Fishing at Lake Maude, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  Within Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, you have Lake Maude. Salt water lies 2 miles off. Roughly 142 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The bank runs about 2.3 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Ketchikan sits 43 miles from the bank. It is 585 miles to Vancouver, the nearest city. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lake Maude

  Depth figures are not published for this one. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Public occurrence data for Ketchikan Gateway Borough names pink salmon, Chum salmon, Chinook salmon and Coho salmon. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. The near bank of Lake Maude is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect August to average close to 56°F, with January the cold end at about 27°F. The swings are modest, so patterns change slowly. Some winters give nothing at all, so plan for open water. April and May are the settled weeks, with October close behind. On Lake Maude the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Lake Shelokum is 1.6 miles off. None of that is settled for Lake Maude in what we hold.