The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has issued an emergency order prohibiting the use of bait in the Kenai River beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday and extending through the close of the fishery at 11:59 p.m. on July 31.

From regulatory markers at the outlet of Skilak Lake, downstream to its mouth, sport fishing gear will be limited to not more than one unbaited, single-hook artificial lure. Bait may not be used in this 50-mile stretch of river when fishing for any species.

I've been fishing since I was little.

Rather I should say that I have been waiting to catch fish since I was little. That would be a more accurate description of my fishing acumen - bait the hook, drop it into the water and wait.

I've performed that discipline since I was a kid growing up in Colorado, often finding a stick to poke dead things with on the shore until my bobber hinted at a bit of life.

How can you know when enough sockeyes are in the Kenai River to justify fishing for them?

The best way is if someone calls you on a cell phone from the river and says, “They’re in! Get down here, now!”

The second-best way is to go to the river every few minutes and see if people are catching fish. If fish are splashing, a few “test casts” can be informative. It might be worthwhile to check on what’s happening in the dipnet fishery at the mouth of the river, 19 miles downstream from where the fish are counted by a sonar counter.