Kenai River Opens to 24-Hour Personal Use Dipnetting Friday Night

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Kenai River will be open 24 hours a day to personal-use dipnetting beginning Friday night, with higher bag and possession limits for some salmon after projections of a strong sockeye run this year.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says the loosened restrictions were triggered by new projections indicating that late-run sockeyes on the Kenai will exceed a threshold number of 2.3 million fish.

Bag and possession limits on the Kenai downstream of Skilak Lake for salmon 16 inches or longer, except kings and cohos, will increase to six per day and 12 in possession. Areas open to personal-use dipnetting this year will remain unchanged.

The expanded hours go into effect at 11 p.m. Friday and remain in effect for the rest of July, while the higher bag and possession limits will be in place effective Saturday.

“Participants are reminded to respect private property adjacent to public beaches and to follow applicable rules and regulations when on lands owned by the City of Kenai,” state biologists wrote.