Dip netting for Sockeye on the Copper River // Chitina, Alaska

I like salmon.  I like grilled salmon.  I like broiled salmon with a little lemon pepper.  I like salmon lox.  I like smoked salmon.  I like salmon tacos.  I like salmon burritos.  I like salmon with eggs for breakfast. I like it sashimi style right from the river.  I like salmon sandwiches.  I like salmon sauteed with veggies and rice.  I like salmon.

For the past 7+ years we've said, "This is the summer we'll head to Chitina and dip net." But, we never do.  Finally, with the help of our friend Alex, we made it to the river to fill our freezer. Chitina is about a 6.5 hour drive from Fairbanks by way of the Richardson then Edgarton Highway.  It lies 30 miles down the Edgarton on the banks of the Copper River, in the heart of the south-western central Wrangell-St. Elias mountains.  

According to the regulations: Alaska residents that have lived in the state for more than 12 months are eligible to apply for a personal use dip net permit and they make keep thirty sockeye salmon from the Chitina River subdistrict.  Throughout the season residents may be permitted a 15 fish bonus and a specified number of king salmon. But, we didn't get the bonus on this trip, and we didn't catch any kings, which we couldn't have kept either. 

After arriving at 8pm we pitched our tent in the campground, hung a tarp in case of rain, and headed for the banks of the Copper River.

Our catch around 1am. We ended up staying by the river until 2:30am, bringing in 6 fish the first night. 

The next morning we were up by 9am.  After two pots of coffee we headed back to the banks.  This time a little further down river.  We found a nice eddy to fish and spent the next 10 hours casting our nets into the silty brown water.

Gretchen really liked this spot better than the swiftly moving water the night before.  She quickly learned the feeling a fish makes when it tugs the net and ended up catching seven here.

Alex recently had back surgery and unfortunately was under doctors orders not to dip net this season, lucky for us he came along sharing his expertise.

Jack was so, so much help.

Despite recent rains throughout Alaska, the Copper River really hadn't risen much, which is good because higher water levels lead to poor fishing.  The overcast skies are also good for fishing because less sun means less glacial melt in the river.  A hot, sunny day is actually the worse condition for fishing because it means the glaciers are being nuked with UV and pouring water into the rivers. 

Jack likes dip netting because it allows for ample nap time.

One of the many sockeye--"reds"--she caught on the second day.

Hopefully Alex's surgeon doesn't see this photo, but if you are reading, just know: the waters in this eddy were very calm and little to no strain was felt on Alex's back.  Also, he only fished for about ten minutes, and, was able to catch two sockeye in those brief moments his net was in the river.

She lands another one.

Can you guess what's wrong with this sockeye's tail? No, it's not leprosy.  Our hypothesis, this one got away from a bald eagle.

I didn't ask Alex how many salmon he's filleted in his life.  But after hearing several commercial fishing stories as well as stories guiding fishing trips on his home island of Kodiak, I would guess he's filleted thousands of fish.  He makes it look so easy. 

Dip netting isn't easy.  In fact, it's exhausting.  My six hour stint Tuesday night in the swiftly moving current just beneath the bridge felt like a six hour, full body workout.  Comparable to cross country skiing, or jumping rope, or yes, maybe even six hours of cross fit.  Wednesday morning I was sore in places I've never been sore before.  But, the rewards were great.