Jacobsen Lake near Wasilla: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  In Alaska, Jacobsen Lake belongs to Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The water sits 331 feet up. With some 58 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 1.6 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. 3.2 miles away sits Wasilla, the nearest town. Anchorage is the closest city, 28 miles away. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Jacobsen Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Open biodiversity records for Matanuska-Susitna Borough list rainbow trout, Coho salmon, sockeye salmon and longnose sucker. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Jacobsen Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 58°F at the top of summer and 14°F at the bottom of winter. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about early November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Plan any trip to Jacobsen Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Parking is close: a car park sits half a mile from the bank. Mapping shows a picnic spot within half a mile. There are toilets mapped about half a mile away. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Lucile Lake sits 2.1 miles off and takes the overflow. None of that is settled for Jacobsen Lake in what we hold.