Fishing Fourteenmile Lake in Copper River Census Area, Alaska

• Overview

  Alaska holds Fourteenmile Lake, in Copper River Census Area. Height above sea level is 3,596 feet. The water covers some 95 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Roughly 1.9 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Compared with other Alaska water on our list, it sits high. You are 58 miles from Deltana. Then Tok, 89 miles, and Salcha, 106 miles. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Fourteenmile Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Records held for Copper River Census Area cover Arctic grayling, Chinook salmon, round whitefish and longnose sucker. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Fourteenmile Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -1°F in January up to 53°F in July. The year here is short and sharp: a long lid, then a burst of open water. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late May. Ice clears near late May and comes back about mid October in a typical year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. On Fourteenmile Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Octopus Lake sits 2.8 miles off and takes the overflow. Check the position on Fourteenmile Lake before loading the car.