River Flow Reports

(All information is taken from waterdata.usgs.gov)

Little Susitna River

Current Conditions

Forecasted Conditions

Willow Creek

Current Conditions

Fish Counts

Alaska fish counts provided by the ADF&G (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) is a tremendous resource; kudos to ADF&G for making this data available to the public.

Keep in mind we do a lot of fishing below and upstream of the weirs and low fish counts frequently do not indicate poor fishing. Salmon are a migratory species and will stage in certain areas depending on conditions, often in the fishery below the weirs. We are in tune with the habits and behaviors of these salmon and know all the places they will be, given the conditions. Generally low water is associated with reduced salmon migration and high water with intense salmon migration.

**Please note weirs are expensive to operate and are not operated in all the waters we guide on in the Matsu Valley.

Current Fish Counts

Little Susitna River

Current Fish Counts

Deshka River

*Note that the Deshka River was pulled in early to Mid August in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to funding limitations

Weather Reports

Live Weather Reports

Weather Conditions

Fishing and Flow Reports

5/14/2025

Alaska Fly Fishing is amazing! Fly Fishing Willow Creek has been good for Rainbow Trout. Smolt imitations and streamers are working good. Washed out egg patterns and flesh are also producing. If you’re looking for Anchorage Fly Fishing Guides, Wasilla Fly Fishing Guides, Willow Creek Fly Fishing Guides, or Alaska Fly Fishing Guides, we can accommodate you!

Deshka River is high, but is producing Rainbow Trout and Arctic Grayling. Small spinners most effective. Terrestrial/Attracter, dry fly, and smolt patterns are productive too. Our Alaska guides are Willow Creek Fishing Guides, Wasilla Fishing Guides, Anchorage Fishing Guides, Deshka Fishing Guides, and Little Susitna Fishing Guides.

4/22/25

Willow Creek is starting to open up. Rainbow Trout are being caught on the Susitna at the Mouth. We are offering a special for the month of May: Full Day Raft Floats for the price of a 1/2 Day. Discount lasts now through May 1,2025. This is one of the best deals in South Central Alaska right now!

12/29/24

2024 provided an abundance of great memories on the water with both customers and family. While we look forward to better salmon fishing in the Matsu Valley in future years; in 2024 we experienced excellent fishing for Rainbow trout, Arctic Grayling, Northern Pike and Arctic Char. Chum Salmon fishing on the Little Susitna River was excellent from mid july – mid august. Rainbow Trout fishing was steady throughout the Susitna Drainage, from mid may- mid August, which includes the waters of the Deshka River, Willow Creek, and Talkeetna River. While we have fished Rainbow Trout in this drainage for over 20 years; the last 2 years we have really focused on targeting Rainbow Trout and have really dialed in this unique fishery. Fly fishing for Arctic Grayling in 2024 was nothing short of world class in the upper reaches of several Susitna River drainage tributaries. In 2024 Miller’s Riverboat Service fishing guides (Ryan and Ben) fished Big Lake, Gulkana River, Willow Creek, Deshka River, Little Susitna River, Talkeetna River and many more world class tributaries of the Susitna River. 2024 was an awesome year for fishing from our rafts and powerboats in the Matsu Valley. Miller’s Riverboat fishing guides fished every day from May 11-Oct 1.

2024 final fish counts

Deshka River King Salmon- 3445
Deshka River Silver Salmon- 642
Deshka River Pink Salmon- 44055

Little Susitna River King Salmon- 1005
Little Susitna River Silver Salmon- 964
Little Susitna River Chum Salmon- 12512
Little Susitna River Pink Salmon- 2765
Little Susitna River Red Salmon- 991

Willow Creek King Salmon- not available / pending

*there are no survey or fish counts on Willow Creek for Silver, Chum, Red Salmon (yes there are red salmon in Willow Creek-very few) and Pink Salmon

Gulkana River King Salmon- 4062
Gulkana River Red Salmon-15960

Copper River Red Salmon- 947983

9/9/2023

Trout fishing in flowing waters has been world class! Trophy Rainbow Trout are being landed on a daily basis.

Still water trout fishing is picking up and Northern Pike fishing has been steady. Dialed in and ready to go! Lots of availability in September.

6/6/2023

Trout fishing has been excellent and should continue to be good. 10-20 Rainbow trout to the boat with the occasional grayling have been the norm on our charters. King Salmon are starting to show on the Little Susitna River, and fishing will be good this weekend and next week. Given the current and projected water conditions we are anticipating 5-10 fish days on our King salmon charters this weekend and next week. Historically the Little Susitna River has produced some real nice Kings(Including several 40 pounders for our customers). Pike fishing is really starting to turn on with the warmer temps, and our fly out trips will produce lights out fishing over the next few weeks.

5/23/2023

Hooligan are in the lower Susitna River. Seeing mostly males. Dipnetting has been good for Alaska Residents.

Rainbow Trout fishing has been good in legal flowing waters and local Wasilla Lakes. Several 20″+ fish were landed on last weeks charters.

8/19/2023

Trout fishing in flowing waters has been consistent and should only get better in the upcoming weeks. Despite a lower than anticipated Coho return, we did really well Coho fishing throughout the last month. Stay tuned for updates on trout fishing on both lakes and rivers.

4/10/2023

We’ve concluded our ice fishing season this year and we had some great fishing! Right now, if you are looking for a new fishing rod for this summer, give us a call at 907-892-6872! Ben can hook you up with an awesome custom fishing rod, specific to what you like to fish for. We also have classes available to build your own rod. Please check our Facebook for upcoming classes and sales.

2/5/2023

Local lakes in the Palmer, Wasilla and Anchorage area, currently are providing lots of great action on our guided ice fishing trips! Lots of happy people- both locals and visitors. We are catching lots of landlocked Chinook salmon, Rainbow Trout and the occasional Arctic Char. The fish have not been too selective hitting cured salmon eggs, cured shrimp as well as artificial tube jigs and spoons. Our custom Alaska fishing rods built by Susitna Rods on Batson blanks are perfect for these.

4/24/2023

We are anticipating open water on some Mat-Su Lakes mid May and are expecting great trout fishing!

Additionally mid May, we are planning on getting our boats on the Susitna River and getting our customers into some phenomenal Hooligan fishing.

We will update this page as conditions change. 2023 is going to be full of great fishing opportunities.

Millers River Fishing Guide Service, Millers River Fly Fishing, Millers River, Millers Boating, Anchorage Alaska Fishing, Anchorage Alaska Fishing Charters, Millers Service, Anchorage Fishing Charters, Ice Fishing, Willow Alaska Fishing Guides, Willow Alaska Fishing Guide, Willow Alaska Fly Fishing Guides, Willow Alaska Float Trips, Willow Alaska Rafting, Willow Alaska Rainbow Trout Fly Fishing