Puntilla Lake, Alaska: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Alaska is where Puntilla Lake sits. Around the bank it is spruce and muskeg. Roughly 98 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 1.9 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Nearest place of any size is Willow, 91 miles away. The nearest city of size is Anchorage, 111 miles away. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Puntilla Lake

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Matanuska-Susitna Borough records list rainbow trout, Coho salmon and sockeye salmon among the fish reported. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Take Puntilla Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 54°F at the top of summer and 4°F at the bottom of winter. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near mid May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid May and starts locking again about mid October. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. At Puntilla Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is a pier recorded roughly half a mile away. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Halfway Lake sits 6.7 miles off and takes the overflow. Nothing on Puntilla Lake should be assumed from this page alone.