Article and photos submitted by Gary Eichhorn, Wasilla Program Lead

Our trip to the Montana Creek campground began about noon on the 23rd of August.  A pleasant 90 minute drive from Wasilla, Montana Creek campground is situated on the Parks highway where the Montana creek crosses the highway. Our camping area was the Overflow area across the creek from the main campground, which is a nice secluded area where we were able to setup Duane’s camp trailer and Captain Bob’s camp trailer in an L shaped camp around a campfire and next to the creek.  We were the only campers in the overflow area and enjoyed a nice, private camp.

After primary setup, we were off to fish at the mouth of Montana Creek confluence with the Susitna River a short 3/4 mile away.  Within a short time Charlie began catching salmon and I believe everyone caught fish on the first evening.  Dinner was wonderful and the comradery around the campfire was very special.  It began to rain over night and though it was cloudy and some drizzly rain on Friday it was still fun fishing as well with many fish caught.  The water rose in the creek about a foot or so during the day and we all had a good time; dinner was again spectacular.  The participants enjoyed very nice and warm accommodations and excellent breakfasts at the Sheep Creek Lodge.

Lou and Micah

The rain continued all night and by Saturday morning the Creek had risen another 18 inches.  Fishing became more difficult, but, it did not dampen our spirits and we all continued to have fun.   On Sunday morning the creek had again risen again so fishing was not productive.  Over all we caught numerous Silver salmon, Chum Salmon, Pink Salmon in the 7 to 12 pound range and a few Rainbow trout in the 10 to 18 inch range.  We want to thank Joe Mathis, owner of Montana Creek Campground for graciously allowing us to camp in the overflow camp area so we had an excellent staging area for fishing.

Micah and Charlie