Fishing Rock Lake in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  This water sits in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska. It sits at 217 feet above sea level. It measures some 348 acres, and wind has room to build across it. At about 3.3 miles of edge, most people work one arm at a time. It is among the larger waters listed here for Kenai Peninsula Borough. Start from Sterling, 9.1 miles down the road. It is 46 miles to Anchorage, the nearest city. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Rock Lake

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Kenai Peninsula Borough, recorded fish include northern pike, sockeye salmon, rainbow trout and Coho salmon. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Rock Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 57°F and January at 16°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about early November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. On Rock Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Meadow Lake, 1.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Rock Lake in particular, ask before you travel.