Walby Lake Fishing Guide, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska

• Overview

  Walby Lake is one of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough listings for Alaska. The water sits 397 feet up. With some 50 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. With about 1.3 miles of edge, you can try several depths in one session. The closest town, Farm Loop, is 2.8 miles away. Lakes lies 3.2 miles off, Gateway another 3.2 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Walby Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Open biodiversity records for Matanuska-Susitna Borough list rainbow trout, Coho salmon, sockeye salmon, longnose sucker and Arctic charr. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. The shape of Walby Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 58°F in July and bottom out at 15°F in January. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly late April. On average, late April opens the water and early November closes it again. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. At Walby Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. The nearest mapped parking is half a mile away, so the last stretch is on foot. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Gooding Lake is 1.1 miles distant. For Walby Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.