In the last few days of July, word went out that dip netters in the Copper River canyon were catching the temporarily expanded limit of 40 red salmon in just a few hours.
The rush was on, and we joined it.
On July 29 at 4:30 a.m. after driving all night from Fairbanks, we found ourselves standing at O’Brien Creek, a small tributary of the Copper, with dozens of other people. We were all lined up to buy a $100 trip on a charter boat that would drop us off in the canyon.
The charters started promptly at 5 a.m. Fishing parties patiently waited, moving their equipment forward, for when charter operators Sam McCallister and Mark Hem would return to take another group out in their boats. On their return trips, they brought back fishermen who had opted to stay out overnight to catch their limit. The sight of fishermen returning with loads of fish stirred excitement in those waiting in line. Questions of “How many did you get?” and “How long did it take?” rang out to the tired-looking dippers.
After a couple of hours, Hem stopped his boat, climbed up on a fuel truck and gathered the remaining people around. “This is the longest line we have worked with,” Hem began. “We want to get everybody out there, but there are only so many spots that we can put people. What we have left are difficult spots to fish. Places that have room for one person or places were you will need to wade into the water and sweep.”
Murmurs ran thorough the crowd as people weighed their options. We could wait to take the place of a returning group, make our way down the old railroad right-of-way and negotiate the cliff or keep our place in line and go out overnight or be closer to first in line for the next morning. Our group of four decided to take on one of the sweeping options. A couple of us had tried sweeping before, constantly moving your net through an upstream eddy to keep your net open and knew that it is a very tiring venture. But with four nets and the strong run, we decided to take our chances.
Thousands of Alaskans travel to the Copper River near Chitina each summer, seeking a supply of red salmon for freezing, canning or smoking. This year brought plenty of fish, and so came plenty of fishermen. Approximately 250,000 fish passed the sonar, located 70 miles downstream of Chitina, between July 6 and July 17. Biologists estimate it takes the fish about three weeks to reach Chitina.
This past weekend, fishermen who had been dropped off by charter boats in the canyon at 8 a.m. were being picked up at noon with 40 fish, said Shawn Conway, a fish and wildlife technician at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in Glennallen.
Even people in the less-desirable spots were catching fish, and that trend continued through the early part of this week.
“Yesterday, people fishing from the bank at O’Brien Creek were catching an average of 10 fish in two hours,” Conway said Wednesday.
Fishermen were successful despite encountering high water in the river, Conway said.
The regular bag limit for dip netters at Chitina is 15 for individuals and 30 for a household. However, with all the fish this year, the department added supplemental periods in which a person could catch 10 more fish. So a diligent household with good timing could collect 40 fish. The final supplemental period ends Sunday.
Once we found the sweet spot that produced a fish in the net every time, we were on our way. As long as one person in our group was working that spot, we had a constant stream of reds headed for the stringer. During my turn, I pulled out a double, followed by a triple, followed by a double. Never before had I or any of my fishing partners seen such a thing. We were averaging 10 fish an hour in the morning, but that nearly doubled in the afternoon.
The fish we landed in the afternoon were larger and brighter than those we caught in the morning. We had our limit for three households and an individual in almost eight hours. We did not take any supplemental fish, figuring that we had enough and saved the additional $20 fee for the extra fish.
Red salmon, also known as sockeye, weigh about five to 10 pounds in the round. Even after heading and gutting, 100 fish can add up to 500 pounds.
That’s when the work began.
Given the run’s strength, we decided to make the eight-hour drive from Fairbanks on a Wednesday evening, fished Thursday and drove home that evening. We arrived in Fairbanks at 10 a.m. After sleeping for a few hours we went to work filleting, wrapping and vacuum-sealing. Some of my partners wrapped and sealed whole fish or quarters that they will fillet later. I loaded a brine bucket with nine fish destined for the smoker. It is a lot of work, but there is great feeling of accomplishment when the last jar is sealed and the freezer is full.
The dip netting season on the Copper River ends Sept. 30. Hem says he expects to keep his boat running through the better part of August. Call the fishing hotline (907) 823-2200 for the latest information.
Silver salmon should begin arriving next week, Conway said.
Photo editor Sam Harrel has been visiting Chitina for more than 10 years. You can reach him at sharrel@newsminer.com or (907)459-7534
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