The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will put 700 rainbow trout into John Hedberg Lake in Nikiski next month, following the addition of the lake to the state’s stocking program, a Thursday release from the department said.

The state announced last month it was considering stocking the lake with trout, with a public comment period open from mid- to late July. John Hedberg Lake is located at about Milepost 23 of the Kenai Spur Highway and is in the Northern Kenai Peninsula Management Area.

John Hedberg Lake is landlocked and has a maximum depth of about 7 meters, according to the Alaska Lake Database. The lake can be accessed via Nikiski Community Park.

Seven hundred catchable-sized rainbow trout will be put in the lake on Sept. 2 at about 2:30 p.m., the release said. The lake will subsequently be stocked with 1,000 rainbow trout fingerlings yearly beginning in 2022.

The bag and possession limit for John Hedberg Lake will be five fish, of which only one can be 20 inches or bigger in length, the department said. The annual limit for rainbow trout 20 inches or longer is two. Any fish retained that measures longer than 20 inches must be immediately reported on a harvest card or sport fishing license.

“The stocking program provides alternative opportunities for anglers that might otherwise direct their efforts toward native fish that are vulnerable to overfishing,” the department release said. “As sport fishing (efforts continue) to increase in the Northern Kenai Peninsula, hatchery fish are becoming … more important to satisfy recreational demands.”

More information about John Hedberg Lake can be found on the Alaska Lake Database at www.adfg.alaska.gov/SF_Lakes/.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.