Section 5 AAC 61.110 - General provisions for seasons, bag, possession, annual, and size limits, and methods and means for the Susitna River Drainage Area(a) Unless otherwise specified in 5 AAC 61.112 - 5 AAC 61.123 or by emergency order issued under AS 16.05.060, the following are the general seasons, bag, possession, annual, and size limits, and methods and means for the Susitna River Drainage Area: (1) king salmon (A) 20 inches or greater in length may be taken only from January 1 - July 13; bag and possession limit is one fish; except as provided in (b) of this section, there is an annual limit of five king salmon 20 inches or greater in length and a harvest record is required, as specified in 5 AAC 75.006; a king salmon 20 inches or greater in length removed from the water shall be retained and becomes part of the bag limit of the person originally hooking it; a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before releasing the fish;(B) less than 20 inches in length (i) may be taken from January 1 - July 13 in flowing waters and unstocked lakes and ponds; bag and possession limit of 10 fish; a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before releasing the fish;(ii) may be taken from January 1 - December 31 in stocked lakes and ponds; bag and possession limit of 10 fish; a person may not remove a king salmon from the water before releasing the fish; for the purposes of this sub-subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" has the same meaning given in (3)(D) 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 for chum, sockeye. and coho salmon is three fish, of which no more than two per day, 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 that originally hooked it; a person may not remove a coho salmon from the water before releasing the fish; the commissioner may by emergency order increase or decrease the bag and possession limit for coho salmon based on abundance indices;(B) 16 inches or greater in length may be taken from January 1 - December 31; bag and possession limit for pink salmon is six fish;(C) 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;(B) may be taken in flowing waters from June 15 - April 14; bag and possession limit of two fish, of which only one may be 20 inches or greater in length;(C) may not be retained or possessed in flowing waters from April 15 - June 14;(D) 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; the annual limit for rainbow/steelhead trout 20 inches or greater in length is 10 fish, and a harvest record is required as specified in 5 AAC 75.006; for the purposes of this subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" include Benka Lake, Christiansen Lake, Crystal Lake, Gate Lake, Kashwitna Lake, North Friend Lake, South Friend Lake, Tigger Lake, West Sunshine Lake, Willow Lake, Y Lake, Mile 180 Lake (Broad Pass Lake), and Peggy Lake;(E) 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;(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 purposes of this subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" has the meaning given in (3)(D) 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 purposes of this subparagraph, "stocked lakes and ponds" has the meaning given in (3)(D) 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) 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 61.185, 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) in all flowing waters of the Susitna and Yentna Rivers, each line is closely attended by the angler as specified in 5 AAC 75.033;(8) northern pike may be taken from January 1 - December 31; no bag, possession, or size limit; a northern pike caught may not be released back into the water alive; notwithstanding 5 AAC 75.065, under this section there are no restrictions on the use or disposal of sport-caught northern pike; northern pike may be taken in (A) all lakes by spear and bow and arrow;(B) all lakes, with two hooks per line when fishing through the ice and if both hooks are attached to the same single piece of bait;(C) Alexander Creek, Bulchitna Lake, Eightmile Lake, Fish Creek (lower Susitna River drainage), Fish Creek (Kroto Slough), Indian Creek, Witsoe Creek, and in Alexander Lake, Amber Lake, Crystal Lake, Donkey Lake, Fish Lakes, Hewitt Lake, Kroto Lakes, Lady Slipper Lake, Little Bulchitna Lake, Lockwood Lakes, Long Lake, Neil Lake, No Name (Cabin) Lake, Onestone Lakes, Parker Lake, Scotty Lake, Shell Lake, Shirley Lake, Sucker Lake, Trail Lake, Trapper Lake, Upper and Lower Vern Lakes, Whitsol Lake, and Whiskey 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;(9) other finfish not specified in this subsection may be taken from January 1 - December 31; no bag, possession, or size limits.(b) Notwithstanding an annual limit established in this section for (1) king salmon, the annual limit for king salmon in the combined waters of the Susitna River Drainage Area and the other areas in the Cook Inlet region that are open to sport fishing for king salmon under 5 AAC 56 - 5 AAC 62 is five king salmon 20 inches or greater in length, not more than two of which may be taken from that portion of the Kenai River drainage open to king salmon fishing, and not more than two of which may be taken, in combination, from Deep Creek and the Anchor River, except that from January 1 through June 30, a king salmon less than 28 inches in length taken from the Kenai River does not count towards the annual limit;(2) rainbow/steelhead trout, the annual limit for rainbow/steelhead trout in the combined waters of the Susitna River Drainage Area and 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.Eff. 10/1/2006, Register 179; am 6/12/2011, Register 198; am 2/23/2014, Register 209, April 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