Eshamy Lake in Chugach Census Area: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in Chugach Census Area, Alaska. It lies 144 feet above sea level. The water covers around 970 acres, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. You are looking at roughly 12 miles of shoreline, with plenty of water between access points. The closest town, Bear Creek, is 48 miles away. Anchorage is the closest city, 81 miles away. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Eshamy Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Reported across Chugach Census Area: Chum salmon, pink salmon, Pacific cod, walleye pollock and Coho salmon. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Eshamy Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 55°F and January reads 25°F. Mild ends to the year keep the season long. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. April and May are the settled weeks, with October close behind. Plan around that when you fish Eshamy Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Ewan Lake, 3.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position on Eshamy Lake before loading the car.