Today marks the beginning of dip netting season for Alaskan residents. To dip net, anglers stand in the mouth of the Kenai River holding large nets with long handles. Dip netting is open to Alaska residents exclusively, and for visitors, the dip netting is a spectator sport not to be missed.
The dipnet season on the Kenai is currently July 10 through July 31 and requires a personal use fishery permit. The City of Kenai provides a number of services to support this fishery including parking and camping on the beaches, restrooms, trash collection, and a boat dock with a four ramp boat launch.
Alaska residents can harvest a total of 25 salmon for the season as head of household, and ten for each additional member. However, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the retention of king salmon is prohibited in a release on July 6. The harvest limit for the Kenai dipnet fishery is combined with the other Upper Cook Inlet personal use salmon fisheries (Kasilof River dipnetting, Kasilof River set gillnetting, and Fish Creek dipnetting). Each household may take their entire limit from one fishery, or visit any other open Upper Cook Inlet personal use salmon fishery.
Fish and Game reminds ‘dippers’ that the household limit is a seasonal limit, not a daily limit.
Unless an Emergency Order is issued by the Department of Fish and Game, in compliance with the “Kenai River Late-Run Sockeye Salmon Management Plan,” dipnetting on the Kenai River is open only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., regardless of the tides. Only one permit per household is required.
The City of Kenai is providing free advertising on the Dipnet Kenai mobile app as part of its plan to assist local businesses recovering from the effects of COVID-19.
The Dipnet Kenai app is a city-oriented smartphone app that provides information about local fisheries, activities and businesses. In addition to facility statuses including boat launches and camping, Dipnet Kenai provides current fish counts and weather information, a tide table, live webcam feeds, an interactive map and more.
Launched in 2017, the app was created with the intent to assist participants in Kenai’s Personal Use Fishery.
