| Still looking for that first king and ready for something big and ugly on the line? Consider helping cull out the invasive northern pike in the valley’s favorite trout lake, Big Lake.
Trout Unlimited Southcentral AK Chapter, Alaska Lakes Guide Service llc, Go Fish Yourself Custom Rods are sponsoring a Northern Pike tournament Saturday. The mission to remove as many Northern Pike from Big Lake as possible with emphasis on the big spawning females to assist in saving the native trout, char, and salmon populations. Northern pike are an invasive species in southcentral Alaska and are a voracious predator of trout of all sizes, but especially fry. Pike are widely given credit for decimating several once excellent salmon stream fisheries in the Valley and on the west side of Cook Inlet. It’s believed foolish anglers illegally stocked the first pike in these fisheries and ultimately destroyed the trout and salmon populations. Tournament is Saturday May 20, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration will be 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. at Big Lake North State Recreation Area (16905 North Shore Dr, Wasilla, AK 99654). Boats will line up in the water in order of registration and will be released once a boat check has occurred. It will not be a shotgun start. Kayaks will be released first. Entry fee is $50 per person. Every person in the boat must be a paid entrant unless the person is 5 years old or younger. Every person must sign a liability waiver. All entry fees received will go towards angler prizes and conservation efforts of Trout Unlimited’s Southcentral AK Chapter. Registration and more information on the SC TU Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Southcentral-AK-Trout-Unlimited-Chapter-417459805018804/?hc_ref=SEARCH
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