Days: 57-65
We have spent the past week visiting and sightseeing on the Kenai Peninsula. What a beautiful place. The weather has been cool and rainy but that has not stopped us from having some wonderful adventures. I am happy for the rain. The wildfires in this area, over the past years, have been devastating to the forest. Hopefully the rain will prevent wildfires this year.
We are camping near the mouth of the Kenai River which is considered one of the best places for fishing in North America. Right now it’s dip netting season. I will do my best to explain “dip netting.”
Dip netting is a fishing technique for salmon, mostly sockeye. It is legal for Alaska residents personal use only The dip netting season this year is July 10-31. You can dip net from the shore or from a boat. The best time to dip net is an incoming tide. Dip nets are large round nets with a long handle. Nets range from 3-5 feet radius, have a “T” handle and they are heavy. You can buy them just about anywhere. We even saw them for sale in the Anchorage Costco.
You stand in the water, waist deep with the net held perpendicular to the bottom and wait for a fish to swim into the net. Given the size of these fish, you can feel them hit the net.
When you feel a “hit” you tip the net parallel with the bottom and drag it into the shore. Which all sounds easy but is really hard work given the combined weight of the net and the fish and the fact that you are wading through waist high water. Cold water, I might add.
Of course the fish do not cooperate and continue to flop around getting tangled in the net.
A good bop on the head with a baseball bat makes untangling easier.
First phase cleaning is done on the beach. Heads. entrails, and sometimes roe is fed to the gulls. The tail is clipped to indicate the fish is for personal use and not to be sold commercially.
While the adults and older kids catch fish, the younger ones play in the water. I was struck by the idea that kids love to play in the ocean, no matter how warm the water. When it’s too cold for a bathing suit, wear a rain jacket, rain pants and boots.
The rest of us sit; watch the fishing, help when we can, and take in the scenery.
Our first night out fishing, we didn’t pay much attention to the tides. Those of us who walked could get around these rocks. Levi and Miranda, however, had to wait out the high tide on the other side of the rocks in their car. We took the boys with us. (The baby was with her auntie Sam.) Sally and I joked about the lengths Levi and Miranda had to go for a little “alone time”. LOL.
We packed the fish on ice overnight and the next day started to process the fish. This involves filleting and removing the bones and skin.
No one weighted the catch but we estimated we smoked, canned or froze over 100 pounds of fish.
Levi, Miranda and her family will continue to fish until the end of July, each time bringing in at least as many fish as we did in one night. Actually, according to some I have talked to, the “real” salmon runs have not started. I have been told that once that happens, it will be “wall to wall” people in the water with their dip nets.
Comments
4 responses to “Dip Netting”
Wow! You have to really like salmon to do all that work!
It’s amazing to me how different life is in other parts of just the USA. It’s a whole other culture that I can’t imagine enjoying but yet, I’m sure they can’t imagine living in Appalachia. What an immersion you guys are experiencing and maybe you will bring more “culture” back to Waynesville! ❤️❤️❤️
Oh, wow, those nets are expensive — $297. I personally like the dip net watchers.
Looks like another adventure.
Oh, wow, those nets are expensive — $297. I personally like the dip net watchers.
Looks like another adventure.
Thank you for helping me appreciate what it takes to harvest sockeye. So cool that you helped your family process the catch in so many ways. Lots of learning in that experience.
Love you both and miss you. Enjoy adventuring and come home when you finish. ❤️❤️