South Saddle Lake, Alaska: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  The Ketchikan Gateway Borough entry here is South Saddle Lake, in Alaska. Elevation runs to 328 feet. Roughly 26 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. With about 0.8 miles of edge, you can try several depths in one session. It is one of the smaller waters we list in Ketchikan Gateway Borough. Supplies mean a trip to Ketchikan, 17 miles off. Vancouver is the closest city, 556 miles away. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on South Saddle Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Ketchikan Gateway Borough, recorded fish include pink salmon, Chum salmon, Chinook salmon and Coho salmon. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. South Saddle Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give August about 57°F and January about 30°F. In milder years the surface never sets. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. It sets the rhythm of the year at South Saddle Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. 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 the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. North Saddle Lake sits 1.2 miles off and takes the overflow. Rules at South Saddle Lake are worth checking on the day.