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Bait allowed on Kenai River again starting Friday

    The emergency order from Fish and Game prohibiting the use of bait in the Lower Kenai River expires Thursday night at midnight. The expiration includes the use of multiple hooks and scent on lures.

Even with the restrictions lifting, incidentally hooked king salmon may not be retained or possessed. King salmon caught while fishing for other species may not be removed from the water and must be released immediately.

In fact, Fish and Game suggests anglers should avoid fishing for coho salmon in areas of the river where king salmon are concentrated and to cut leaders or lines to avoid stressing incidentally hooked king salmon.

The Upper Kenai River, Russian River, and Russian River Sanctuary Area has seen fair angler success for sockeye. Bright fish are still entering the Russian River. Anglers are reminded the bag limit is 3 fish per day and 6 in possession.

Head there soon to get  your limit, as sockeye salmon fishing in the Upper Kenai River, Russian River confluence Area, and Russian River closes after August 20.

Fishing for coho salmon in those waters is open, however, with a bag limit of 1 per day and 1 in possession.

Rainbow trout fishing on the Middle and Upper Kenai River is good to excellent, while rainbow and Dolly Varden fishing on clear-water tributaries of the Kenai River have been improving as salmon begin to spawn.

Sockeye salmon fishing on the Lower Kenai River is still good. Coho salmon fishing on the Lower Kenai River is slow.

Swanson River coho salmon fishing should improve over the coming weeks.

The deadline to report on your Upper Cook Inlet Personal Use permit is tomorrow (Thursday), for the Kasilof River gillnet, Kasilof and Kenai rivers dipnet, and Fish Creek dipnet fisheries. Participants are reminded they are required to report their harvests even if they did not fish, or if they fished but caught nothing.

And finally, the department reminds harried anglers tired of combat fishing that there are plenty of local lakes that provide a nice and quiet fishing opportunity in the Soldotna, Kenai, Kasilof, Cooper Landing, and Moose Pass areas.

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