Alaskans looking for something more than a single, feisty salmon tugging at the end of their fishing line have an opportunity to stock the freezer next week. Dipnetters on the Copper River can get their nets wet for the first time this season starting Monday.
Because of a building run of salmon, the Chitina Subdistrict will open for 156 hours from 12:01 a.m. Monday until 11:59 p.m. June 7.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game sonar at Miles Lake counted 59,508 salmon from May 18-24. That's 17,013 more than the preseason projection of 42,495 salmon for the period.
Officials will continue to track the return and adjust future openings depending on the strength of the run. Rules include:
• A bag limit of 15 salmon per season -- one of which may be a king -- for a household of one. Households of two or more get 30 salmon, including one king.
• A 2009 sport fishing license and a free Chitina personal use permit are required.
• Steelhead cannot be kept and must be returned unharmed.
• Any harvest must be immediately recorded on the permit.
• Tails of any fish landed must be clipped right away.
• Only Alaska residents may participate.
Free access to the Copper River is available where the eastern boundary of the 300-foot-wide O'Brien Creek Road easement reaches the high-water mark on the west bank of the Copper River.
Boat launch and fish wheel access to the Copper River is available via an easement located upstream of the Chitina-McCarthy Bridge on the east bank of the Copper River.
Public access and boat launching is also available downstream of the Chitina-McCarthy Bridge on the east bank of the Copper River within a Department of Transportation right of way.
Area landowners have started a fee-based permit system allowing public access over their private lands along the Copper River. Not all private land is posted. A brochure, which describes private land locations in the area, is distributed with the permit.
When cleaning fish, Fish and Game urges dipnetters to throw carcasses in fast moving water. Disposing fish along the road or stream banks could warrant a $1,000 fine.
Anchorage Daily News
sports@adn.com