Fishing Sunken Island Lake in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  Within Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, you have Sunken Island Lake. What surrounds it is lake country bush. It measures about 85 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. About 3.1 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. The closest town, Sterling, is 5.7 miles distant. Anchorage sits 55 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Sunken Island Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Kenai Peninsula Borough cover northern pike, sockeye salmon and rainbow trout. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Sunken Island Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 15°F to 56°F. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. The water is typically free of ice between late April and early November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. That is the shape of the year on Sunken Island Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping shows no built access close by; expect to walk in from wherever you can leave the car. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. For a change of water, Donkey Lake is 1.2 miles distant. Treat Sunken Island Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.