Kasilof River dipnetting opens with crowded beaches, ‘decent’ fishing

The Kasilof River personal use dipnet fishery opened Tuesday morning, and fishing will be open to Alaska residents with their licenses and permits through Aug. 7. Close to 100 nets were in the water at the river’s mouth at around 4 p.m. as the first rising tide of the opening brought fishers eagerly trudging down the muddy beaches for their chance to fill a cooler with sockeye salmon fresh from the river.

As dozens stood with their nets extended at the North Beach, there were scarce moments where a fisher couldn’t be seen dragging a thrashing salmon out from the water, cutting their tail fins in accordance with fishing regulation, or hauling their catch up the bank.

“I think it’s picking up,” one fisher said as four of his peers worked to pull sockeye to shore.

Among the fishers on Tuesday was Josh LeMaster, of Anchorage, who was fishing with his two sons. Dipnetting on the Kenai Peninsula has been a summer pastime for “close to 20 years,” he said, because he always wants to bring home some salmon.

As the tide was coming in, LeMaster said his family had scored 11 — “decent” — and a handful of those had been pulled to shore by his kids.

“It’s good for the boys to get out and go fishing,” he said.

Across the beach, many couples, friends and families could be seen fishing together — helping one another with packing up their catch or untangling nets. For as many people there were waist deep in the river, just as many could be seen sitting up on the sand crying out when a salmon slipped a net or congratulating a successful catch.

In only a couple hours on the beach, dozens of sockeye had been successfully harvested, but the fishery will be open for over a month, and daily fish counts available from the State Department of Fish and Game say that already 100,000 fish have been counted on the river.

Citing a strong run, expected to wholly exceed the biological escapement goal for sockeye salmon on the river, the department by emergency order on Tuesday expanded the area open to dipnetting to include a wider swath of the river well beyond its mouth.

Only Alaska residents can participate in the dipnet fishery. Both an Upper Cook Inlet personal use permit and a 2024 resident sport fishing license are required to participate. Dipnetting is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

King salmon may not be retained or removed from the water. They must be released immediately.

For more information on fishing regulations and availability, visit adfg.alaska.gov.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.