Section 5 AAC 60.120 - General provisions for seasons, bag, possession, annual, and size limits, and methods and means for the Knik Arm Drainages AreaUnless otherwise specified in 5 AAC 60.122 or by an emergency order issued under AS 16.05.060, the following are the general seasons, bag, possession, annual, and size limits, and methods and means that apply to sport fishing for finfish in the waters of the Knik Arm Drainages Area:
(1) king salmon (A) 20 inches or greater in length may not be retained or possessed; the season is closed for king salmon 20 inches or greater in length; a king salmon 20 inches or greater in length that is caught must be released immediately; a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before releasing the fish;(B) less than 20 inches in length (i) may not be retained or possessed in flowing waters and unstocked lakes and ponds; king salmon less than 20 inches in length that are caught must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed; a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before releasing the fish;(ii) may be taken in stocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of 10 fish; for purposes of this sub-subparagraph "stocked lakes and ponds" has the meaning given in (3)(B) of this section;(2) salmon, other than king salmon, (A) 16 inches or greater in length may be taken from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit is three fish, of which no more than two per day and two in possession may be coho salmon; if retention of coho salmon is allowed under this chapter, a coho salmon 16 inches or greater in length that is removed from the water must be retained and becomes part of the bag limit of the person originally hooking it; a person may not remove a coho salmon from the water before releasing the fish;(B) less than 16 inches in length may be taken from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of 10 fish;(3) rainbow/steelhead trout (A) are subject to an annual limit of two fish 20 inches or greater in length, except that in stocked lakes, the annual limit is 10 fish 20 inches or greater in length; a harvest record is required as specified in 5 AAC 75.006; notwithstanding the annual limit established for rainbow/steelhead trout in this subparagraph, the annual limit for rainbow/steelhead trout in the combined waters of the Knik Arm Drainages Area and in the other areas in the Cook Inlet region that are open to sport fishing for rainbow/steelhead trout under 5 AAC 56 - 5 AAC 62 is two rainbow/steelhead trout 20 inches or greater in length, except that in stocked lakes the annual limit is 10 rainbow/steelhead trout 20 inches or greater in length;(B) may be taken in stocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of five fish, of which only one may be 20 inches or greater in length; for the purposes of this subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" include Anderson Lake, Barley Lake, Bear Paw Lake, Bench Lake, Beverly Lake, Big Beaver Lake, Brocker Lake, Bruce Lake, Buck Lake, Canoe Lake, Carpenter Lake, Coyote Lake, Dawn Lake, Diamond Lake, Echo Lake (Matanuska Lakes Complex), Farmer Lake, Finger Lake, Florence Lake, Golden Lake, Goober Lake, Homestead Lake, Honeybee Lake, Ida Lake, Irene Lake, Kepler/Bradley Lakes, Kings Lake, Klaire Lake, Kalmbach Lake, Knik Lake, Knob Lake, Lalen Lake, Leech Lake, Little Beaver Lake, Little Lonely Lake, Loberg (Junction) Lake, Long Lake (MP 86 Glenn Hwy), Loon Lake, Lorraine Lake, Lucile Lake, Lynne Lake, Marion Lake, Matanuska Lake, Meirs Lake, Memory Lake, Morvro Lake, North Knob Lake, North Roily Lake, Prator Lake, Ravine Lake, Reed Lake, Reflections Lake, Rhein Lake, Rocky Lake, Ruby Lake, Rush Lake, Seventeenmile Lake, Seymour Lake, Slipper (Eska) Lake, South Roily Lake, Summit Lake, Tanaina Lake, Twin Island Lake, Vera Lake, Victor Lake, Visnaw Lake, Walby Lake, Weiner Lake, West Beaver Lake, Wolf Lake, and Zero Lake;(C) may be taken in unstocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of two fish, of which only one may be 20 inches or greater in length;(D) in flowing waters north and west of the Little Susitna River, April 15-June 14, no retention;(4) Arctic char/Dolly Varden may be taken in (A) flowing waters and unstocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of five fish, of which only one may be greater than 12 inches in length;(B) stocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of five fish; no size limit; for the purpose of this subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" has the meaning given in (3)(B) of this section;(5) Arctic grayling may be taken in (A) flowing waters and unstocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of two fish; no size limit;(B) stocked lakes and ponds from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of five fish; no size limit; for the purpose of this subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" has the meaning given in (3)(B) of this section;(6) lake trout may be taken from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of two fish; no size limit;(7) northern pike may be taken from January 1 - December 31; no bag, possession, or size limits; notwithstanding 5 AAC 75.065, a northern pike caught may not be released back into the water alive; northern pike may be taken in (A) all waters of this section by spear and bow and arrow;(B) all waters of this section with two hooks per line when fishing through the ice and if both hooks are attached to the same single piece of bait;(C) all waters east of the Susitna River, west of the Little Susitna River and south of the Enstar Gas Pipeline right-of-way (Figure Eight area lakes), Anna Lake, Beaverhoose Lake, Cow Lake. East Papoose Lake, Flathorn Lake, Gerry Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Hourglass Lake, Loonsong Lake, Lynda Lake, Memory Lake, all Nancy Lake drainage lakes except Nancy Lake, Prator Lake, Sevenmile Lake, Stephan Lake, West Beaver Lake, West Horseshoe Lake, and West Papoose Lake with five lines through the ice; allowable gear is limited to standard ice fishing gear as specified in 5 AAC 61.110(8)(B); fishing gear must be closely attended as specified in 5 AAC 75.033; all other species of fish caught must be released immediately;(8) burbot may be taken from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit of five fish; no size limit; in all waters, except those designated as special management areas for rainbow trout in 5 AAC 60.185, bait may be used for burbot fishing only if the gear specified in this paragraph is used; burbot may be taken with more than one line and hook only if (A) the aggregate number of hooks does not exceed the daily bag limit for burbot in the waters being fished;(B) the hooks are single hooks with a gap between the point and the shank at least three-fourths of an inch or larger;(C) each hook is set to rest on the bottom of the lake or stream;(D) notwithstanding the 24-hour provision in 5 AAC 75.033, the angler remains with the fishing gear at all times;(9) other finfish not specified in this subsection may be taken from January 1 - December 31; no bag, possession, or size limits.Eff. 10/1/2006, Register 179; am 11/12/2006, Register 180; am 6/12/2011, Register 198; am 2/23/2014, Register 209, April 2014; am 5/18/2014, Register 210, July 2014; am 6/28/2019, Register 230, May 2019; am 6/21/2020, Register 234, July 2020; am 6/8/2024, Register 250, July 2024Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251