REPORT: My neighbor and I decided to take our sons down to Twentymile on the incoming PM tide today instead of messing around Ship Creek. Anyways, long story short, we dipped for about 1.5 hours and managed to scoop up about a 5 gallon buckets worth. Scooping was pretty consistent with 1 or 2 fish a scoop and the occasional 4 being our best. Anyways, the boys had a blast and that's all that counts!

REPORT: Went to Jewel Lake the ice is out pretty far now. Caught a few, son caught a couple 10-12 inchers. FYI for anyone to go out and catch a few. Beware you may not be able to retain for you crazy meat fisherman! Was fun to wet a line but also to catch a few. Pinch your barbs down people! I always let 'em go.

REPORT: I need to break my new motor in on one of these lakes in the next couple of weeks. I was thinking I may want to try for lake trout a while since I will be out there. I have never done this. If anybody can give me any tips on setup, gear, trolling? etc.. it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

REPORT: Response to pseudoguide, taken from May 7th ADF&G fishing report:

The Susitna River is at least a week late breaking up this year, meaning the Susitna is not navigable at present. Boaters should check conditions thoroughly before planning a trip.

[AOJ: I can add that the Kenai River is lower than I've ever seen it at this time and only the tidewater section would be navigable at this time. Launching at Stewarts would not allow navigating above Big Eddy or below Riverbend RV park as you wouldn't be able to get back up through the shallows. Launching at Pillars, if they are open yet, would not allow navigating very far up or down due to shallow gravel bars. Kenai City dock is open and you can run upriver from there and fish all the way up past Eagle Rock if you are careful. ]

REPORT: Dozen fishers near Crooked Creek.. didn't catch anything not even a bite.. no one in the river didn't hook on to anything.. seemed like the steelies aren't in... a lot of wind gusts hard to cast.. water level is decent.

[AOJ: Actually the steelhead are heading out of Crooked Creek and back to the ocean. They hang around the confluence for a bit before continuing down river....perhaps to feed on some of the smolt heading downstream too. ]

REPORT: Hello Ladies and Gents,

Does any one out there know if there is enough water in the Big Su for 16' River boat? Is the Deshka Landing open yet? I just want to get back out on the creek in my boat!

REPORT: Ice is out on Canoe lake and Irene Lake. Nothing big but a few grayling and rainbows. Fly is a dark damsel nymph, both rainbow and grayling are feeding on them now. Not very much size to the grayling. They are last year plant and they are about 9 inches. Rainbows run 9 to 12. Water is cold, don't go on a windy day.

REPORT: Saw some birds at 20 mile while driving by it. On my way home later that day I saw a few people getting ready to net hooligan. Anyone have any luck lately?

[AOJ: See post below! They're here.]

REPORT:

REPORT: Went down to try Lucky Pierre charters for some fish with my father-in-law. The trip was nice on the way down but the weather was not. Bad wind and seas kept us on land. The owner was unhappy about having to stay in but we respect his call and will be going back with them later this summer. So to keep the trip from being a total loss we bought some clamming gear and headed out for low tide. The razors didn't let us down. We took home about 50 in 2 hours. Oh yeah the story at the charter was, they boated a 128 pounder on Saturday. Good luck to all.

REPORT: Drove to Seward from Anchorage...didn't see anyone at 20mile River for hooligan...still kinda cold... the pass to Seward still has lots of snow...all lakes on the way getting thin... but still locked up pretty good. Summit Lake locked up still...could be another couple of weeks befor and good open water...didn't get to Kenai side of Sterling hwy..but imagine it is the same...gettin real itchy to fish, driving my family crazy lol...everyone get out the torches and pitch forks for the weather man...lol. Hows the Valley's lakes ????? Anyone know how much open water is out there????

REPORT: mrfishinalaska, The ice went out of Kenai Lake on Saturday. 3/4 of the lake was ice free anyway with the ice piled up on the west shore. Good luck.

REPORT: Arrived at MC about 9 AM under bright sunshine and gentle breeze. Water level up just a little, clarity good. Lots of ice on shore and water very cold. Had a new rod & reel to try out and it was good just to be casting again. No fish. One guy mentioned he caught a trout the night before. Not many anglers out trying yet. Lunch at Sheep Creek Lodge, good as always.
Fish On!
S 3

REPORT: Just wonder where and what is biting...Also looking for people to go fishing with!

terrilyn_2000@yahoo.com

REPORT: Took a walk along Ship from just north of the train trestle, all the way to the dam. No sign of fish yet. 99% of the ice is gone. Water clarity was really poor.

REPORT: Went to Echo Lake yesterday and today. Good fishing yesterday. The cloudy skies I think prevented the same today. Yesterday the trout were hitting anything that flashed. I used 1/8 oz spinners in bronze and silver and caught my limit. Nothing huge but good table fare. Worked the lee side of the lake using waders to get at the good cover.

Loberg Lake wasn't as productive, but the lilies are already starting to break the surface. Lots of ducks.

Tight lines.

REPORT: Does any one have any information on the ice status at Kenai Lake? My friends and I usually do an early spring trip down there for lake trout and we are back in Southcentral a little early this year.

Any posts would be appreciated.

BTW - Anybody heading South to SE bring your rods, the dollies and cutts in and around Juneau are great this time of year. Best places are downtown below the Douglas Island Bridge for dollies, or at the mouth of Peterson Creek below the salt chuck for cutts.

REPORT: I will make a drive down to 20 Mile this weekend. I know it is early, but has anyone heard about hooligan yet? I will post Sat evening to update.

[AOJ: I've got a call in to a friend who usually knows when the Kenai fish start arriving too so will add those details if they become available. ]

REPORT: Walked the length of the tailrace, water was low and clear but didn't see any fish at all.

REPORT: Went to check ice at Kepler Bradley yesterday.  Echo Lake has zero ice now.  Met a gentleman who gave me some pointers and some shrimp.  Caught a few baby bows but that was it.  Pretty windy.  Lots of people bringing their kids. The other K-B lakes are still 95% covered but it's thin ice and slush.  I'm guessing a day or two. Loberg Lake off the Trunk Rd exit has an open spot on the opposite side from the access ramp by the gravel pit.  It looks like there's another ramp by the opening that I will try get to today.  Hopefully that's all public road/access too.

REPORT: Fished out there 2 weeks ago. Water was cloudy I wouldn't be a bit suprised if the fish could even see. I don't see it clearing up anytime soon.

REPORT: During the last month I've fished the Kenai near the bridge on the main road. On my first day I caught five bows up to 23 inches and an eleven pound silver 'holdover'. Pretty red, but a decent dance. The second time out I caught two 'bows', the second one measured 27 inches. And I hit another silver, about 5 pounds. From there on I've caught a total of two fish. With the snow falling today, I thank the fishin gods that I've had some action.

[AOJ: Six inches in Soldotna this morning. ]

REPORT: Does anybody know the ice situation on the lake so far? I haven't been able to get out there and check it out lately. I'm itching to get the fly line in the water. Thanks guys in advanced.

REPORT: Does anyone have any info on spring trout fishing at the race? I caught a few last summer while fishing for kings and silvers. Just wanted to know if anyone has given it a shot yet. I guess it would be worth a try. There was an article in ADN a couple years back claiming an angler caught a silver in April ( wonder how true that is).

P.S. Crimp your barb!

REPORT: More of an observation then report...

Drove down the arm for the scenery and weather. It's still a bit early for hooligan, but we saw several eagles and seagulls out on the mud for some reason. Usually they don't gather until the fish show up...early run, maybe? Didn't see anyone prospecting, but I wouldn't be yet, either.

{AOJ: Haven't heard anyone sampling the Kenai yet either. Will check around.]

REPORT: Took the brand new boat out for our first trip. It ran quite nice and we headed out for a few hours and fished and set 2 shrimp pots. Tried our hand at fishing and it was very slow, ended up catching one red irish lord.

Hooked into a very nice ling cod, but I was fishing with my king rod and didn't get a good enough hook set. He sat on the bottom for about 10 min before we backed the boat up and got him to start coming up. Then spit the hook after about 20 min right before he got to the boat. I was bummed, it felt like a really nice one. Caught about 50 shrimp and the weather was gorgeous so that made it great. A wee early for fishing but still lots of good weather made the trip.

REPORT: Does anyone know if the Skilak Lake lower campgound boat launch is usable yet? I'm looking to launch a raft and float to Dot's landing.

[AOJ: I just called the F&W office. There is still lake ice blockage between the ramp and the river. So no through passage as of this past weekend. Temperatures are expected to remain in the 50's this week and they expect possibly by this coming weekend the ice will be open from the launch to the river outlet. You can give the Refuge office a call later this week, 262-7021, to find out the latest ice conditions. Keep in mind the new fishing regulations that have been activated this year regarding fishing below Skilak in the spring.

REPORT: Fished in coming tide. Something hit and hit hard. Hooked up three times.

[AOJ: Might have been a steelhead. Still a bit early for kings. A reminder to those anxious to wet a line in the Kasilof, the regs are still artificial only, single hook until bait is allowed on May 15th. Multi-colored yarn flies and metallic corkies seem to work the best for those who are successful. ]

REPORT: Homer king trolling? Any body been out yet?

Kasilof any news on water conditions? Any steel in the water worth driving all the way from Wasilla for yet? Kenai Lake, highway bridge how is the bow fishing this time of year?

REPORT: This really isn't a report just a thank you to the ones that are starting to send in reports. The snows of the last week are discouraging but at least there is going to be lots of runoff for the rivers. I plan on floating the Kenai in early May. My personal earliest King was May 4 about 10 years ago. Popped in at Stewart's due to the nice hole for launching and went around to falling in where I waited and waited for the high tide. Caught a nice chrome male about 30 lb on a kwikfish (single hook). Only two other boats fishing all day, Bob Penny is one and Ty Conklin and his brother were in another boat (Ty is currently a goalie for Pittsburg Penguins and grew up in Anchorage. Hobie Baker finalist at New Hampshire. UAA coach at time didn't think he was good enough. Coach is now gone.) Tight Lines and good luck on the season. I am raring to go. Be careful if you go, the water is and will be skinny.

[AOJ: To all the Kenai early king run anglers, with the BOF changes in regulations boosting the slot limit up to 46 inches now for a keeper means that a 40 pound early run king is now a doable goal, whereas at 44 inches a 40# fish was near impossible. At least now you have a chance at punching a decent fish for the freezer in the early run.]

REPORT: Intended on going to South Rolly Lake but didn't realize the road was closed. Decided to hike to Nancy Lake and set some tip ups with herring to see what bites. Sat for 6 hours and had a mad bandit pike mess with me, but couldn't get a hook set. The ice was still VERY thick 3 feet and vehicles still driving on the lake. Lot's of ice rumbling.

REPORT: Hit Big Lake the day before the regs changed for a little bit and the burbot were biting, got three in short time and lost as many in just a couple of hours. There's still plenty of ice at least three feet where we were at if anyone is curious. No char this time, might go again to look for that monster char that's there. Are them hooligan running in the Kenai yet? Do they use a dipnet like 20 Mile? We are gonna try by the Warren Ames bridge this year and hopefully get a few.

[AOJ: Ice chunks still abound along the shoreline. Yes they do use dipnets on the Kenai but most anglers use a 20 foot hooligan gillnet. The specs are in the fishing regulations booklet outlining the size restrictions for the web and length. These are hung on a pole and pushed out into the river using another hinged pole for a handle and net control. Then you push it out and walk with the current, either incoming or outgoing. Best is after the tide turns and starts out as it tends to make the hooligan move closer to the bank where less current is. For using a dipnet the best spot is at the point on the mouth where the sockeye dippers go on the south shore. Cleaner gravel walking for one. And you can drive down the beach to the spot with a 4x4 or atv.]

REPORT: Snow still covering Crooked Creek. Walked out today, seen a few guys no fish. Fished off the edge of ice at the outlet of Crooked Creek. No takers just a nice day, try again in a couple of weeks. Water low.

REPORT: Has anyone fished the Kasilof for steelhead yet? I live in Anchorage and its a long drive just to see if anything is up. Although, I have been striking out on the Kenai so whats a few more miles I guess. Everyone around Cooper Landing says leeches and sculpins, maybe I'm just in the wrong spot....Any help for either river would be great.

[AOJ: The outlet of Kenai Lake is a popular rainbow fishery around the bridge area...all winter actually. But now there should be a number of folks there with the days warming up....uh, except last night was so cold we have slush running in the Kenai in Soldotna this morning. The late winter silvers are pretty much gone at the bridge so eggs/beads aren't too effective. Big rainbows are feeding on flesh still, right through spawning time. I have no word on the Kasilof steelies so far. Give Soldotna F&G 262-9368 a call to ask a biologist, or better yet, the FWP officers patrolling the fisheries might have a better handle on it. Ask for their number from F&G. Jerry Garcia's continue to be one of the most effective patterns to fish for those outgoing steelhead. You know, the tied dyed gob of colored yarn. Good Luck. ]

REPORT: Fishing was very productive, caught our limit - there was 2 of us, biggest was 24 inches and 'bout two 1.2 pounds, jigging flashers and single hooks with power bait or shimp, it was a beautiful day on the lake. Alot of people out there from Valdez, ice is still bout 3 feet thick. [AOJ: Hmm, still extension time! ]

REPORT: This part isn't a real report but referring to the question of ice on Willow Creek. They are still froze up pretty good. I snowmachined down Kashwitna River up the Big Su on Sunday. Lots of ice but starting to thaw a bit. And I'm heading to Amber Lake this weekend. Have heard there is some good pike fishing up here so we will see. Will report.

[AOJ: When I saw the golf course opening up last week and no snow anywhere I didn't think there was any snowmachining left up that way. I guess on the frozen stuff. Thanks for the report on Willow. ]

REPORT: Have some family coming to town and want to wet a line. Does anyone know the conditions up at the mouth of the Willow or Montana? Looking to get out for 5-6 hours on Saturday the 5th and want to hook into some Bows if the rivers are open.

[AOJ: Haven't heard a word on conditions up that way yet. Might be a bit early. Kenai River ice went out this week in Soldotna so the river is clear from Skilak down. Mucho 6 foot thick shoreline though in this lower end. Kasilof ice went out over a week ago and spring outgoing steelhead at Crooked Creek confluence is pretty much the only game on the Peninsula other than some great ice fishing yet. All the lakes have plenty of ice. Last I heard the Valley had plenty on the lakes too. Pike are going into their spring spawn now so tip up action could be hot for anglers wanting to soak some herring. Great fun for the kids too. ]

REPORT: Went to Lake Louise and started fishing Sat. Afternoon. Fished off of a point in 50-85 ft. of water. Used tip/ups with herring and jigged airplane jigs and crocodiles with jigging rods. fished until 9:00....skunked for Saturday. Sunday....went back to the same point, but tried to set-up in 14' of water, and placed tip-ups all the way out to 50'. By Sunday afternoon I got rid of all hardware on my rods, and fished herring on plain hooks. Caught and released one laker about 23 inches and skinny. Also caught a 28 inch burbot. Also worth mentioning....ice thickness is about 3 ft. If you don't have an extension, be careful, and bring a spud bar. Temps on Saturday night were down to -5 below at Lake Louise Lodge.

frydaddy

REPORT: Made the last trip out to Figure 8. Trail very sloppy, but a nice warm day. Action was very steady and we had lots of flags. Fish were small with one around 29 inches. He had a small bite mark near the back of his stomach. Makes you wonder how big of a pike it took to pick on this guy. lol. time to get ready for salmon!

[AOJ: I caught a 4 pounder one spring that had penetrating slash marks on each side of its belly from an attack below. They say Pike can eat a fish that is 40% of its body weight.]

REPORT: Fished for rainbows and pike on the East end of the lake for 3 hrs tonite. No bites and no fish sighted. Fished tip-ups with herring, and jigged with the storm baby pike minnows. Tomorrow I'm going to set-up right in front of the lake infeed. I'm thinking that the warmer water, along with some shallow weedbeds, might produce.

REPORT: Blew the Winter King Derby in Homer off and headed up to Hidden Lake for some time on the ice. (3) of us caught (6) lake trout with the biggest weighing in at 6 lbs 13 oz. Rest were 3 lbs. 8 oz and up - mostly between 4 and 5 lbs.

6 for 12 for 50% catch rate on chances - did have a monster hooked (guessing over 10 lbs) but he did a magnificant head shake and spit the jig.

Ice was 17 inches and over - but making lots of noise. Sign posted at the boat launch entrance to be wary of thin ice.

REPORT: Spent two hours on flat horn lake. warm day, sunny. Started out on the point and fished both sides. Ended up having better luck on the edge of Flathorn International Airport. Came up with three 16 inchers. If you dont know why I named the runway what I did, just get too close with your 4wheeler or snowmobile. Also, the taxiways seem to be a cause for contention too. She will come and she will yell. The runway is not private property, but I would save a happy trip by staying away from that wild woman. Go get em' Big

REPORT: This is the second trip I have made to the infamous lake that shouldn't have lake trout in it. Caught 15-20 lake trout and four dollies today. The fish ranged in size from 8-14 inches. I wouldn't leave home without the auger extension for this lake. Definitely over 40 inches. For everyone wondering what lake I am talking about search the ADN's fish stories for the 22 pound laker taken here last fall. Good luck, lakers are real light biters.

[AOJ: I talked with Keith at the Ranger's Shack on the Nancy Lakes Parkway a few days ago and he said Valley ice up that way is running about 30 inches with little snow left on the lakes due to thaw and freeze cycles. The extension is a good idea! ]

REPORT: Started fishing about 10:30. The weather was great about 34 and sun a shining only caught two bows but they were great size, both about 26 inches. Spent all day down there and saw a lot of fish caught on slow fishing. Sculpins and leeches. Either way I beat the hell out of working. Tight lines.

REPORT: I moved my ice fishing house from Pippen Lake to Lake Susitna on 3-1-08 we starting fishing about 11:00 am at 11:15 we hit a 14lb laker. We saw it come in and hit the storm jig (rubber fish) my fish house sits in about 25 feet of water. We saw about 20 lake trout that day and another 7 or so on 3-2-08. We only had two fish bites over the two day period but to watch those monster fish through a 2'x 6' hole is awesome. We saw some 20lb fish but could not get them to take the bait. We were using herring and lots of different jigs. Ice thickenss was about 36 inches deep. I've been told to move into about 6 feet of water for better results. We'll see. I will update later.

REPORT: Punched several holes in upper Fire Lake today from 12:00-4:00. Tried the whole arsenal, and did alot of moving. Zero fish. One of our party did lose a pole to a fish, though. She wasn't quite fast enough. lol. This is actually the second trip to upper Fire Lake in two weeks, and with the same result. I caught nice rainbows on every trip last year, so I'm kinda perplexed. I'm wondering if the northerns made their way up the little creek from lower Fire Lake?. KK? Do you know anything about this? By the way, even with no fish, it sure is good to be out and get the kids away from the xbox360's.
thx for the opportunity to report,
frydaddy

[AOJ: Unfortunately upper Fire Lake is on the confirmed pike waters list. Pike Waters of Southcentral. Most folks have been fishing lower Fire for pike but from the fishing results on upper you have noticed it might be time to switch to some whole herring and also jigging some big spoons like Crocodiles and Daredevils. If the trout have become scarce due to the pike population it should be fairly easy to coax a big northern to the hook. The moon phase is heading towards full and that is always a good time to fish pike on tip ups. Sometimes you can't keep up with the flags.]

REPORT: This may not make the AOJ - and if not - could you please advise.

Yes I fish...no, I'm not a pilot.

I live on Fire Lake and enjoy watching and greeting those who fish this neat resource.

While not a pilot - I am concerned to find folks building large snow walls arount their spear holes. This last one 2 feet thick and 3 feet high pretty much in the middle of the lake between the island and the east shore. Other times, I have found 3x4 foot chunks of ice from spear holes. Each of these left to set hard and freeze. Tough to move.

Biking the lake today in the early evening (flat light) - from a 1/4 mile out - you just cant see 'em. I can only imagine what a Supercub on skis would do against one of these!

I know I'm preaching to the choir on this one - and most of your readers would pick up on this. For those who never thought about this... I'm just hoping to save a life or two of the new or unaware pilot landing down that main section of lake.

Here's to a drag free drift!
Thanks
TJE

REPORT: Got to the lake around 2:30, kind of a late start and set up 12 tip ups (3 of us). Fished for a few hours with nothing biting. Saw the one of the public use cabins nearby, got bored and went and looked at it. The door was unlocked and it was obvious no one was there so we took a peek inside. There was a logbook with previous fishing trips and they all said the same thing: got bored, no fish. Anyway, got one flag and one tiny hammerhandle. I think I will wait till spring to come back to this lake with my canoe. Find where there really at!

[AOJ: Trapper Lake is a good choice. You appear to have a snowmachine and I've read its only 5 miles on the trail from the mouth of Sheep Creek, across the Su and to Trapper. The info said check with locals for location of trail. That beats a 20 mile ride down the Trapper Creek Trail on the other side of the river. Some big pike remain in Trapper. I get a pic or two every winter of 15 to 20 pounders. ]

REPORT: Fished two days in a row out on Kenai Lake past the 1/4 mile cut off. Maybe 18 to 30 feet of water. Jigging tiny rigs, about 1/32 ounce tipped with a bit of roe or single egg. Anything bigger wouldn't catch the whitefish. All the lakers were pan-sized but great eating. Allowed 10 a day on those. Limited both days. Got a few whitefish in the bunch. Partner did get two lakers 1# and 1.5#. Ice was pushing 20 inches or so out there. Eagles loved the fish guts and heads we left for them. Great to see an eagle swoop down and nail a carcass just six feet away. Watch your whole fish on the ice!! Drill a couple shallow holes to drop your fish in for keeping. If you want them thawed drill a complete hole very close by and chip a water slot to the 'fish box' to keep them fresh. Good luck. Great day and plenty of sun.

REPORT: I read some reports one guy was talking about if it was still good fishing since I turned those guys in there at Mirror. If you fish over by the boy and girls camp building there I think you are fishing in about a foot of water and there are fish all over there. That is where they loaded there 6 carrs bags full of fish. They could not get enough in a 5 gallon bucket like they like. You don't have to worry about those guys ever fishing out there again anyway because they lost there vehicles and I'm sure they will lose there passports as well. I hope all those fish they killed was worth it. Its just ignorant to do it there could have been a lot of fun for peoples' little kids to catch and release. Also if anyone is wondering why those people do that up here is they go back to there other countries and sell them to people and make big money because they don't have those fish over there. They also go to the Kenai and catch 30 reds in a day take those back and sell them too.

How is Flat Horn Lake producing right now for nice pike? I'm in the hunt for trying to find something close to 20 pounds to mount if any good areas in mind would be helpful.

good luck out there tight lines.

REPORT: Looking for a ride in the Homer Winter King Derby on March 22 - will share costs. Worried about putting my 18' Alumaweld Sea Dory in so early in the year. Any information is appreciated and sorry this is not a fishing report!! Write me at gerfsinwa@comcast.net

REPORT: 2 1/4 mile hike into the lake. Trail OK for walking. Ice 2 feet. Two of us worked for a number of hours in various spots trying to zero in on the fish with limited success. My friend got one rainbow about 19 inches. Got a number of coho smolt about 5 1/2 inches hitting the shrimp tipped jigs. Could have done as well or better in the roadside lakes. Nice weather, calm, just under freezing.

REPORT: There has got to be an obscene amount of these little things swimming in Finger Lake! We were catching them one right after another. The largest was 12 inches...but most were averaging 8 inches.
Single eggs seemed to be the key!
P.S. The ice is still extremely thick...2-3' in most places.

REPORT: Sunday my 3 year old said 'Dad, I wanna go fishing' so we headed out to the lake. Caught 4 Rainbows in the 16 inch category. They hit on rubber jigs tipped with shrimp but they turned up their noses at salmon eggs. Had a great time.

[AOJ: I have some friends who use little rubber tail jigs with a bit of shrimp too and have the same results. The lines with eggs often see little action compared to the jig with some scent. They are hiking into Campfire Lake (?) out in Swanson River today so I'll have a report later from there. Kenai Lake was very hot last week for small lakers about 12 inches on the same rigs fishing past the 1/4 mile restriction zone above the bridge. A few rainbows were there too but smallish.]

REPORT: Not a real fishing report, but a nice story:

It's compared to finding a needle in a haystack. That is finding a white killer whale in the Aleutian Islands.

That's what happened February 23rd from the Kodiak based Oscar Dyson that was on a research expedition for NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Pictures:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/images/whiteorca1.jpg
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/images/whiteorca3.jpg
(Found at Juneau Daily News)

Spring is coming - Wish you a good time up there
Hans

REPORT: Fished several lakes today from 8:30am to 3:30pm aprox. Used cured shrimp, jigs, roe and herring. We got into the landlocks pretty heavy in aout 15ft of water under the ice, and saw a couple 16-18 inch rainbows pulled out on chartreuse soft plastic jigs. We did have a huge dolly chase one of the small landlocks almost all the way to the hole, but couldn't get him to take anything. All in all, most of the lakes I've been catching the big bows in have really slowed down. I'm told that it is because of oxygen levels dropping this time of year makes the fish a little lethargic. If you want to take the kids, and catch lots of small landlocks, I would suggest trying Diamond Lake. There are some nice rainbows, but it's hard to get through all the salmon. Also, I would really like to try fishing for lakers sometime, but I've never done it here. If anyone has any advice on location, depth and tactics, it would be appreciated. I'm a pretty strict catch and release fisherman, so I won't be taking the trophies out. Thanks in advance.

[AOJ: As far as lake trout, I've never heard of any lakers in Big Lake drainage. And it doesn't show on the Road & Recreation map or the ADFG bathymetric lake map files. Kenai Lake, Hidden Lake, Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake are the only laker lakes unless you head towards Lake Louise or towards Denali. Regarding the bait fishing I assume you were fishing in the outlying lakes in the Big Lake area as Big Lake itself is artificial only, no bait, during the winter fishing season. Thanks for the lake tip for the kids. ]

REPORT: My fellow anglers it is with a heavy heart I will leave this beautiful state on Saturday. My job calls me to the east coast and my family and I will depart seeing as much of Alaska as we can on the way. It has been a great three years with fish stories that I will carry til my rocker days on some porch. For those who remain, tight lines, fish on, and keep this place the paradise it is. To those new here, enjoy every moment you can in this one of a kind part of the world. God bless you all.

Munky out!

[AOJ: I'll bet you can't stay away forever. It just don't work that way once you have been here a few years. Don't sell your salmon rods! -KK-]

REPORT: We fished for about 3 hours and caught maybe 6 pike. Kept 2 over 30 inches and released the rest. One was 38 inches and weighed 15 pounds. Very fat and healthy.

I would like to give a pat on the back to the pike slayer for turning in the fishermen at Mirror Lake. As a retired fish hatchery manager I have seen this practice of catching hatchery stocked fish by the bucket load before. The hatcheries are struggling to put out a quality size fish with the loss of the heated power plants. Every sport fish you catch from a hatchery program has allot of money and work to get it to catchable size. If there are more fishermen with a observant eye like the pike slayer we can stop this abuse of our resource. Good Job Slayer!!!

[AOJ: Indeed, more of us need to be vigilant in grabbing our cell phones and reporting these blatant violations which really hurt everyones' fishing chances. I recall quite a number of 'complaints' mentioned in these reports a couple winters ago about a group of russian speaking anglers that were hanging out at Flathorn and Figure 8 for days at a time and fishing far more than the 5 lines per angler. Carcass piles were all over the area, as well as their trash from this abuse. Eventually the reports to F&G must have finally nailed them because I have not had anyone mention this group in the last two winters. Those guys really took a toll on those fisheries but they seem to have recovered or weathered the onslaught well enough. P.S. That's one great pike catch! Congrats! BTW, Big Lake, in 2006 had 36 inch pike turn up in the ADFG test nets. Those should be 40 inchers now and as heavy as your lunker....right there in front of everyones' cabins. Secret fishery, shsssh!]

REPORT: I was thinking of going to ice fish in Mirror Lake. But after reading Pike Slaya's report below about those guys killing some 300 fish there, does anyone know if the numbers at Mirror Lake will still be fish able after that incident?

[AOJ: I doubt there is much impact on the fishability of the lake. Those numbers are insignificant compared to the numbers of catchable chinook salmon stocked. In 2006 there were 29,043 chinook stocked that averaged 3.7 inches at that time. There were also 4500 chinook averaging 11 inches in size stocked in the summer of 2006. For the stocking year 2007 ADFG put 11,565 (7 inchers in Sept.), 17,000 (6 inchers), 76 (12 inchers), and 2700 averaging 8.3 inches. So the lake should still contain a huge number of catchable size chinook salmon. ]

REPORT: First time heading out for pike any info on where and how to fish flat horn would be very much welcome.

[AOJ: Look for the holes. Fish in the narrows. Have your baits all in the water BEFORE sun up.]

REPORT: I was fishing Mirror last weekend. Out on Mirror I had the funnet time of my life catching those little 8 inch trout one after another. Until I happened to have 4 asian people come walking by me with 6 Carrs bags full of dead salmon and after seeing it my first intent was calling the Alaska state troopers and reporting them which finally paid off. In the long run about an hour later they nailed them on the highway. They ened up killing 70 trout and 220 salmon out there so over 300 fish which is a totally waste of fish. Who on earth would think about doing suck a thing. I've lived in Alaska for 16 years and I've never ever seen a thing like it before.

REPORT: Two days exploring/scouting Red Shirt Lake for some pike action. Ran the lake looking for angler signs but only found one spot where someone drilled a hole. Set up 4 tip ups along a reed line with the darkhouse in the middle. Popped one 2 pounder right off on bait. Drilled one about 1 1/2 pounds with the spear. There were a few very small hammerhandles tripping my flags without being able to swallow the bait. Monday morning hit it again at first light. Same slow action. Took one more on the spear, had a few more flags with no takers. No one else fishing the lake this weekend. Just snowmachine riders about.

REPORT: I haven't heard anything and was curious if anyone knows how the winter king fishing is going. I'm thinking of heading down there in a couple weeks and was wondering what the report was. Thanks..

[AOJ: I'm sure that zero degree cold snap put some ice in the harbor to slow things down. Don't know if the recent warm spell was enough to clear the ramp or not. Anyway, a couple weeks from now it won't be any concern. You might give the Homer ADFG office a call for the latest king fishing conditions and action. ]

REPORT: No reports since 2/2? Is something wrong with the system again? Just asking.

[AOJ: Nope, your inquiry arrived just fine. There hasn't been anyone sending in anything. Even the local derby on the Peninsula seems a bit lack luster this year for participants. I've seen very little fishing action around Soldotna area although on Saturday morning there were 4 vehicles at Egumen Lake's parking lot out past Sterling. I've got a friend up at Red Shirt doing some baiting fishing and spearing and will report on that shortly when he returns. Sunday wasn't very hot for him. ]

REPORT: Finally made our first trip to Figure Eight on a balmy February Saturday to work on our Alaskan tans. Reading the journal over time (our thanks to KK!) with previous angler's reported success inspired our winter adventure. 10 degree temps with gail force winds escorted our sleds, both old and new, down the gas line towards Mt. Susitna. The trailhead was difficult to find initially with the windblown, snowcovered tracks from early morning risers. Once we found the trail South, it was pretty smooth travel with the tailwind. We were determined to find the lake we had been talking about for a couple years now.

We made the lake by a late 2:30pm, upon finding several other parties already encountering success. With the loose snow blasting, we punched a group of holes, set tip-ups and erected the Qwikflip III for some relief from the winds. The holes were backfilling with windblown powder, but tip-ups 'sprung' into action before too long. I was first on flag, and worked in a nice 28 inch specimen. About the same time my brother holed a fat little guy that was more than a hammer handle, but not by much. Finding the lake was our mission, landing a couple for the frying pan was a bonus. I'm sure our next trip will bring more dinners home. Only spent a short time fishing, but satisfied with completing our misson.

I've found pike to be on of my favorite fried fish. Panko makes the best breadcrumbs I've discovered for such a mid-winter treat. Yes, negotiating the fine y-bones can be frustrating, but there is a good instructional at the AKDF&G website that will benefit any newbies and the reward of the 'daily catch' will motivate your future trips from the tastebuds on down to your pak boots. Tight lines and hooks sharp.........

[AOJ: All Southcentral public libraries are stocked with a free view video tape by F&G that is all about pike fishing, open water, bowfishing, spearing from a boat, all methods of tackle fishing and the gauntlet of winter fishing with jigs, tipups, bait, and darkhouse spearing. At the end is a great tutorial on how to fillet your pike without any bones. Shane Blakely, the instructor, showed me this method on two fish we caught one day and the next day, just from memory I filleted our next 3 with only ONE bone found in that mess of fish. Its a surefire method that will make pike a number one target for ice fishermen who have access to pike fishing.]

REPORT: I have a question. What month will the pinks start to show up in the Kenai and Anchor rivers in 2008? Should the pinks be in fishable numbers in August. I'm bringing some new guys up from Pennsylvania this August. This will be my third trip and I already can't wait. The hospiitatility and the information that the residents and this site provides is second to none, keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your amazing state.....thank you.

Todd

[AOJ: Here is the ADFG Weekly fishing reports for the Lower Kenai Peninsula streams beginning July 10th when the first few pinks began entering the streams. Select each successive week's report from the list along the bottom of the page to see how that run develops time-wise. The pink runs in those streams are nothing like what enters the Kenai so you can't expect the same experience down there. LOWER KENAI PENINSULA FISHING REPORTS. Pinks will begin entering the Kenai around the beginning of August in small numbers. By mid-August that run is in full swing with the freshest fish available. Its always advisable to fish in the lower 10-15 miles of the river for the best fish. Pinks degrade in a matter of days once in freshwater and fishing from Soldotna Bridge and upstream will not find very fresh fish...mostly HUMPies at that point. By mid-August the early run of Kenai silvers should be peaking in daily numbers. With pinks everywhere fishing with salmon roe on the bottom will usually reduce the number of pinks you catch and release for each silver caught. Fishing silvers in the tidewater or tidal influenced section of the lower river will have fewer pinks to bother with also.]

REPORT: Took advantage of the brief warm spell to hit the hardwater with a friend. Spirit Lake is producing a little better now. At least we caught our limits of stocked coho, no real size, biggest was short of a pound. Tried Hidden Lake the other day for lakers. Plenty of kokanee to be had. Both of us limited on them but never had a hit on the lake trout rigs. Ice as good, snow thin enough to truck around OK in 4x4 mode. Thursday headed out to Swanson River Rd area. Tried Sucker Lake, only very small rainbows. Hit Rainbow Trout lake and picked up a fish or two, then on to Dolly Varden lake for a bust. More warm weather is on the way, good time to get out for some enjoyable ice fishing whether you catch anything or not. Tight lines.

REPORT: Fished a few spots with no success. Have never fished this lake and am planning on heading out again this weekend. Any suggestions on the bottom, way off the bottom?

[AOJ: Fish 40 feet deep, jigging just off the bottom. Or move over near a weedline near shore and jig with spoons and leadheads for Pike - some fish should be approaching 15 lbs. now. ADFG has a bottom contour map on their website for this lake which will save you a lot of hole punching for depth finding. BIG LAKE DEPTH MAP. ]

REPORT: Spent the night on the lake and caught 3 burbot. No real size to them so we released them. I catch so many fish normally that I just catch and release which I found is frowned upon especially when you catch a 31' inch lake trout. I caught about a half dozen lakers before I caught the big one. They all ranged in size from 15 to 20 inches, not bad. Throw in a few dozen dollies and I had a pretty successful morning. I would give the name of the lake but I would be scared that people would catch and keep, and for such a valuable resource as lake trout, this would destroy the lake. If there are any die hard lake trout fishermen out there my email address is jasonclimbs@hotmail.com if you would like to go fishing.

[AOJ: I don't doubt you will get some response. Be VERY selective with who you 'invite'. All too often before you know it there are xerox'd maps circulating all over town, the valley and the bases. I know, I've been there, done that, regretted it. There are a lot of folks who love lakers, myself included. Some very fine eating to say the least. That's one good reason why they had such a huge commercial fishery in the Great Lakes before the lampreys wiped them out. It was top billing in many east coast restaurants. ]

REPORT: Had an awesome day, despite the weather being -20 at 7 a.m.. It warmed up into the black around 12:30 that day and the bite never really started until about 9:30 then slowed, but picked up once more around 1, which is pretty typical for that lake. My buddy got the local derby leader for the Char division on eggs and in about 12 feet of water, with hundreds of stocked rainbows tearing up the bait. We came out with about 7 good keepers for the frying pan, ranging from 17 - 23 inches, and only one decent little bow of about a pound and a half. Ice was about 2 feet thick, yet there was some overflow on the north end of the lake and the NW side of the island. Overall a beautiful, yet cold day, but our persistence paid off.

On another note, I'm trying to check out some other areas and brave the damnable cold on the weekends (my only days available to fish) and am considering Kenai Lake, and maybe Crescent on Saturday. Is the trail up to Crescent still open to snow machines? I heard they typically close it down to x-country skiers after the 15th. Also, what would one find effective for those lil' Grayling up there?

[AOJ: Yes the Chugach Forest trails remain open to snowmachines until 2/15. As far as Crescent grayling, no telling what would be best. Take tiny curly tail jigs in a variety of colors, some roe, some shrimp, a couple tiny silver spoons, and throw in a few wet flies like mosquito patterns and maybe a few different nymph patterns. That should be enough to find what they will take, then stick to that.

As far as Kenai Lake goes, there are a number of folks who fish in tents near the bridge end of the lake for lakers. All I have heard is small fish being taken of just a pound or two. That lake must have some big lakers in it with all the sockeye fry to feed on, just like Hidden Lake. If there are big ones being taken no one is letting the cat out of the bag. ]

REPORT: Finally made out to the lake after three years and it did not disappoint. Made it back on ATVs. The trail was a little rough but very passable. Set up quick and had flags right away. Largest was around 30 in. with the average at 25-26. Great fishing all day.

[AOJ: Thanks for the trail report. A number of us only have ATVs for winter travel so its good to hear when a trail is passable on the bikes too. Does anyone know how thick the ice is up around Willow and Nancy Lakes Rec Area lakes? Must be getting pretty thick by now. 25 below zero here in Soldotna on Super Bowl Sunday. ]

REPORT: Found a way into Lynx so went in and fished three hours with one little hammer handle to show. Definetly going to try a different spot next time, as I have heard some great things about this lake. tight lines.

[AOJ: I just checked ADFG and they don't have a bottom contour map for that lake. One great tool for scouting pike country is a small portable underwater camera. If you find the right depth to fish you still don't know if its barren, rocky, weedy, brushy, near a weedline, near a dropoff, etc. An AquaVu camera dropped down the hole, then rotated 360 and bingo, you know exactly whether its a good pike spot or not. I've got one with 3 extra batteries to last me for a couple days' of fishing. But for $28 on Amazon I bought a 400watt Inverter to plug into a cig lighter socket and can even recharge the batteries in the field on the ATV or snowmachine or or while traveling in or out of the fishing hole. I'd say the camera is the most valuable pike fishing tool, especially if I'm looking for a spearing location. And you can monitor whats going on downhole by placing the camera in a second hole near your jigging spot and watching for fish moving about. ]

REPORT: I have fished this lake 4 times this year with varied success.
1st trip was ok. Caught 6 fish, kept two, right around 30 inches.
2nd trip was UNREAL. Had flags all day long kept 6 fish, 5 were over the 30 inch mark with the biggest at 35 inch.
3rd trip was so-so. We caught a few, mainly hammer handles on jigging poles but managed to pull up a nice one at 33 inches and about 7lbs.
4th trip was pretty much try jigging. Caught lots of small fish and kept nothing. Very entertaining. The trail out was terrible. Took us 3.5 hours to get out.

REPORT: I've been doing really well in the stocked lakes in the valley. Using shrimp tipped jigs in about 7-10 feet of water. Nothing big, but fairly steady bite in the last few hours of daylight. Good luck.

REPORT: Fished Figure 8 on Thursday and did really well. Iced 17 pike the largest being 11 pounds, in addition to that one I also got a very nice 9 pounder. The rest were all nice eating size and I only had 2 or 3 hammer handles. I fished the west side south of the point in about 6 FOW using herring on tip-ups fished 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. At one time I had 4 flags at once! It was a great day and I had the lake to myself. There was about 24 inches of ice. There is almost too much snow out there to run out with your ATV. I took my Honda Rancher and barely made the trip. The trail to the lake (the one that runs north and south from the main gas line trail) had several deep drifts. Speed was the only way I made it without getting stuck. If you have a snowmachine I would reccomend taking it until the trail gets packed down.

REPORT: Jigged for a few hours in two different spots. Caught four rainbows longest was 19 inches. All in all a good trip, except for the ice racing track they put over top of my favorite fishing spot on Big Lake. Didn't need that. So from now on we will have to contend with ice racers zipping by the ice house, hopefully they won't crash into it. I was wonderinf if anybody has ventured out to Flathorn Lake lately? I would like to catch some pike for dinner. Also is Nancy Lake open for snowmobiles yet? If anyone has some info please post it, as there hasn't been an update since December 16th.

REPORT: It was very very cold that day, around 12 degrees. We fished two holes through 18 inches of ice for two hours. By the third hour a school of Dollies swam by and kept us busy for the next 45 minutes. The largest was 11 inches and the smallest was 7. We were using only shrimp for this trip, and knowing where the fish are in the summer helped us catch 8 very nice fish. Fish directly in front of the canals if you'd like to catch fish.

REPORT: Not exactly a fishing report, but NANCY LAKE STATE REC AREA NOW OPEN TO SNOWMACHINE USE! Lots of fresh snow - over a foot at 4 this afternoon, and pike fishing should be good! Can't wait till the weekend. :)

REPORT: Sunday I fished Lower Fire Lake from 10 to 1 for pike. It was clear and cold, -10, with 22-24 inches of ice. I tried an airplane jig and a gulp minnow on a rainbow trout lead head. Not one bite. I was fishing in 5-12 foot of water. Does anyone have any recomendations other than more time and more holes in the ice to find the pike?

[AOJ: An ADFG bottom contour map is available for this lake to help identify likely spots for pike fishing. LOWER FIRE LAKE DEPTH MAP. One thing I learned from one of the masters of pike fishing here on the Peninsula is start EARLY. Get your tipups baited and in the water before dawn. In many marginal lakes with low densities of pike they may be hunting for only a very short period of time because they have little competition for catching food. They start hunting at first light and may only stay active for an hour passed sun up. If you are more like the picnic crowd who arrive on the ice closer to noon, its best to focus on trout lakes to fish. Give the 'first light' fishing a try on a couple of trips and it might change your luck. ]

REPORT: Fished Sand Lake for 2 hours and caught 1 pike hanging herring ( 17 inches ). Has anyone else been fishing ??

REPORT: Trail was good. Caught 14 or so in a couple of hours with tip-ups and hooligan. Jigging increased the catch rate as usual. Trooper visited us, was respectful. I waited a little too long to fillet and once they started to freeze filleting was difficult, so it's best to fillet immediately out there I think, that or bring the mess home.

Weather was ok, above zero, light winds, and light snow on the lake. Left the carasses for the coytes and ravens.

Have fun.

[AOJ: When I'm out pike fishing or spearing I always punch an extra hole with the auger and put all my pike on a stringer and drop them down the hole. Tie it to your auger or ice chipper or sled. Keeps them alive and thawed. Drop them in a plastic bag and wrap with some rags to keep them insulated and soft until you get back home.]

REPORT: Been having some great luck on some of the Palmer area lakes jigging small silver and gold spoons. My buddy and I caught around 30 combined today, one of them was a 4 pound rainbow. Caught almost all our fish before noon. They seemed to turn off after that.

REPORT: Does anyone know the hot spot to fish on Ft. Rich Clunie lake? There are deep spots and I was wondering if it is best to fish the shallows or the deep holes. Thanks --Iceman

REPORT: Got out a little late, got there about 2pm. This is a great lake for the little guys. A lot of small fish to be caught, 7-10 inches. It was such a blessing to see my six year old grandson's face light up when he pulled up his 10 inch char. Small cocktail shrimp was hot bait. Take time to take the little guys out and share with them God's glory.