Dipnetting the Kasilof? Record and clip before you stash your fish

A Wasilla man picked up a summons at the Kasilof North beach on June 27 for a mistake thousands of dipnetters could make: leaving without recording his salmon on his permit. Eli Ickes, 29, is presumed innocent, but it's a good reminder of the rule people trip on every summer.

The paperwork is simple if you do it as you go. Every salmon you keep has to be recorded on your Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use permit and marked — both tips of the tail fin clipped, scissors work best. The catch is the timing: both have to happen before the fish leaves your sight — not at day's end, and not just for the fish in your hand at the water. Once a salmon goes into a cooler, behind a tent, or into your vehicle, it's too late. Do it one fish at a time, on the spot.

The rest is straightforward. You need a resident sport fishing license and the free household permit before you fish. No kings may be kept in the Kasilof dipnet. The Upper Cook Inlet household limit is 25 salmon for the permit holder plus 10 for each additional member. And after the season, you have to report your harvest online — even if you caught nothing — or lose next year's permit and risk a $200 fine.

The Kasilof dipnet runs June 25 through August 7, around the clock, and troopers are already checking. It can close on short notice by emergency order, so check before you go.