Shelter Lake Fishing in Juneau City and Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  Shelter Lake lies within the bounds of Juneau City and Borough, Alaska. The setting is mixed woodland. Roughly 65 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Roughly 1.8 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. It is a small entry by Juneau City and Borough standards. Head to Juneau, 18 miles away, for anything you forgot. Haines is 60 miles away, with Skagway at 74 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Shelter Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Open biodiversity records for Juneau City and Borough list Chum salmon, sockeye salmon, Coho salmon, pink salmon and Dolly Varden. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Read Shelter Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 58°F and January at 31°F. The year turns gently, without extremes at either end. In a normal year the cover is thin and short-lived. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to fish here. Time your trip to Shelter Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Peterson Lake sits 5.1 miles off and takes the overflow. Check the current arrangement for Shelter Lake.