The Yukon Quest is finishing up. Iditarod is a couple of weeks from liftoff. Dog days? Heck no. I'm thinking fish! The days are progressively longer, the weather is incredible and the fish are biting.
Popular Interior lakes are getting some weekend pressure and I hear that fishing is fair on most of them. The problem with the "easy" popular lakes on the side of the highway is that crowds gather at better locations. On the other hand, if one has no means to get a hole in the ice, an existing hole can be utilized.
Chena Lakes, Harding Lake and Quartz Lake all had bunches of fishermen this past weekend. Chena and Quartz fishermen reported mixed success. Experienced anglers landed fish. The rookies, not so much. Quartz Lake and Chena Lakes are stocked with landlocked silver salmon. While these are great eating fish, they aren't so easy to catch. Silvers come to bait, but they hit so softly that one almost needs to see them take the bait and then strike. Most people unfamiliar with that type of hit, don't feel the strike.
If you're a novice ice fisherman, or have young kids who need a lively experience, find a lake stocked with rainbows or lake trout. Rainbows will really bang the bait — they usually hook themselves.
The easy way is to determine what lake you should fish is to look on the Internet. Instead of digging through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website, it's easier to type in what you are looking for. For instance, search for lakes in the Mat-Su stocked with rainbow trout.
Once you settle on a lake, there are several things to remember. Success doesn't always mean catching. Kids like lakes that are windblown so they can slide on the ice. Bring a plastic sled. An adult can swing them around, while someone else is getting some holes open. Ice houses are nice to have, but the reality is — they're places where adults drink beer and coffee.
Kids like to lie down on the ice with a coat over their head and see if they can see fish that way. Way back in the 1960s, I was fishing on Big Lake, lying on the ice with a coat over my head and jigging a silver Swedish Pimple. A huge Dolly Varden, maybe 16 inches, took my lure less than a foot from my face. Obviously, that's something I've remembered for decades.
You'll improve your odds if you're on your chosen lake by 10 a.m. Most of the catching happens between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Other times work, but the landing rate goes down dramatically outside of that time frame.
Longer spring days will begin to expand that time period.
Fishing gear can be picked up weeks ahead of time and be waiting for an impromptu excursion. Bait is good for most hatchery-stocked fish. Egg clusters and yellow single eggs are old standbys that work more often than not. Small lead-head jigs in either white or chartruesse also do well. Spoons, Rapala lures and Swedish Pimples provide a fair chance at rainbows, lake trout and Dolly Varden.
And don't forget small swivels. Smaller is better when one is after fish less than 18 inches. I don't like wire leaders unless northern pike are the target fish. Pike have a tendency to roll when hooked, and they have so many sharp teeth and spines that easily can cut the line. For most ice fishing, one doesn't need lead weights. Landlocked silvers, in particular, have a tendency to go after split shot rather than the lure.
Now you're ready. Don't worry, the sled dogs will still be racing when you're done.
John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Delta. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.