Alaska Dipnet 2008

Part One

There is an annual rite of summer that occurs every July in Alaska that makes for a unique and usually different experience each year I participate. This amazing phenomenon occurs for a short time each summer as thousands of us, from all walks of life, take a break from whatever we're busy doing at the time to storm the shores of several Alaska's rivers. It’s known as subsistence fishing but is largely called ‘Dip Netting’. Some dip solo and some with friends. Some make it a family effort and yet others combine the family with the friends and that makes for a raucous time camping on the beach!

I have anticipated this time coming for several weeks and when both the dates of the open season for subsistence fishing on the Kasilof and the Kenai Rivers arrived I as well as thousands of others waited for word that the fish had arrived. I first heard the news at work when one of my plumbers called and told me one of his buddies was on the Kenai and had gotten his limit of 75 fish (family of six) on one tide change. He quickly returned to the shop with his truck and tools and headed out saying he would return to work when he had gotten his limit or the next Monday. This was on Wednesday morning and in two tide changes he had gotten the fish to feed his family for the coming winter and had returned to work on Friday morning.

I had gotten all of my gear ready and was off to a later start than my brother in law who headed out alone to set up camp and wait for my father in law and me to arrive with the Argo in tow. The drive down Turnagain Arm was one for the books as the sun cleared . . . briefly . . . and we watched the Dall sheep on the rocky ledges above the roadway. They move from rock to rock as easily as someone on solid ground but the Dall are hundreds to a few thousand feet above the highway as the mountains climb sharply up from the waters edge. We notice a somewhat unique thing in the water making its way down the 30 to 40 miles of Turnagain Arm . . . a Bore Tide. It was about 8 foot tall slowly heading down to Girdwood and Portage. I have lived here now for over seven years and have seen the tides a few times now but it still is something to see. On really large ones the local surfers will head out from South Anchorage and ride the wave for thirty miles or so, kayakers too.

By the time we made the turn and drove past the sign for the Kenai Peninsula and started the climb up the mountains toward Summit Lake it was raining hard as the wind was blowing sixty knots. Oh yeah . . . we going fishing! For some reason it doesn’t matter.

The tourist are here with the rented RV’s as well as the ‘locals’ all crowding the highway heading to the rivers for fishing, claming, or sightseeing along the way. Some are in a hurry while others are trying to take in the breadth of everything as the clouds part and the impact of the mountains of Cooper Landing take hold. Charlie and I make our way through Sterling and arrive in Soldotna to that familiar landmark . . . Fred Mayer. The main grocery and general type store in town.

You can definitely tell its mid-July in Alaska. Traffic in Soldotna is backed up, tourists are running all over the roads & rivers, and Fred Meyer's parking lot looks like an RV park. I think it is so funny that all these tourists come to Alaska in their RV's or rent them to experience all that is Alaska . . . and many end up camping in a grocery store parking lot. I guess with the price of gas, staying in a free parking lot seems like the best option. There is much to see if only they would pull off the paved road and turn onto the dirt roads that lead to wild Alaska and the many adventures found within. People spend thousands of dollars to travel here and miss so much by missing those roads less traveled.

Anyway, along with mid-July comes the second run of red salmon in the rivers and with that you’ll see them . . . as each of the dip net rivers opens for fishing . . . they come! When the tide is slack . . . over the horizon come the hoard. RVs . . . campers . . . bonking clubs . . . kids & coolers. Rigs (trucks) of all sizes . . . cars, ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles, tents, grandpas, fireworks & firewood. Everything from the kitchen sink . . . filleting knives, dogs, rats, fold up chairs, grandma’s, BBQ grills and out of state visitors line up on both sides of the river to witness the “party of the season”. Tourist only get to sit on the beach and watch as the commotion of all that is happening around them all the while trying to figure out just how crazy and a little off tilt everyone who calls this great place home really is.

I’ll finish part two tomorrow night and try to upload some pictures as I have run out of time tonight. Until then . . .

Ice