Division of Sport Fish
Dave Rutz, Director

Anchorage Headquarters Office
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, AK 99518


Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Doug Vincent-Lang, Commissioner

P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, AK 99811-5526
www.adfg.alaska.gov


Advisory Announcement
(Released: December 20, 2020 - Expired: December 31, 2021)

CONTACT: Sam Ivey
Area Management Biologist
(907) 746-6300

Five New Stocked Lakes to Open to Fishing in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley

(Palmer) - Five new lakes - Leech, Summit, Zero, Kings, and Anderson lakes - have been added to the stocking program in the Northern Cook Inlet management area effective 12:01 a.m. Friday, January 1, 2021. Leech Lake is part of the Matanuska Lakes Complex and is accessible by foot from the Matanuska Lake trailhead and is stocked with 500 catchable rainbow trout. Summit Lake is in Hatcher Pass and is stocked with 500 catchable Arctic grayling. Zero Lake is in the Houston area and is stocked with 3,722 fingerling rainbow trout. Northern pike were recently eradicated from Kings and Anderson lakes and both lakes will be stocked with rainbow trout during early summer 2021. Therefore, the regulation that allowed five lines per angler when fishing through the ice for northern pike on Anderson Lake is no longer necessary. Details for these new lakes can be found on the Alaska Lake Database (ALDAT).

Anglers should note that due to treatment of Kings and Anderson lakes to eradicate northern pike, these two lakes will remain devoid of any fish for the rest of this winter until stocking occurs in early summer 2021.

The bag and possession limit for rainbow trout in these stocked lakes is five fish, of which only one fish may be 20 inches or greater in length. For Arctic grayling, the bag and possession limit is five fish, no size limit.

The stocking program provides alternative opportunities for anglers that might otherwise direct their efforts toward native fish that are vulnerable to overfishing. As sport fishing effort continues to increase in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, hatchery fish are becoming a more important management tool to satisfy recreational demands.

For additional information, please review pages 25 and 88­–89 of the 2020 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary booklet or contact the ADF&G Palmer office at (907) 746-6300.

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