News

Betty Hatch wades out into the mouth of the Kenai River with a dipnet in hand on Monday, July 10, 2023, at the Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Report: Kenai dipnetting participation was about average in 2023

Kenai collected around $483,000 in revenue from the fishery

Betty Hatch wades out into the mouth of the Kenai River with a dipnet in hand on Monday, July 10, 2023, at the Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee meets on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Fish regulation recommendations to begin Monday

The committee will discuss nearly 200 proposals set for consideration that would impact the Upper Cook Inlet region

The Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee meets on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kasilof River is seen from the Kasilof River Recreation Area, July 30, 2019, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Opinion: Helicopter fishing a detriment to fish and fishers

Proposal would prohibit helicopter transport for anglers on southern peninsula

The Kasilof River is seen from the Kasilof River Recreation Area, July 30, 2019, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Sockeye salmon are gathered together at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Fish and Game releases preliminary data from commercial fishing season

The harvest continued to fall below historical averages

Sockeye salmon are gathered together at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Tony Eskelin, Jenny Gates and Israel Payton listen to questions at a “Town Hall Style Meeting” held at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Sport Fish division fields questions at town hall

The town hall meeting discussed the sport fisheries of the Northern Kenai Peninsula

Tony Eskelin, Jenny Gates and Israel Payton listen to questions at a “Town Hall Style Meeting” held at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Sockeye salmon are caught in a set gillnet at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly calls for economic disaster declaration for east side setnet fishery

The resolution is in response to this year’s unprecedented closure of the fishery by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Sockeye salmon are caught in a set gillnet at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)

NOAA seeking comment for proposed regulation of Cook Inlet commercial fishing

Public comment is being sought by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries on a proposed rule that would implement federal management on commercial and… Continue reading

Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Kenai River late-run kings designated a stock of management concern

The board-set optimal escapement goal for large late-run Kenai River king salmon has not been achieved in the four years that it has been in place

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan speaks before the Board of Game during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska.

Board of Fisheries will not move Upper Cook Inlet meeting to Kenai Peninsula

The board on Oct. 13 discussed requests received from local organizations and governments to move to the Kenai Peninsula

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan speaks before the Board of Game during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska.
Gary Hollier pulls a sockeye salmon from a set gillnet at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Preliminary results released for selective setnet test

That test was to assess a shallower net intended to better target “abundant” sockeye while reducing harvest on “weaker” kings

Gary Hollier pulls a sockeye salmon from a set gillnet at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Photo courtesy Josiah Martin/Kenai Peninsula Food Bank Jon Kruger hands an award for Trophy Catch of the Day to a participant of Catching for a Cause at the Cannery Lodge in Kenai.

Marathon fundraiser raises $80,000 for food bank

Participants spent two days networking and fishing, first at Big River Lakes across Cook Inlet and then on the Kenai River

Photo courtesy Josiah Martin/Kenai Peninsula Food Bank Jon Kruger hands an award for Trophy Catch of the Day to a participant of Catching for a Cause at the Cannery Lodge in Kenai.
An angler holds up a massive fish in “Jacks: A Film by Jako Lucas & Ra Beattie.” (Photo courtesy International Fly Fishing Festival)

Fishing film fest to return

The International Fly Fishing Film Festival, or IF4, will return to the Kenai Peninsula on Monday

An angler holds up a massive fish in “Jacks: A Film by Jako Lucas & Ra Beattie.” (Photo courtesy International Fly Fishing Festival)
Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet are dragged up onto the beach at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Board of Fish proposals center on king salmon, east side setnet fishery

Many proposals describe changes to the Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet are dragged up onto the beach at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A depth marker is almost entirely subsumed by the waters of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

High waters make Kenai River coho fishing difficult

As the river falls in the next couple of weeks, coho fishing should return to “fair”

A depth marker is almost entirely subsumed by the waters of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Coho picking up, fair for the next few weeks

Northern Kenai Fishing Report

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Silver Salmon Derby returns

The event is unique among fishing derbies for its use of the “magic weight”

Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file) A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Coho ‘good’ on Kasilof River, fair on Kenai River

Northern Kenai fishing report

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file) A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Sockeye wrapping up, coho still on the way

Northern Kenai Fishing Report for Aug. 25, 2023

A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Senior Advisor for Conservation Boyd Bilhovde, Bureau of Land Management Alaska Director Steve Cohn, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang and Alaska State Parks Director Ricky Gease participate in a panel discussion at the Kenai River Sportfishing Association’s Kenai Classic Roundtable at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Officials talk fish in Soldotna

Kenai Classic Roundtable topics include chinook, wind turbines, collaboration

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Senior Advisor for Conservation Boyd Bilhovde, Bureau of Land Management Alaska Director Steve Cohn, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang and Alaska State Parks Director Ricky Gease participate in a panel discussion at the Kenai River Sportfishing Association’s Kenai Classic Roundtable at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)