Sockeye are running so strong in Bristol Bay that anglers can now keep twice as many

Sockeye are returning to the Wood River and Nushagak-Mulchatna drainages in such numbers that the state has doubled the bag limit. Anglers there can now keep 10 sockeye a day, up from the usual five, with no size limit, through the end of the year.

The Nushagak run "has shown up strong and has exceeded the upper end of the escapement goal," Area Management Biologist Lee Borden said, pointing to a surplus at the Portage Creek sonar. More than enough fish have made it upriver to spawn, so the state can let anglers take more.

It is the kind of year that has happened before. Fish and Game did the same in 2024, when the Wood River return came in at an estimated 4.4 million fish, well above its goal.

The rest of the bay is fishing well too, with coho in across the region, good-to-excellent fishing around Togiak, and pinks running hot at 30 to 50 a day.