Ketchikan Creek opens to dip netting for hatchery king salmon

King salmon fishing is restricted or closed across much of Alaska right now. In Ketchikan, you can stand on the creek running through town and dip one out with a net.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has opened Ketchikan Creek to personal use dip netting for hatchery Chinook, from the department's markers at the mouth upstream to Ketchikan Creek Falls. It's a hatchery fishery in a terminal area — these are fish returning to the creek they were released into, not wild stock passing through.

That distinction is the whole basis of the opening, and it comes with a rule: hatchery kings only. Any wild Chinook, and every other species, goes back in the water immediately. Wild king runs across Southeast are thin enough that the department built the fishery around not touching them.

Dip net only, and it's open to Alaska residents with a valid license. The order can change in season, so check before you go.