Sunrise Lake in Kenai Peninsula Borough: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Sunrise Lake sits in Kenai Peninsula Borough, out in Alaska. Around the bank it is mixed forest. It measures about 71 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Shoreline comes to about 1.8 miles, small enough to learn in a day. The nearest town is Sterling, 18 miles away. The big place round here is Anchorage, 39 miles distant. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Sunrise Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Fish documented in Kenai Peninsula Borough 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. At Sunrise Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 16°F to 57°F. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near early November: that is the shape of an average year. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. Sunrise Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. State or provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. For a change of water, Krein Lake is 0.7 miles distant. Nothing here settles the position at Sunrise Lake for certain.