Alaska Sockeye Salmon

Alaska Sockeye Salmon Facts and Tips: Fish Alaska Species Guide

by Marcus Weiner

Sockeye, also known as red salmon, are an anadromous species that is born in freshwater, moves to saltwater to grow and mature and returns back to their natal waters to spawn and die. At sea, they are silver sided, with a blue-green back, white belly, and fine black speckles on their back. When they enter freshwater and move towards their spawning grounds, they begin to undergo a transformation. Both males and females turn red with green heads, and males get a pronounced hooked kype and big teeth. Fresh from the sea, they are some of the best tasting salmon in the world, with firm, reddish to dark-orange flesh.

Biology

Sockeye salmon are the second smallest salmon species in Alaska. An average fish weighs about 5 pounds, large specimens can reach 10 pounds. Generally speaking, sockeye will spend 1- to 4 years in freshwater and 1- to 3 years in saltwater.

Where to find Red Salmon

Sockeye salmon can be found in many rivers across Alaska. Current hot spots include the Kenai, Kasilof, Klutina and Russian rivers in Southcentral; Kvichak, Naknek, Alagnak and Togiak rivers in Southwest; and Situk River in Southeast.

Most sockeye return to spawn in June through August. Experientially speaking, it appears that sockeye runs are getting later. While all four of the other salmon species found in Alaska can be caught in saltwater, it’s a rare sockeye that bites a lure in the saltwater. This means that all of the angling pressure on sockeye in Alaska is done in rivers.

Common Misconceptions

The common perception is that sockeye do not bite. They are primarily plankton feeders at sea, and this makes them challenging to hook using typical lures. The primary method that anglers employ to catch sockeye is to line them. Sockeye swim upriver with their mouths opening and closing, and the goal is to run your line into their open mouths. This is a very effective technique when you choose the right water, rig with the proper length leader and right amount of weight, and resist the temptation to snag fish. When done properly, your hook will run into their mouth and they will all but set the hook for you. The mistake is to randomly jerk your line, or blindly set at the end of the drift.

How to Fish for Sockeye

Anglers use both fly rods and conventional rods to catch sockeye. In either case, sockeye are exceptionally strong and acrobatic for their size, so they require more rod than you might think. An 8 weight fly rod is not overkill, some anglers use a 9- or 10 weight rod. For conventional anglers, a rod rated in the 10- to 20-pound-test range is about right.

For fly anglers, a 20-pound-test fluorocarbon leader of about 8 feet is attached to a floating fly line; conventional anglers can tie directly to a monofilament or fluorocarbon main line. If braid is being used as a mainline, attach an 8-foot leader of 20-pound-test fluorocarbon. Add enough weight in either case so that the weights are making a rhythmic tap-tap-tap (about every second or two) along the river bottom. Too little weight and the hook rides too high in the water and over the fish. Too much and the weights snag on the river bottom and the drift doesn’t proceed naturally. Just right and the hook will be in the zone, about level with the fish’s mouths.

It’s in the Details

Sockeye travel close to shore, so don’t wade very far out as all this accomplishes is to push fish away from you. Begin my pulling about 20 feet of line off the reel, cast slightly upriver with the rod tip low to the water. Follow the line with your rod tip, and if the line stops, set. If nothing happens, continue the drift until it’s about 45-degrees downstream, then sweep the line back to you with the rod tip low to the water and make the next cast. When you hook a red salmon, hold on, because the battle is about to get explosive!