Winter a time for fishermen to keep their cool

MAT-SU — Fishing is heating up on the frozen lakes in the Mat-Su Valley as the ice becomes thick enough to drive on in many places.

“Reports are starting to come back real positive,” Department of Fish and Game biologist Dave Rutz said.

In the core area, Rutz pointed anglers to Echo Lake and Irene Lake. Both are in the Kepler-Bradley Park area. Irene Lake is north of the Glenn Highway accessed by Green Jade Road off of Colleen Street. Echo Lake is just south of the Glenn with a turn off at Mile 37.3.

Farther out the Glenn at Mile 87.5, Weiner Lake is producing some nice arctic char and rainbow trout, Rutz said. There have been reports of the same at Long Lake accessed via a turn off at Mile 85.3.

Down in Point MacKenzie, Rutz suggested Carpenter Lake off of Ayrshire Road or Lorraine Lake off of Pt. MacKenzie Road.

In Willow, Lynne Lake is producing some nice fish, but the access road off of Long Lake Road requires serious four-wheel drive capabilities, Rutz said.

Rutz said anglers are having success with small hooks baited with shrimp. Little flashy jigs are working well too, he said, especially the Swedish Pimple and Daredevil lures for char.

These lakes are where the majority of the trout and char are being reported. As for pike, Rutz said he hasn’t heard official numbers yet, but he suspects Flathorn and Figure Eight lakes are doing well.

“But on Flathorn, anglers really have to mind their P’s and Q’s because the ice is pretty thin where most people like to fish,” Rutz said.

Rutz recommends a minimum of two feet of ice for safe automobile traffic on a frozen lake. Most lakes are seeing 18 inches of ice, so anglers should use extreme caution. Use a drill to check thickness periodically, or inspect abandoned ice fishing holes along the way.

“You never want to think about being 100 percent safe. Some lakes have springs that come up and weaken the ice,” Rutz said. “You just want to be really careful.”

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.