Every July something fantastic happens at the mouth of the Kenai River. Thousands of Alaskan residents converge on the Kenai River to take part in the subsistence dip net fishery. I personally haven't participated in quite a few years. I get my salmon on rod and reel, but thought that some of you may want to participate via the Internet. Like catching any fish, it can be addicting. Some would argue the dip netting isn't too sporty, this usually comes from the mouth of someone who hasn't dip netted before. You can do it from the river bank or from a boat. A boat is the way to go if you have one available. If not, you are stuck in the ranks with some of Alaska's finest white trash. There is a large majority that treks down from Anchorage and will camp on the beach for a week at a time. They smell and use language that would make a sailor blush, I find this adds to the ambiance. I will narrate through the following pictures.
This is somewhat of a typical dip net setup, there are size and net regulations.
As you can see above, most of the time you are shoulder to shoulder with your white trash neighbors. You can see all the Seagulls flying overhead waiting to drop a load on some poor unassuming victim's head. It's a small price to pay for fish.
Once a fish hits your net you will feel the fish struggling for life, that is when you turn your net sideways and boogie up the bank.
You then release the fish from the net and whack it. There is a brief explanation on fish bonking in a previous post.
If Lady Luck smiles upon you there will be plenty of fish to go around. The head of house can get 25 fish and each other member of the family can get 10 additional fish. The Erik Massey family can get 65 fish, yeah that's right 65. We don't eat that much salmon, in fact we only eat about 7 a winter. Like I mentioned before, I just get mine with my fishing pole.
This is somewhat of a typical setup for cleaning the fish. Some people will use coolers, plywood or like this guy 2 quads and a board. After the fillets are packaged away the carcasses are thrown onto the beach.
The carcasses are great fuel for the seagulls, that's right pooh makin' machines those seagulls. Don't worry, the fish will be swept out to sea where nothing will go to waste. In fact, most likely, halibut will feast on the carcasses and get good and fat. That's when I catch them on my boat, the circle of life or death. Sounds a bit morbid but if you are from Alaska it seems pretty normal.
Just one last note. Rotting carcasses on the beach stink. Sorry if I have offended anyone with this post. No... I am not sorry. I like to eat fish. ~Erik
