Alaska Excursions

Alaska Excursions

Wide range of glorious day trips throughout Southcentral Alaska.

Iditarod 38

Photos and stories from the last great race.

Anchorage: 50°/62°/Partly sunny

Fairbanks: 39°/64°/Intermittent clouds

Juneau: 47°/55°/Cloudy

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Dipnet fishing

A sunset lights up the Kasilof River while dozens of dipnetters work at catching red salmon July 13, 2008.

Anchorage Daily News

A sunset lights up the Kasilof River while dozens of dipnetters work at catching red salmon July 13, 2008.

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More helpful fishing information

Fishing licenses

Where to get a fishing license.

Keep fish tasting fresh

You've spent hours knee-deep in your favorite stream landing some of the best-looking fish you've ever seen.

Dipnet fishing

A sunset lights up the Kasilof River while dozens of dipnetters work at catching red salmon July 13, 2008.

Dipnet fishing -- in which anglers standing on the bank or in the river hold large nets in hopes that salmon will swim into them -- is a privilege enjoyed by Alaska residents only, especially along the waters of Southcentral Alaska.

Fly-out fishing

Imagine a wild country of mountain ranges and unpeopled space, an enormous land sprawling more than 570,000 square miles -- or 365 million acres -- of temperate rain forests, northern boreal forests, taiga and tundra.

Southcentral Alaska residents enjoy summer ritual

Dipnet fishing -- in which anglers standing on the bank or in the river hold large nets in hopes that salmon will swim into them -- is a privilege enjoyed by Alaska residents only, especially along the waters of Southcentral Alaska.

Dipnetting is allowed in several fisheries. Among them are the mouths of the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, the Copper River near Chitina and Fish Creek along Cook Inlet's Knik Arm. Kings and reds (chinooks and sockeyes) are the most common quarry.

Hooligan also are collected by dipnetting in some areas. In May, drivers along Turnagain Arm at the Twenty-Mile River see dipnetters putting the smelt species into five-gallon buckets.

Read more about dipnetting in the stories listed at the bottom of this page.