Site Logo
An angler fillets his sockeye salmon caught on the Kenai River near the confluence with the Russian River on June 11. Many successful fishermen can their catches to preserve them for the winter. The Cooperative Extension Service has some helpful suggestions to ensure the process is done safely. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Life

Canning your catch

If the fishing is good, it’s important to keep in mind how to preserve salmon for when the…

The muddy sand of the south Kenai beach traps Armin Schmidt’s pickup truck on Thursday, July 27, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. Schmidt, a commercial set gillnet fisherman, was driving the truck Wednesday when it sank into the spongy mud in the intertidal area of the south Kenai beach near the jersey barrier designating the legal personal-use dipnet area. He was working with the city of Kenai’s Parks and Recreation Department, which coordinates the dipnet, to get it it out Thursday. No one was hurt in the incident. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Owner, Kenai Parks and Rec work to retrieve truck stuck in south beach

Update, 7/28/17, 1 p.m.: The truck’s owner was able to pull the vehicle out of the beach with…

News

East side setnets, drifters closed again Thursday

Commercial fishermen in Upper Cook Inlet’s central district will stay on the beaches again Thursday to allow more…

News

US Senate looks to renew ‘Frankenfish’ import ban

With support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Congress is preparing to renew a ban on the importation of genetically…

In this July 2016 photo, anglers cast their lines into the Kenai River from the bank above the Sterling Highway Bridge in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

Sportfishing licenses jump in 2016

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game sold nearly 50,000 more sportfishing licenses and stamps and hunting licenses…

News

Kenai Fire responds to fewer boat accidents this dipnet season

The Kenai Fire Department hasn’t had to rescue as many swamped boats in the Kenai River personal-use dipnet…

Annie Cromwell of Anchorage brings in a sockeye salmon Sunday, June 23, while dipnetting on the north beach in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Word on the beach: Red run is slow but steady

No matter where they travel from, what their technique is or if they have fish in the cooler…

A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site in this July 11, 2016 photo near Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

Commercial salmon fishery closures for Monday

Commercial salmon fishing will be closed on Monday to set gillnets in the Kenai, Kasilof and East Forelands…

In this photo submitted to Fish for the Future, a young angler holds up the king salmon he caught and released. Fish for the Future, a program begun by two central Kenai Peninsula guides, offers prizes for people who submit photographs of king salmon they caught and released on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers in June and July as a way to encourage people to release fish and conserve the fishery over time. (Photo courtesy Fish for the Future)

News

‘Fish for the Future’ program seeks to encourage catch and release for kings

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Mark Wackler’s name. Nearly every day…

News

Commercial fishermen to fish Thursday

Commercial fishermen in Upper Cook Inlet will head out as usual Thursday, but with restricted area for the…

Karl Danielson (left), a senior at Kenai Central High School and a member of the KCHS Cross Country Ski Team, his mom Teresa Danielson (center) and coach Brad Nyquist (right) empty out their garbage bags into a bin at the north Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. Members of the ski team helped clean up the beach Tuesday as a fundraiser for the team’s activities. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

KCHS ski team cleans up dipnet beach

One of the sorest points for Kenai residents about the personal-use dipnet fishery is the trash left on…

News

Managers reining back Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishing

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to show that 2017’s Kenai River inriver goal is 900,000–1.1 million…

A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site in this July 11, 2016 photo near Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

Commercial fishing season slow so far, big chum harvest for drift fleet

Upper Cook Inlet’s commercial fishing season has been relatively slow so far, but it will likely pick up…

Tom Lyman of Michigan holds up a sockeye salmon he caught in the Kenai River on Wednesday, July 12, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. Lyman, who is visiting Alaska with his son, said he hadn’t been casting for long when he hooked into the fish. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Fishing report: Some sockeye showing on Kenai, big pulse yet to come

Kenai River sockeye salmon are making their way up the river in growing numbers, though it’s still a…

Clarion reporter Kat Sorensen demonstrates how to tie an angler’s loop knot to create a stringer so sportfishermen can hang onto their catches on Wednesday, July 12, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. For a full video demonstration, check out the Peninsula Clarion’s Facebook page. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Photo: Learn to tie an angler’s loop knot

By Elizabeth Earl Peninsula Clarion

This section of a property ownership map shows some of Cook Inlet Region Incorporated’s lands along the Kenai River near Soldotna, with surface ownership depicted in dark red. CIRI has erected signs this year letting the public know where its privately owned lands are and asking people not to use them to fish without a permit, which is available for free through the corporation. (Courtesy Cook Inlet Region Incorporated)

News

CIRI steps up enforcement on Kenai River lands

Kenai River anglers will have to keep an eye out for private property this year as Cook Inlet…

News

Commercial fishing season kicks off with higher prices, slow runs

Commercial fishermen in Upper Cook Inlet have been out since late June, kicking off what’s predicted to be…

A bald eagle fends off a speculating magpie from his meal of salmon on the Anchor River on Sunday, June 25, 2017 near Anchor Point, Alaska. Though the Anchor River is closed to sportfishing for king salmon now, the salmon are still returning to the river, with about 4,064 kings past the weirs on the north and south forks of the river, within the escapement goal of 3,800&

News

Dinner on the water

A bald eagle fends off a speculating magpie from his meal of salmon on the Anchor River on…

Halibut hang from the display rack at North Country Charters on the Homer Spit on Sunday, June 25, 2017 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Study shows Homer halibut charters stay closer to town

A pair of University of Alaska researchers want to know more about how halibut charter fishermen in the…

News

Bait authorized for lower Kenai kings

Bait is now legal for king salmon on the Kenai River below Slikok Creek. Effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday,…