Bristol Bay's sockeye surge doubles the sport limit to 10

The sockeye are running thick enough in Bristol Bay that the state just doubled the sport limit — and on the Naknek River, anglers are filling their coolers in about an hour.

Under two emergency orders, the daily sockeye bag limit in the Wood River and Nushagak-Mulchatna drainages has jumped from five fish to 10, good through the end of the year. It's the sport-fishing echo of one of the planet's great salmon seasons: the same Bristol Bay return that feeds the world's largest commercial sockeye fishery, now pouring past the counting towers by the tens of millions. Fish and Game sport-fish biologist Lee Borden called the Naknek "good to excellent," with eastside sockeye showing up in force across the drainage.

Before you load the cooler, though, read the fine print. The 10-fish sockeye limit stands on its own — chum, pink, and coho together are still capped at five combined. Kings must be released in the Nushagak-Mulchatna through July 31 under a no-retention order. And bait is banned across that drainage, the Wood River excepted, through the same date: one unbaited, single-hook artificial lure only.

Orders can shift with the run, so check the current ones with ADF&G before you fish.