Sockeye keep the drift fleet fishing while the Kenai's kings stay closed

Sockeye are running so heavy into Upper Cook Inlet that managers keep adding fishing time. Kings in the same water are in bad enough shape that the Kenai's sport season never opened.

Fish and Game gave the drift fleet a 12-hour opening Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., in the expanded Kasilof and Kenai sections and off Anchor Point. It's the latest in a run of inseason openers since late June.

The Kasilof is the reason. Sockeye escapement there hit 539,323 fish by July 20 — against a goal range topping out at 320,000 — with the run projected to reach about 900,000. Kenai sonar counted 210,755 by the same date, and the inriver run could land anywhere from 900,000 to 1.3 million depending on timing. The preseason forecast called for 7.6 million sockeye across Upper Cook Inlet.

The kings set the boundaries. Drift boats have to stay two miles off the Kenai Peninsula shoreline under the late-run king management plan, which keeps commercial gear away from the river mouth. The Kenai's sport king fishery is closed outright for 2026 on poor returns.