Barley Lake Fishing in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, is where Barley Lake sits. Beyond the shoreline you have rolling bush. Surface area runs to about 22 acres — small enough to read in one session. With about 0.9 miles of edge, you can try several depths in one session. It is a small entry by Matanuska-Susitna Borough standards. You are 12 miles from Anchorage. Anchorage is the closest city, 12 miles away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Barley Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Fish documented in Matanuska-Susitna Borough include rainbow trout, Coho salmon and sockeye salmon. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Barley Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 12°F to 58°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around late April. From about late April to around early November, expect open water on the long-run figures. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Barley Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Failing this one, try Farmer Lake, 1.1 miles away. Where Barley Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.