Heavy snow challenges at Mat-Su ice fisheries

My wife and I have been traveling a bit, so we missed the heavy December snowfalls and some of Mat-Su Valley’s cold weather. We’ve been catching up on snow clearing and chores since our return, but I talked with one of my nephews about ice fishing, and he told me the small Matanuska Lakes Recreation Area parking lot had not been plowed. He talked like he would likely get stuck if he even attempted to pull off the highway with his big 4-wheel drive truck. There are so many people that use the trails near Matanuska Lake for hiking I figured someone would be driving in and out, but when my wife and I drove along the Glenn Highway toward Palmer on Tuesday morning we took a look, and sure enough, the snow looked about 3 feet deep — with no vehicle or human tracks to be seen.

A couple days I noticed a single vehicle down the hill beside Bradley Lake, and one of those days there was an ice fishing tent located out on the lake, so at least a few extra tough anglers are venturing out and fishing. It must be difficult trudging very far through the snow just to get to a spot, but driving a vehicle through the snow on top of the ice is something I would not even consider.

Local Mat-Su fishing guide, Corey Berg, has been posting some pictures on his Facebook page since before the ice was solid enough for me to venture out this fall, so I asked what he had been doing lately. Corey had been using his snowmobile to drive out on the lakes, but after the last big dump of snow he was getting his snowmobile stuck — just a short distance out on the lakes. In advance of one fishing trip he worked at packing down a spot to fish with his snowmobile, but with so much snow on top of the ice, when he cut a hole through the ice, pressure forced water to come up through his hole and out onto the ice and snow. The next day the place he had worked to pack for an ice fishing trip was a slushy sloppy mess for yards around the hole he had drilled. Corey told me he had additional ice fishing trips scheduled scheduled for the week before Christmas, but he talked his guests into rescheduling their trips after Christmas with hopes that fishing conditions would be better by then.

The days around Christmas and NewYear’s holidays is a time when winter guests often visit the Mat-Su Valley with an inclination to experience winter adventures like ice fishing, dog mushing or snowmobiling. Because conditions are more difficult, for those people who get out fishing on one of the smaller Mat-Su lakes, there is a chance your party may have the whole lake to fish all by yourselves. If you choose the right lake — where you can get to a good fishing spot — the fish may be competing to get to your lure or bait.

Before venturing too far from home, I would suggest calling the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska State Park’s Finger Lake office, 3 River’s Fly and Tackle, or Sportsman’s Warehouse for potential fishing reports. Just knowing which lakes have snow-cleared parking lots could be very useful. Going to a spot where anglers have been reporting catching fish near one of those cleared parking areas would be even better. If you should need ice fishing gear, Sportsman’s Warehouse and 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle have some of the best selection in the Mat-Su Valley, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game even has loaner ice fishing gear visitors or people just getting into the sport may use free of charge. Talking about gear, when the snow gets this deep a non-fishing item I like to include is a snow shovel to clear an area around the fishing hole —- or to possibly get a vehicle unstuck. If you are using a sled to slide your gear out to the fishing area you may also want to secure the gear better than normal, as loose gear tends to sink and become hard to find if the sled should tip over in deep fluffy snow.

Visitors are required to purchase a fishing license before fishing, and Alaska residents who may have purchased a 2022 fishing license may need to get a new license before fishing on or after NewYear’s day.

Stay Safe, Good Luck, and Fish On!