There has been official EO as of yet published, but in spite of a good return of fish to the Kasilof this year, the Department is concerned about the small wild component of the early Kasilof run due to the shift in traffic that has taken place with the complete closure of salmon fishing in the Kenai.

As a result, a new set of regulations will be in place in roughly 48 hours that will last for probably 2-3 weeks until the second-run fish make up the majority of the catches.

These changes will include:

• No rentention of unmarked fish
  Single hooks only
  Angler is done for the day after retaining an unmarked fish

Look for the official notice on this to be available sometime in the next 24 hours at the Department's Emergency Order Page .

FYI ... the personal use gillnet fishery that is scheduled to start this coming week-end at the mouth of the river will NOT be affected. Nothing like everyone sharing the burden of conservation, huh? Soound familiar to those of you from OR and Wash??

Bob,

How bad is the traffic shift since the Kenai closure, and do you think the Russian opener on the 15th will help ease it a little?

It's pretty sad that the world famous salmon fishin river is closed for salmon fishin.Piss poor
management if ya ask me.Can we say over harvested.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

So why bother even going there anymore??? Sounds like a real bummer.

OK....I understand why there a personal use permit. Is someone able to tell me however,why that permit has to be used on that early run if its in trouble? Those $35K rigs that those folks drive down to the mouth of the river don't suggest to me they have nothing to eat until the next run starts. Am I missing something? How is it they are able to afford to eat at the resturants but NEED to take those particular fish?

Strike Zone.... From my point of view the sportfishermen couldn't bring that run down on the Kenai if it was shoulder to shoulder combat fishing 24-7. It't the damn nets that do it and in that state those with the biggest nets have the biggest say. Be that as it may. It is the one truly world class salmon area on the planet. For now.

Thumper, there is no experience in salmon fishing like it. There are those that have gone and came home empty handed and wonder what was so special. There are those who know how special it is and will continue to go as long as there is someone there that has the talent to show them the difference.

sounds all to familiar...dammitt

The new regs have helped ease traffic somewhat Perhaps one of these days, we'll have some regs in place that will stop the mass migration when the Kenai fish show poorly.

On that subject: F&G actually does a decent job of protecting these fish IN JUNE when they enter the river. There have been a number of restrictions emplaced during the run that help to ensure these fish get through. The big problem though occurs IN JULY when the state magically considers everything a second-run fish and then opens up a bait-fishing bloodbath in the areas where the fish spawn. Unfortunately, a number of people target these fish and pull them off the beds and stack them up ... until this stops, we're always going to have problems with the first run of kings in there. Historically, it's a smaller run than the second run and won't handle those actions. Strange that most of the area is experiencing normal to above normal numbers, but the Kenai once again is having troubles.

And Thumper ... actually, even if the Kenai and Kasilof didn't exist, this area would still be a great place to fish. That's one of the very reasons we operate here and work the Kasilof ... you can actually not even think about fishing the Kenai for salmon and have lots of options:

[LIST] The Kasilof of course, this is the first time we've ever experienced a restriction here, and it'll only be for a coupe of weeks ... and it's more aof a matter of preventative maintenance with the complete closure of the Kenai ...
The saltwater: Homer, Deep Creek, Seward. Loads of halibut, many areas have ling, yelloweye, and other rockfish species. Lots of whale-watching, tidewater glaciers, massive concentrations of
wildlife ...
The Upper Kenai: great trout fishing, red salmon coming out your ears.
Fly-outs: dozens of nearby locales, ranging from trout fishing to helicopter king trips. Fish side by side with the bears
Clams, clams, and more clams!

Still lots of reasons to come