Salmon are in the Mat-Su rivers from May into September: kings first, then sockeye, pinks and chum in midsummer, and coho from midsummer into early fall. The calendar below comes from an Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) run-timing sheet dated April 2022 and describes typical presence, not a forecast. It also does not say what is legal: in 2026 ADF&G closed directed king fishing across Northern Cook Inlet and banned keeping coho from August 19, so a fish being in the river is not the same as an open fishery.
Salmon run timing by month
The sheet is titled "West Cook Inlet, Palmer, Wasilla, & Talkeetna Run Timing." It covers named rivers and creeks, not every stream in the valley, and a dash below means the sheet gives no window for that species in that month.
| Month | King | Sockeye | Pink | Chum | Coho |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | Lower Little Susitna; lower Deshka and Parks Highway creeks from late May | — | — | — | — |
| June | Deshka (upper river from early June), Little Susitna, Talkeetna from mid-June, Lake Creek, Parks Highway creeks | — | — | — | — |
| July | Parks Highway creeks to early July; Deshka, Little Susitna and Talkeetna into mid-July; a few Susitna tributaries to the end of the month | Little Susitna from mid-July; Susitna mainstem from mid-July, not very abundant | Susitna mainstem from early July | Susitna mainstem from mid-July, not very abundant | Lower Deshka and lower Little Susitna from mid-July; Alexander Creek from mid-July; Susitna from late July |
| August | — | Little Susitna to early August; Susitna mainstem to mid-August | Susitna mainstem to mid-August | Susitna mainstem to mid-August, not very abundant | Talkeetna, Parks Highway creeks, Lake Creek and upper Little Susitna from early August; upper Deshka from late July |
| September | — | — | — | — | Upper Deshka and upper Little Susitna into early September; Talkeetna through the month; Parks Highway creeks to mid-September |
Treat the start and end of each range as planning guidance. Timing shifts by several days between years, and the lower part of a river sees fish earlier than the upper part. For the 2022 sheet's wording on any single river, open ADF&G's run-timing sheet.
Reading the calendar by river
Little Susitna River
The sheet puts lower-river kings in May through late June and upper-river kings in mid-June through mid-July. Coho arrive in the lower river from mid-July to mid-August and in the upper river from early August to early September. Sockeye run from mid-July through early August. The lower and upper windows overlap, so a lower-river run can be fading while the upper river is still filling. The Little Susitna page covers how the river is regulated.
Deshka River
Kings are listed in the lower Deshka from late May through late June, and in the upper river from early June to the mid-July season closure. Coho run from mid-July through early August below and from late July through early September above. The Deshka page explains the unit rules that sit on top of this timing.
Talkeetna River and Parks Highway creeks
For the Talkeetna River the sheet lists kings from mid-June to mid-July and coho from early August through September. For the Parks Highway streams (Willow, Little Willow, Caswell, Sheep, Goose, Montana and Sunshine creeks and the Kashwitna River) it lists kings from late May to early July and coho from early August to mid-September. See the Talkeetna River page and the page on Parks Highway streams.
Pinks, sockeye and chum on the Susitna
The sheet describes Susitna mainstem pinks as running from early July through mid-August, with great abundance in even years. Sockeye and chum on the mainstem run mid-July through mid-August, and the sheet calls both "not very abundant in this river." That is a statement about the Susitna mainstem, not about every tributary, and the sheet gives no separate chum or sockeye window for the Talkeetna or the Parks Highway creeks.
Several species overlap in July and August, and a dark, spawning-phase fish can look nothing like the bright fish in a photo, so do not rely on the date alone. The identification page shows the mouth, gumline and tail checks.
A run is not a fishing season
A run is the period when salmon are moving through a river. A season is the period when the law allows fishing, and ADF&G can close, restrict or open part of it by emergency order. In 2026 the two pulled far apart.
ADF&G's April 22, 2026 announcement (Emergency Order 2-F-H-04-26) states that all directed sport and commercial wild king salmon fisheries in Northern Cook Inlet are closed for the 2026 season, so the king entries above describe fish presence, not an opportunity. Two orders issued August 17, 2026 and effective August 19 (2-SS-2-47-26 for the Susitna drainage and 2-SS-2-48-26 for the Little Susitna) prohibit keeping coho and require release without removing the fish from the water. Both run through December 31, 2026 unless superseded.
Verify with ADF&G on its emergency orders page, because orders can change anything in the regulations booklet at short notice. The page on how emergency orders work shows how to read them. This guide is not legal advice.
Using the calendar before you go
Weir counts, where a working weir exists, are the best in-season signal of how a run is developing. Check the date of the count and whether the weir is operating; a count describes passage at one spot, not fish spread evenly through a drainage. In 2026, for example, flooding damaged the Deshka weir on July 15 and it stopped operating.
- Pick the species, river and lower or upper section before picking dates.
- Use the typical window to narrow the trip, then check current ADF&G notices.
- Read the regulations for that exact water and every emergency order in force.
- Confirm what you may keep, and the gear allowed, before rigging.
- Keep a second plan in case a river is restricted or runs high.
License and stamp questions are separate from timing; see the license and king stamp page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which month has the most species in the rivers at once?
July. ADF&G's April 2022 sheet shows kings tapering off while sockeye, pinks, chum and the first coho arrive. Overlap does not mean every species is abundant or legal to target.
Do all Mat-Su rivers see fish at the same time?
No. The sheet gives different windows for the Deshka, Little Susitna, Talkeetna and Parks Highway creeks, and for the lower and upper parts of the same river. Use the window for the section you plan to fish.
Does a dash in the table mean salmon are absent?
No. It means the ADF&G sheet gives no window for that species in that month for the waters it covers. It is a timing summary, not a survey of every fish present.
Can I keep a coho during the listed coho window?
Not under the August 2026 orders for the Susitna drainage and the Little Susitna, which prohibit keeping coho from August 19. Verify with ADF&G on its emergency orders page before fishing.