Fishing Lake Nellie in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  In Alaska, Lake Nellie falls inside Ketchikan Gateway Borough. It lies 423 feet above sea level. At about 204 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Shoreline length is close to 3.2 miles, and each section fishes a little differently. Wrangell is the closest town at 43 miles. The big place round here is Vancouver, 587 miles distant. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lake Nellie

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Survey and observation records for Ketchikan Gateway Borough include pink salmon, Chum salmon, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon and sockeye salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Lake Nellie the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 54°F, the coldest about 25°F. Neither winter nor summer shuts things down for long. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. February into May fishes hardest as the water warms. Lake Nellie runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Lake Bess is 1.1 miles distant. Check the position on Lake Nellie before loading the car.