2025 – A Banner Year for Kasilof Sockeye In a year that saw record sockeye returns to the Kenai River, the Kasilof River delivered an equally impressive showing. By August 9, a total of 1,197,471 sockeye had passed the sonar at river mile 8, surpassing the previous record of 971,604 set in 2022. Peak run …
The summer of 2025 produced the largest return of sockeye salmon to the Kenai River since modern sonar counting began in 1987. By August 19, a staggering 4,252,497 sockeye had passed the Alaska Department of Fish & Game sonar station at river mile 19. The surge began on July 16 with a daily count of …
The 2025 Kenai River Sockeye Salmon Return is projected to be 25% higher than the ten year average. ADFG Advisory Announcement For Immediate Release: January 27, 2025 CONTACT: Kyle Gatt, Research Biologist (907) 260-2923 Jack Erickson, Regional Research Coordinator (907) 267-2376 According to an advisory announcement dated January 25, 2025 the projection for the 2025 …
Governor Dunleavy Appointees Help Local Sockeye Sport Fishing The triannual Board of Fisheries meeting for upper Cook Inlet took place in early February in Anchorage and the seven member board, many selected by newly elected governor Mike Dunleavy, voted in favor of several proposals that shifted fish away from commercial fisheries and into the rivers. …
Two Rivers, Twenty Minutes Apart Why Fish the Kasilof River? That’s a great question! While there is certainly no doubt the Kenai is the world’s most famous salmon river, home to the largest kings on earth and the place of piscatorial dreams. Yet just 20 minutes down the Sterling highway is the Kasilof, a river …
Kasilof River Sockeye Fishing with Drift Boats Alaskan Sockeye salmon have always had their annual place in our seasonal salmon season, but recent king salmon woes have changed the amount of time we spend targeting these intriguing fish. In recent years, we have started regularly fishing for Alaskan wild sockeye salmon on the Kasilof River …
Kasilof Sockeye: Drift below Tustumena Lake offers solitude and good numbers of sockeye salmon. Changes in our king salmon fisheries have led us to further diversify and look for additional and exciting new fishing trips. One of these is the float from Tustumena Lake on the Kasilof River down to the Sterling Highway Bridge. Our Kasilof Sockeye …
Salmon & Steelhead Spawning and Salmonid Reproduction Salmon (derived from the latin term salmo which means leaper) have one of the most interesting life cycles of any animal on earth. Born in a fresh water stream and then migrating into the ocean to live in salt water, they migrate for thousands of mile before returning …
Red Salmon… To Bite or not to Bite? There has long been a debate about how to catch sockeye salmon. Do they bite, yes, no, maybe, sometimes.?.. It really depends on who you talk to as every Alaskan angler has their own opinion and their own sure fire way to land a limit of reds. …
Kenai Sockeye Salmon Fishing Guides Kenai River Sockeye: Are they shy? Sockeye or Red salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka. Often called the “shy” salmon, the sockeye is perhaps the most mysterious of the five pacific salmon. Typically present in astronomical numbers, they can transform even the smallest creek into a churning highway of back-to-back fish. Highly coveted …
