Fall Lake, Alaska: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  This water sits in City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska. It sits 3.9 miles in from the sea. Around 149 acres of surface means several distinct areas to work. Roughly 2.2 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. The town to know is Wrangell, 31 miles out. It is 601 miles to Vancouver, the nearest city. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Fall Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for City and Borough of Wrangell include Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, Coho salmon and pink salmon. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Work Fall Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  August runs about 52°F on average, January about 23°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. Open water usually runs from late April until about mid November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Plan around that when you fish Fall Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. The nearest alternative is Campbell Lake, 1.4 miles out. Confirm access to Fall Lake locally before you travel.