(Released: February 22, 2017)

Division of Sport Fish
Tom Brookover, Director
Anchorage Headquarters Office
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, AK 99518


Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Sam Cotten, Commissioner
P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, AK 99811-5526
www.adfg.alaska.gov


Contact: Jenny Cope, Fisheries Biologist
(907) 262-9368

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District ice fishing activity scheduled for February 23rd and 24th at Sport Lake and March 2nd at Johnson Lake

The Division of Sport Fish Aquatic Education Program’s annual ice fishing event is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, February 23rd and 24th at Sport Lake and Thursday, March 2nd at Johnson Lake. The event is for Kenai Peninsula Borough School District elementary school classes that are participating in Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s "Salmon in the Classroom" program. All classes must preregister. The event is not open to the general public.

The event will be held at the Sport Lake Public Access from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, February 23th and Friday, February 24th. A separate event will be held for Lower Kenai Peninsula Schools on Thursday, March 2nd at Johnson Lake from 10:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Up to 90 elementary students per hour may be fishing. Approximately 525 students will be attending and fishing at Sport Lake during the two day event and approximately 200 students will be attending and fishing at Johnson Lake during the one day event.

During this hands-on event, students are taught ethical angling practices, such as proper harvest and catch-and-release techniques, bag limits, how to use ice fishing gear and learn a fun winter outdoor activity at the same time. Holes are predrilled and ice fishing rods and tackle are supplied as well as portable ice fishing shelters/houses. Sport Lake is stocked annually with landlocked Chinook salmon catchables and rainbow trout fingerling from the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery. Johnson Lake is stocked annually with landlocked, catchable sized rainbow trout.

Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game staff, volunteers from different agencies and volunteers from classes will be assisting during the event. Parents of participating students are encouraged to attend and share in the ice fishing experience. If you are 18 years of age and older, and plan to fish, a current 2017 fishing license is required.

Other hands-on components of the “Salmon in the Classroom” program include collecting salmon eggs in October, raising coho salmon eggs in classroom aquariums, releasing the salmon fry in May, a school district wide “Salmon Celebration” and classroom salmon dissections. To learn more about how much fun ice fishing can be, go to the Department website and search under ice fishing.

For more information, contact Jenny Cope at (907) 262-9368.

#17-2375