Summit Lake, Alaska: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Out in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, sits Summit Lake. The bank is 1,362 feet above sea level. It measures some 248 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. Girdwood is the closest town at 24 miles. Further out sit Bear Creek (32 miles) and Seward (36 miles). It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Summit Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Across Kenai Peninsula Borough, recorded fish include northern pike, sockeye salmon, rainbow trout, Coho salmon and Chinook salmon. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Summit Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 52°F; the cold one sits at 19°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. After mid May the shallows warm and the fish move up. Expect the water usable from around mid May until roughly late October. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. That shapes the year on Summit Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is somewhere to leave the car, half a mile off. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. The nearest alternative is Lower Summit Lake, 2.2 miles out. Where Summit Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.