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Greg Endsley, Pat Zettler and John Fick trudged their way back to shore, their boots and pant legs coated in Cook Inlet mud.

"Some years are better than others," Endsley said. "If you live in Alaska it's about doing this sort of stuff."

To the uneducated eye, their orange set gillnet float was lost among at least hundred others sitting on the inlet floor at low tide at the end of North Cohoe Loop Road on Friday, but with 10 to 20 years experience under their belts Endsley, Zettler and Fick could still pick theirs out. Residents of Anchorage, Endsley, Zettler and Fick were three of many folks from points beyond the Kenai Peninsula who braved a long drive to fill their freezers with free salmon.

The trip down to the Kasilof River required time off work, but with each bringing his family, it's really a fun family camping trip, they said. And even though gas is pushing $5 a gallon, they said getting their fish by set gillnet is cheaper than buying it at the store. "We eat it twice a week all year," Zettler said, adding that they'll vacuum pack and freeze whole fish, can and smoke it. "We ate the last fish two weeks ago. For the amount of fish we take away it's cheaper."

The Kasilof River personal use set gillnet fishery opened at 6 a.m. June 15. People were staking out spots long before then, but Endsley, Zettler and Fick, who arrived at the beach on Thursday, said they were confident they would go home with their limit of fish. If not, they'll be back when dipnetting starts.

The setnet fishery has been slow since it began June 15 and only started picking up around Thursday and Friday, said Robert Begich, sportfishery biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He said he visited the fishery on Friday morning when people were just starting to catch fish.

"It's popular with people that like to fish with gillnets," he said.

According to data from the Division of Commercial Fisheries' sonar site located the Sterling Highway bridge, 642 sockeyes swam up the Kasilof River on Thursday, totaling 2,764 fish since June 15.

Even though Begich said the setnet fishery just picked up, Hunter Barnett, also an Anchorage resident, said his family and seven others reeled in almost 200 fish since they claimed their spot on June 13. Barnett said his family has participated in the personal use setnet fishery for as long as he can remember and even though his father retreated to the Crooked Creek Campground, Barnett and a friend stayed behind to guard the camp.

"Fishing has been pretty good," he said. "The first day we caught two, the second day we caught seven, I lost track after 200. We catch a lot of fish and process them on the beach."

This year Barnett's family is fishing with seven nets, the most they've ever used, he said. And since he comes from a big family, he said his father can keep 75 fish.

"We cook it all different kind of ways," said Barnett's friend Troy Hardwick, adding that the most exotic thing they've made is salmon tacos. "We play around and do cool things with it."

Most who hung out on the beach waiting for the tide to come in said they'd like to come home with enough fish to last them the winter.

At about 30 fish on Friday, Eagle River residents Denise and Kelly Larson said they needed 10 more before they call it quits.

"Why pay for salmon when you can fish?," Denise Larson said. "It just costs you the gas money. I wouldn't pay money for salmon I could catch."

The Larsons, which include brothers Dylann and Brennan, arrived at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Denise Larson said their setnet is rigged to a pulley system, which is reeled into shore when it's full of fish. They also like to dipnet, which is another reason they're packing the setnet in at 40 fish, she said.

"We take what we need," she said.

Wasilla resident Scott Lapiene drove a stake in the ground, anchoring his setnet in place. Lapiene said he brought last year's fish with him to Kasilof, adding that if you're looking to put meat in your freezer for the winter, setnetting and dipnetting is the way to do it.

Even though many feel paying the high price of gas is worth the amount of fish they'll leave with, Lapiene said it would probably be a wash.

"It depends on what sockeyes are selling for," he said, adding that the time off work for some may be a hardship as well.

For newcomers, Lapiene said observing veteran setnetters at their work and asking questions would be helpful.

"Come down and watch folks for a couple of days," he said. "There are different ways to do it."

Jessica Cejnar can be reached at jessica.cejnar@peninsulaclarion.com.