On the Wood River, so many sockeye are coming back that the state wants you to keep more

For once, the fishing news is about too many fish, not too few. Starting Tuesday, sport anglers on the Wood River drainage near Dillingham can keep 10 sockeye a day — double the old limit — because this year's run is coming in big enough to spare them.

The sockeye are on pace to overshoot the escapement goal, the number of fish managers want to reach the spawning grounds, which tops out at 1.8 million. When a run runs that hot, the state can hand the surplus to anglers. "This year's sockeye salmon run on the Wood River is anticipated to exceed the upper end of the escapement goal," assistant area biologist Greta Hayden-Pless said, "therefore it is warranted to provide additional opportunity."

The higher limit — 10 sockeye, any size — runs through the end of the year. Other salmon stay capped at five, and king salmon limits don't change. And it isn't the only place: strong returns prompted similar bumps on the Kasilof River earlier this season.