Lower Tangle Lake, Alaska: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Within Copper River Census Area, Alaska, you have Lower Tangle Lake. Beyond the shoreline you have dry rangeland. It runs to roughly 222 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Compared with other Alaska water on our list, it sits high. Deltana is the closest town at 56 miles. Beyond it, Tok at 94 miles and Salcha at 100 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lower Tangle Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for Copper River Census Area names Arctic grayling, Chinook salmon, round whitefish and longnose sucker. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Anyone new to Lower Tangle Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 53°F and January at 0°F. Everything is compressed into the middle of the year. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late May. Ice clears near late May and comes back about mid October in a typical year. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. It sets the rhythm of the year at Lower Tangle Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. No Good Lake sits 2.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Treat Lower Tangle Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.