvested in Cook Inlet salt water south of Anchor Point from October 1 – March 31 are not included in the limit. King Salmon 20″ or longer removed from the water must be retained.
* There is an annual limit of 2 rainbow/steelhead trout 20″ or longer taken from Knik Arm fresh waters (except stocked lakes).
* There is an annual limit of 10 rainbow/steelhead trout 20″ or longer taken from stocked lakes.
The above regulations are normally what a person fishing in my area would see, however, due to low salmon returns, there are new regulations
Restrictions for sport fishing in the Susitna River drainages and Knik Arm drainages will include:
- Area-wide: annual limit of two (2) king salmon, except the Eklutna Tailrace.
- Area-wide: unbaited, single-hook, artificial lures only, except for the lower Deshka River and the Eklutna Tailrace (single-hook means a fish hook with only one point).
- The Little Susitna River will be further restricted by allowing harvest on Friday-Monday only; catch-and-release fishing for king salmon will be allowed Tuesday-Thursday.
- Parks Highway streams within Unit 2 of the Susitna River will be further restricted to prohibit the harvest of king salmon beginning June 12 through the remainder of the fishing season. Catch-and-release fishing will be allowed during the three-day weekends (Saturday—Monday) beginning June 16 through July 2. Fishing for any species of fish will be closed Tuesday—Friday beginning June 12.
Restrictions for the Northern District commercial king salmon fishery will include:
- Reduction of all four commercial fishing periods from 12 hours to 6 hours.
https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingSportFishingInfo is the site you can go to to find out about emergency closures or regulation changes such as this one.