Alaska Dip Netting

I was actually kind of crazy at work yesterday. I sang and hummed to myself and whatever customers were around at the time. I think I may have freaked a few of them out with my ‘happiness’ at 2 in the afternoon. I wished someone was up for heading down to the Kenai River fishing last night but it was raining hard with no end in sight for this weekend.

Red Salmon

There is an amazing phenomenon that occurs for a short time each summer in the Last Frontier as thousands of Alaskan residents, both young and old from all walks of life, take a break from whatever they are busy doing at the time to storm the shores of several Alaska Rivers. Other Alaskans know exactly what they're up to as soon as they lay eyes on the twenty foot long-pole contraptions of every sort, shape and size with very large nets attached that are carried on every conceivable car, truck (“rig” in Alaskan slang), or camper. This ritual for some can be alone while others come with friends to share in this unique
outdoor activity. There are many Alaskan families who carefully plan this annual getaway as a family fishing tradition.

As millions of sockeye salmon prepare to storm the rivers in an attempt to make the long journey up to their spawning grounds, a seemingly equal number of people are preparing for their own pilgrimage to catch them -- all part of the unique Alaska activity known as dip netting. "Unique" is almost an understatement for this personal-use fishery, since it is one of the few places Alaska residents can go during summer and know they are among their own. Non-residents -- aka “Outsiders” -- are not allowed to participate, handle the gear, handle the fish or even drive a boat involved in dip netting. Outsiders are in other places fishing for the prized salmon such as the “combat fishing” farther up the Kenai River.

Kenai Looking West

South Shore

The beaches along both sides of the mouth of the Kenai River are a makeshift village of tents, tarps, coolers and folding chairs. In the water, a snaking line of dip netters, poised like great seagulls, use gigantic butterfly nets to scoop up huge sockeye salmon. Arriving in cars, trucks, campers and RVs, they bring an assortment of items including; their kids, pets,
coolers, and tents. There is gear for harvesting and cleaning the fish, food, wood for campfires and anything else they feel they might need for a couple of hours, possibly a day or a week or two for some fun-filled work and adventure.

Kenai North Shore

Normally one fishes with a rod and reel where countless hours can be exhausted trying to land a single salmon. When the fish are in one can limit out quickly if using the right

technique. With dip netters it is common to pull in two, three or even four fish at a time while attempting to scoop up to 25 salmon from the water, plus 10 more for each additional household member listed on the permit. Most people are generally able to wrestle ashore enough salmon to last the winter once it’s canned, frozen or smoked.

2005 Catch

It's really kind of a humbling experience as you get out there and say to yourself, “OK feed me” and you wait for your food (salmon) to come along.

Saturday Madness

on the Kenai

The Kenai River is one of the most carefully managed fisheries in the world. Every salmon returning to the river to spawn is calculated and allocated. But for $20, Alaska residence can make a homemade net and catch dozens of fish. I should also note that like other types of fishing, dip netting is a great equalizer. There are many women in the freezing water, as well as people from every race, age and social strata. They are all out on the river for the same reason -- to catch as many fish as they're allowed. As a friend once said; "we don't
throw 'em back, we don't play with our food."

With any outdoor activity, it is essential to use the proper gear and wear the right clothing, and dip netting is no exception. You're going to be standing in cold water for four or five; maybe even six hours at a time so you want to wear something warm. I usually start out with a base layer of fleece next to the skin for insulation, then donning neoprene chest waders. I use for the last several years 5 millimeter neoprene waders because they are warmer than the 3.5 millimeter waders that are commonly used here. I also like to wear neoprene gloves because they help keep my hands warm and offer a better grip for holding the dip net and the slippery salmon once caught.

As to the dip net itself, to be legal a net must not be larger than 5 feet at its widest point and must have a bag that is at least half the widest measurement of the opening for the fish to swim into. The sky is the limit in regard to meeting these requirements. Frame styles can be square, round or oval. Some prefer small nets with handles 4 feet long and with a bag width of just 2 feet, while others opt for handles 20 feet long with the full 5-foot bag
width.

People should use whatever size net they can manage safely. Those 5-foot nets can be awkward, especially when dip netting from a boat. Also, if you get three or four in there at one time, it's a handful to get back into the boat or back onto shore. Every year a few unlucky anglers -- often with nets bigger than they are -- succumb to the strength of a sea-fresh salmon and get pulled into fast-flowing, deep water. This can result in an often funny, embarrassing best-case scenario of cold water over the top of the waders. The flip side of that is a worst-case tragedy of a dip netter drowning from the fish pulling him out into the currents and the extreme cold quickly immobilizing the person. To be safe, some dip netters opt to wear life jackets and keep personal flotation devices readily available even fishing from shore.

So by now you are probably wondering exactly how you do this thing called dip netting. Fishing from the shore you wade out as far as you feel comfortable, careful not to fill up your waders with water and hold the net straight out in front of you into the current.

Now you wait.

Waiting might be the hardest part for some. Sometimes you will wait a long time and your arms and legs will probably get tired, but wait you must until you feel a tug in your net. You then give the net a quick twist to the left or right depending on the direction of the current so the salmon can't escape. Then walk backwards or turn around and run quickly towards shore pulling the net behind you where you empty out your fish on the shore. If there is someone in your family or a friend who is helping you, they can take over from there getting the fish up to your site for cleaning. You repeat this process over and over again until you
reach your limit. Someone in the family or a friend will either bonk the fish on the head with a club or cut a gill to bleed it out or both.

To keep everything legal, your catch must be recorded on your permit as well as physically marked by clipping both tips of the tail fin of each fish before packing the fish away out of sight. It's the law and Fish and Game checks for violators. A good pair of kitchen sheers should accomplish that task just fine. Now it's ready to be put on ice in a cooler or in large Rubbermaid containers in preparation for the trip home.

The final piece to the puzzle with dip netting success is understanding and knowing when to be out in the water trying, and this boils down to one word: current. You don't want to be out there on the slack tide, whether high or low. You need an established current. This is hard for some people to understand because on slack tides, fish will still be active, often even jumping out of the water. But without a current to get the salmon moving and water flow through the dip net to open it properly, fishing can be futile.

You might reach your limit in a few hours or over several days. Dip netting is like the luck of the draw or "the great fishing equalizer" as we like to say about this adventure
extraordinaire.

Sound incredible?

It is and it's only found in Alaska. If you happen to be fortunate enough to be in Alaska during this season, don't miss the sight of these elbow-to-elbow dip netters as they get together with family and friends to have a bit of fun while dip netting for their food for the coming year. There's nothing like it, well there is this thing farther up the river called “combat fishing”. It’s another fun filled, shoulder to shoulder experience not to be missed under the midnight sun.

Fish Creek

Dip Net Fishery

“Living the Dream”

Ice