Chicks are hatching daily at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.  You can see and even pet some from 0 to a week old!

In this special episode of FYI Alaska, we bring you two Alaskan's thoughts on the Republication nomination of Sarah Palin.  From her home town of Wasilla - and the hometown of FYI Alaska, incidentally, we will begin to intermix some Palin insight.  While some of our interviewees may be of a strong opinion, it is the intent of FYI Alaska to offer a non-biased, or at least equally balanced, view of who Sarah Palin really is.  We'll take some time to explore Palin's home city of Wasilla and the people. 

If you have questions about Alaska, Wasilla, or Sarah Palin, please email us at questions@fyialaska.net and we'll do our best to answer them in an upcoming episode.

Here is the first in our new video blog series where we can answer your questions about living and traveling in Alaska.  To have you question answered here, email Brian at fyi@daytripsalaska.com.  Keep watching here for full Day Trips Alaska episodes currently in production!

Blog entry for July 17, 2008

    Kenai is hot for Kings and Reds right now.  While the King Salmon, or Chinook, run is soon to die down, they're still catching them with good success.  Alaskans, however, are not heading down there in droves to throw in a line.  They're bombarding the area with dipnetters, wanting to scoop up the Sockeye by the dozen, literally. 
    I just returned from four days in Kenai.  We had hit the river with our dipnets the day it opened and fished for three days.  According to the fish and Game website, the peak of the run historically doesn't hit until July 17.  I was skunked.
    Alaskan residents can scoop up 35 salmon for the head of household and another ten for each immediate family member (please see the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for the full regulations).  A dipnet uses gillnetting on a five foot diameter frame and a really long pole, usually about ten feet or so.  They simple put on their chest waders and stretch out their dipnet and wait for the fish to swim through the murkey waters right into their net.  They can't see the net and when they enter they become tangled up, usually by the gills, so they can't get out.  The thicker, more common sport fishing net warns the fish before they can get tangled and caught.  To the dipnetting fisherman, it feels like just a bump and when the net is pulled out of the water, voila, there's the fish!
    It's not very sportsman like, but to Alaskans it's not about sport.  I'd like to say it's about subsistence (in most cases, it's not), but it is about filling up the freezer for the long winter months to come.
    Kenai is not the only place to dipnet in Alaska.  A few other places open up for a short dipnetting season.  Probably the next biggest is the famed Copper River.  Both the Copper and Kenai are very popular and the fishing is good, but it's the Kenai that's most easily accessable.
    The Copper River is so much more trecherous.  Only a few brave (and very experienced) souls are crazy enough to put their own boat into the cold, silty, and swift waters of the Copper River.  Unlike the Kenai, the drive to Chitna, the little town just before O'Brien Creek where everybody starts from, is about seven hours from Anchorage.  There is one guide service that will take people out and drop them off on the steep rocks for a day of dipnetting.  Smart dipnetters brint rope and tie theyselves off on to a tree as the dipnetting area is basically in a deep canyon with 100 foot cliffs and embankments.  Some will climb down the embankment where they can, but hauling 30 or 50 fish up is exhausting!
    Non residents cannot dipnet.  They cannot even help an Alaskan dipnetter by handing them the net.  They cannot even tough the equipment.  All they can do is watch.  The laws are strict and heavily enforced.
    The day I returned home with an empty ice chest, my neighbor came by with a fresh fillet for me to share.  He had dipnetted the Kenai the day after I quit and caught his limit.  As usual, I was a day too early.
    To see some of this crazyness in action, I'd recommend a trip to the mouth of the Kenai River.  There is a great little viewing park in Old Town Kenai (turn south at the Kenai Visitor's Center. If you want to see it, you had better hurry as both the dipnetting and King season ends at the end of the month.

Here is a new and improved version of Itinerary 1.  Please see the show notes for the original item below.

I am registering the podcast at Podcast Alley as well as iTunes and the Podshow network to increase coverage.  You can check any or all of these sources to subscribe to the show and other of great shows.  While you're at it, check out the Alaska Podshow with Scott Sloan.

Links


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Welcome to Day Trips Alaska!  This is our first 'pre-season' podcast where host Matt explains what DTA is all about.  We're currently filming our first four itineraries which will be up in a couple of weeks.  From there, you can expect regular weekly episodes.

If you are interested in featuring you tourism related business or sponsoring the show, please contact Brian Mead at brian@daytripsalaska.com or call direct at 907-232-2264.  Additionally, you can download our sales information packet here (pdf).

If you are a future Alaska traveler and have any kind of travel questions, we'd love to answer them on the show and we'll respond with an email for faster feedback.

Thanks for checking us out!

-Brian