The Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon, also known as the Fishing Hole, is located on the Homer Spit, a peninsula projecting 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east from the northern shore of Kachemak Bay, about 14 miles (23 km) north-east of Seldovia and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of Homer, Alaska. The lagoon is a man-made tidal embayment of about 5 acres (2 ha) that is annually stocked with Chinook and coho salmon smolts. In 2005 it was named for Nick Dudiak, a fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game who wanted to create a fishing opportunity accessible to anglers of all ages and abilities while providing a financial boost to the community.

The fishing lagoon began as a dredged basin near the harbor for cargo barges. In 1984 the Alaska Division of Sport Fish began stocking Chinook (or “king”) salmon smolt in the unused lagoon to establish an easily accessible recreational fishery. A coho (or “silver”) salmon smolt-stocking program was added in the late 1980s to enhance sport-fishing opportunities further. Stocking of both Chinook and coho salmon has continued annually with smolt from the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery in Anchorage. Salmon smolt are released in the lagoon and leave to mature in open water. Returning adult fish gather in the lagoon searching for a non-existent spawning stream, creating a “terminal fishery” for recreational anglers. In 1990 the City of Homer, the South Peninsula Sportsman’s Association and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game were co-recipients of a national award recognizing the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon as the Best Sport Fisheries Enhancement Project in the Nation with a presentation in the White House Rose Garden.

The lagoon’s success and popularity prompted the City of Homer to enlarge it in 1994. In 1999 the construction of paved disabled parking and a series of ramps and landings inside the fishing lagoon allowed anglers with mobility impairments to participate in the award-winning recreational fishery. Efforts are in place to monitor and manage algal blooms that can produce neurotoxins like saxitoxin, which pose risks to marine life and can affect fish populations. In 2009, 2010 and 2011 algal blooms caused young fish to die and delayed stocking. The lagoon must be periodically dredged to restore its original depth profile, maintain ocean circulation and mitigate sedimentation. The outer banks have also been hardened to reduce maintenance costs and preserve the site’s integrity from damage by waves and winter storms. Read more here and here. Explore more of the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon and the Homer Spit here: