Fishing at Tanignak Lake, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  In Alaska, Tanignak Lake falls inside Kodiak Island Borough. Beyond the shoreline you have rolling hill. At roughly 19 acres, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. Kodiak is the closest place, 2.2 miles off. Anchorage sits 252 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Tanignak Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Survey and observation records for Kodiak Island Borough include walleye pollock, Pacific cod, Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon and Chum salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Tanignak Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, August reads 54°F and January reads 32°F. The calendar is generous: something works in nearly every month. Some winters give nothing at all, so plan for open water. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to fish here. Plan around that when you fish Tanignak Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. There is a jetty half a mile off, worth knowing on a busy day. Walleye come to jigs worked slow near bottom, and to trolled crankbaits along the drops at dusk. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Icehouse Lake is 0.3 miles off. Nothing on Tanignak Lake should be assumed from this page alone.