To protect returning king salmon and ensure fishing opportunities in the future, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is implementing the following sport fishing regulation restriction for early-run king salmon in the Kasilof River drainage effective from now through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The bag and possession limit for king salmon 20 inches or greater in length is two hatchery-produced fish.
Area Management Biologist Colton Lipka:
“In concert with what we’re doing on the Kenai, we generally will also apply some sort of restriction to the Kasilof largely to account for the ballooning effect that when we restrict the Kenai and the anglers that are going to head south to have an opportunity to harvest the fish. For this season, with what I’ve seen in the fishery and the reports I’m getting, the most prudent decision was just to remove the wild fish harvest so anglers can still go to Kasilof and catch hatchery fish which will be in the system through the first week of July. The second week of July they’ll start to taper off. We wanted to make sure that anglers did have an opportunity to go get those fish. So, an angler can go down there and can get two hatchery fish per day, just have to let the wild ones go. They are distinguished by the presence or absence of the adipose fin. It’s the small fleshy fin just in front of the tail on top. If it’s missing, then that’s a hatchery fish. If it’s still there, then that’s going to be a wild fish. We’ve got to let those ones go. Don’t pull that one out of the water, just got to let that one go unharmed.”
Alaska Department of Fish and Game manages the Kasilof River early-run king salmon sport fishery to achieve a sustainable escapement goal of 700-1,400 naturally-produced king salmon as monitored through an ADF&G weir located on Crooked Creek. Crooked Creek king salmon are used to supplement king salmon stocking programs across Southcentral Alaska.
