Burkholder Lake in Matanuska-Susitna Borough: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Burkholder Lake is an Alaska water. The shore lies 8.9 miles out. This is a pocket water of some 10 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Most waters listed here for Matanuska-Susitna Borough are larger. The town to know is Butte, 1.9 miles out. Anchorage is the closest city, 38 miles away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Burkholder Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Matanuska-Susitna Borough list rainbow trout, Coho salmon, sockeye salmon and longnose sucker. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Burkholder Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 14°F and July at about 58°F, the water has a wide range to work through. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. Climate figures give an open season running late April to early November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Plan around that when you fish Burkholder Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Falks Lake sits 1.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Ask locally about Burkholder Lake if anything is unclear.