Dipnetting offers residents a chance to fill their freezers with salmon

By Matt Shields
Special to the Turnagain Times

For local Alaskan residents who are not commercial fishermen, and who would like to bring home more sockeye salmon in one shot than the daily Russian River allotment (and without the combat), there is the Kasilof and Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery.
Dipnetting, for those who have not tried it, can be a heck of a lot of fun, despite that it requires standing in cold water up to your chest for hours, while adapting to muscle burn in your forearms as you struggle with the net against the current. All the misery disappears once the fish hit your net. It’s akin to hitting three-in-a-row on a Vegas slot machine.
My personal preference is for the Kasilof. Yes, the fish are bigger on the Kenai, and there are more of them. However, in my experience, the Kasilof provides for a mellower atmosphere. If I’m not catching fish, I am enjoying a conversation with whoever is to the left or right of me, watching the sunset (or sunrise, on those early morning tides), or napping in the back of my truck along the beach during slow periods. Though, I admit I have never limited out on the Kasilof, where I have on the Kenai.
This past weekend, we hit the Kasilof again and really enjoyed ourselves. We chose the north shore access. From the Sterling Highway take Kalifornsky Beach Road, then Kasilof Beach Road. Don’t park past the cannery signs, and be aware that the shoulder of the road is soft sand, so four-wheel drive is recommended. If you wish to try your luck along the Kasilof’s southern shore, continue along the Sterling until you hit Cohoe Loop Road. Once on Cohoe Loop make sure you stay to the west along the rough and unpaved section when the road splits. From there you have to drive north along the beach, and yes, four-wheel drive is highly recommended. I once overheard someone ask if you really have to have four-wheel drive along the beach, to which the reply was, “Well, you don’t have to pull over when a cop flashes his lights, but it sure makes it easier if you do.”
After we parked the truck and walked the dog, we donned our neoprene cover-alls, grabbed our nets and hit the water. My partner, Rhonda, started off with a very large king salmon. We had to release it since you cannot keep a king on the Kasilof (you can keep one king on the Kenai), but it provided some early excitement as we all watched her struggle with the fish. It was about 25–30 pounds, which is a handful with a dipnet. As the day went on the storytelling progressed in true Alaskan style, and I heard one version that put it at 50 pounds. After fishing through two high tides, enjoying the company of other Alaskans, and watching birds and sea-lions as the sun set, we headed back to Girdwood. How many did we get? Well, we did not get our limit of 25 per head of household (plus 10 for each additional member), but I have plenty of freshly smoked salmon in the freezer, and it beats sitting on the couch.
The season is still young, so if you have some unused sick days and want to try dip-netting for the first time, or even if you are a veteran of the Kenai-Kasilof personal use fishery, here are a few dip-netting facts to help you along the way. This information is taken from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game personal use webpage: http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/PersonalUse. You should check with them about anything you are unsure of.
The limit of sockeye for the Kenai and Kasilof rivers are 25 fish per head of household, and ten fish per each additional household member.
Open to Alaska residents only with a fishing license and a personal use permit (these are free and can be found at the Fred Meyer in Soldotna if you forget to get one in Anchorage). Permits must be in possession and each fish recorded and their tailfins clipped before concealed from view (although when the fishing is hot, you have to remind yourself to do this). The permits must be mailed in whether you fish or not.
The Kasilof opens June 25 to Aug. 7, 24 hours a day. The peak harvest for dipnetters has historically been July 11 to July 21. The Kenai River opens July 10 to July 31, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Peak harvest on the Kenai has been July 16 to July 25.
You can buy dipnets in Anchorage (we found ours in the classifieds for $65 a piece), or they are often for sale along the road to Kenai (I’ve been told these are now up to $130). If you decide to make your own, the net opening cannot exceed five feet across at its widest point, and the bag must be at least half of the net opening. Mesh can be no larger than four-and-a-half inches stretched.
Commercial fishery openings can limit the number of fish available to dipnetters. Openings on the Kasilof are usually scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but there are often emergency openings on other days. You can check by calling 907-262-9611 (Soldotna).
A general information recording in Anchorage is 907-267-251.
If you are interested in following escapement numbers, you can get sonar estimates and weir counts by calling 907-262-9097.