Life

Smoked salmon strips hang in a smoke shed during a demonstration July 20, 2018, at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

Fish Week teaches how to smoke delicious salmon

Smoking salmon may not be as time-consuming as one may think. Yes, it does pay to allow a lot of time to let the meat… Continue reading

Smoked salmon strips hang in a smoke shed during a demonstration July 20, 2018, at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Personal-use dipnet fishermen pull up to the bank of the Kenai River beneath the Warren Ames Bridge on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

78-pound king caught on Kenai; sockeye fishing up and down

Despite its nickname as the Land of the Midnight Sun, there are in fact hours of darkness on the Kenai Peninsula in July. But the… Continue reading

Personal-use dipnet fishermen pull up to the bank of the Kenai River beneath the Warren Ames Bridge on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Tangled Up in Blue: Mouse Traps

I got lazy last week. It was the middle of July and things in Seward got a little hectic. The weather was warm, the town… Continue reading

Melissa Garcia Johnson separates foraged wildflowers at a beach on North Douglas Highway. (Photo by Kevin Gullufsen/Juneau Empire)

Foraging a homemade bouquet

Homemade gifts hold a certain charm.

Melissa Garcia Johnson separates foraged wildflowers at a beach on North Douglas Highway. (Photo by Kevin Gullufsen/Juneau Empire)
Tasi Fosi of Anchorage, who has been dipnetting in Chitina since 1991, holds up two king salmon on July 9, 2018 as seagulls hover overhead. (Photo courtesy Mary Catharine Martin)

Low Copper River sockeye return effects ripple outward

It’s a summer tradition for many in Alaska: pack up the car, drive to Chitina and dipnet for Copper River red salmon. It’s a tradition,… Continue reading

Tasi Fosi of Anchorage, who has been dipnetting in Chitina since 1991, holds up two king salmon on July 9, 2018 as seagulls hover overhead. (Photo courtesy Mary Catharine Martin)
An angler casts her line into the Kenai River near Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The water in the Kenai River is a little higher than usual — about 9.71 feet, according to U.S. Geological Survey’s gauge at Soldotna — but has fallen since last week and is significantly below the flood stage of 12 feet. Anglers were hitting the banks on Wednesday morning for sockeye salmon, which normally peak in returning numbers to the Kenai River in mid-July. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Sockeye fishing remains slow on Kenai, counts pick up on Kasilof

Anglers are hitting the banks of the Kenai River in more serious numbers now, though the sockeye have yet to show up in real force.… Continue reading

An angler casts her line into the Kenai River near Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The water in the Kenai River is a little higher than usual — about 9.71 feet, according to U.S. Geological Survey’s gauge at Soldotna — but has fallen since last week and is significantly below the flood stage of 12 feet. Anglers were hitting the banks on Wednesday morning for sockeye salmon, which normally peak in returning numbers to the Kenai River in mid-July. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
The author stumbles at the rock marking the race point on the Mount Marathon Race trail during one of her many training runs in preparation for the July 4, 2018, race. (Photo provided by Kat Sorensen)

Tangled Up in Blue: Making friends is hard to do

In my first week of college, I opened my front door and saw Camille to the right. She was splayed across the concrete floor of… Continue reading

The author stumbles at the rock marking the race point on the Mount Marathon Race trail during one of her many training runs in preparation for the July 4, 2018, race. (Photo provided by Kat Sorensen)
Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)

Kenai dipnet opens slow

The fishermen on the beach for the opening day of the Kenai River personal-use dipnet Tuesday got the benefit of a relatively uncrowded beach. However,… Continue reading

Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)
Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)

Kenai dipnet opens slow

The fishermen on the beach for the opening day of the Kenai River personal-use dipnet Tuesday got the benefit of a relatively uncrowded beach. However,… Continue reading

Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)
Dipnetters carry their dipnets to the water at Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. Tuesday marked the opening of the three-week dipnetting season, during which Alaska residents can harvest salmon and flounder for personal use. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Welcome, dipnetters!

By ERIN THOMPSON Peninsula Clarion… Continue reading

Dipnetters carry their dipnets to the water at Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. Tuesday marked the opening of the three-week dipnetting season, during which Alaska residents can harvest salmon and flounder for personal use. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Refuge Notebook: Our national bird more than meets the eye

If you have not checked out the city of Kenai Eagle Cam you are missing out. This is among the best in the world of… Continue reading

As part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s July cultural heritage series, Sam Schimmel demonstrates how to cut ivory on Friday, July 6, at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, near Soldotna, Alaska. Schimmel used the chunk of ivory to carve a small owl figurine. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge hosts cultural heritage workshops

Traditional beadwork, storytelling, fish processing and a tutorial on how to harvest local plants are just some of the cultural heritage workshops the Kenai National… Continue reading

As part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s July cultural heritage series, Sam Schimmel demonstrates how to cut ivory on Friday, July 6, at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, near Soldotna, Alaska. Schimmel used the chunk of ivory to carve a small owl figurine. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
In this July 2016 photo, a kayak floats on the surface of Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Floating the Kenai

Honestly, what’s left to say about the Kenai River? A commenter at a recent Kenai Planning and Zoning meeting called it “this body of water… Continue reading

In this July 2016 photo, a kayak floats on the surface of Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Bill Farrell, a volunteer host at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, tells a group about the refuge’s history during Take a Hike at the top of the Bear Mountain trail Friday, June 29, 2018. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Take a Hike is great way to take a hike

What’s a great way to commune with nature in a big group that provides safety from bears, collective knowledge on plants and animals, socializing and… Continue reading

Bill Farrell, a volunteer host at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, tells a group about the refuge’s history during Take a Hike at the top of the Bear Mountain trail Friday, June 29, 2018. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Bill Farrell, a volunteer host at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, tells a group about the refuge’s history during Take a Hike at the top of the Bear Mountain trail Friday, June 29, 2018. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Take a Hike is great way to take a hike

What’s a great way to commune with nature in a big group that provides safety from bears, collective knowledge on plants and animals, socializing and… Continue reading

Bill Farrell, a volunteer host at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, tells a group about the refuge’s history during Take a Hike at the top of the Bear Mountain trail Friday, June 29, 2018. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

App aims to be central fish information location

Whatever anglers want to know about fishing in Alaska, Jim Voss wants them to find it via smartphone app. This summer, he launched the app… Continue reading

This photo shows a Kenai River king salmon returning to the water after being released. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)

Fishing report: King fishing returns on lower Kenai, sockeye salmon hot at the Russian

With a holiday smack dab in the middle of the week, warm temperatures and sun predicted through Saturday and fish in the rivers, anglers will… Continue reading

This photo shows a Kenai River king salmon returning to the water after being released. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)
This photo shows a Kenai River king salmon returning to the water after being released. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)

Fishing report: King fishing returns on lower Kenai, sockeye salmon hot at the Russian

With a holiday smack dab in the middle of the week, warm temperatures and sun predicted through Saturday and fish in the rivers, anglers will… Continue reading

This photo shows a Kenai River king salmon returning to the water after being released. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)
The author’s catch is seen here on the bow of a boat in the Kenai River. (Photo provided by Kat Sorensen)

A banana boat

Bananas spoil quickly. One day you’ll have a bright, yellow bunch and the next, each banana will be plagued with its own brown patterns -… Continue reading

The author’s catch is seen here on the bow of a boat in the Kenai River. (Photo provided by Kat Sorensen)
The red stalks and whitish-yellow caps of yellow moosedung moss grow by Headquarters Lake on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on July 28, 2014. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)

This moss grows in what?

When you think about where moss grows, where do you think of? Perhaps on a tree or a stump or just directly on the ground.… Continue reading

The red stalks and whitish-yellow caps of yellow moosedung moss grow by Headquarters Lake on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on July 28, 2014. (Photo by Matt Bowser/USFWS)