Snow-covered Mount Redoubt across Cook Inlet

Fish counts · Kasilof River

Kasilof River Sockeye Salmon Run Fish Counts

The Kenai's smaller, earlier neighbor, and one of our favorite rivers. An average of 658,996 sockeye a season, peaking Jul 16–Jul 22, about a week before the Kenai.

See the countsCheck dates

The short version

Kasilof sockeye at a glance

  • Jul 16–Jul 22peak week, 20% of the run
  • Jun 11our Kasilof sockeye trips start
  • 658,996average season, 2016–2025
  • 21,000+sockeye a day at the average peak
  • 145,582busiest day: July 24, 2026
  • 1,055,5652026 season: 60% above average
The 2026 season, day by daySockeye counted each day at the Kasilof sonar in 2026, against an average day of the 2016–2025 seasons.
  • 2026: Kasilof sockeye counted each day
  • An average day, 2016–2025 (7-day average)
050k100k150kJun 15Jul 1Jul 15Aug 1Aug 15Average day
050k100k150kJul 1Aug 1

Counts: ADF&G preliminary daily counts as published by Alaska FishTopia; timing from the 2016–2025 seasons.

Show the numbers
The 2026 season, day by day
Day2026 countAverage day
Jun 154,7852,778
Jun 167,0853,596
Jun 179,5404,417
Jun 1814,0465,318
Jun 1917,3695,591
Jun 2022,3025,912
Jun 2116,9086,178
Jun 2212,8916,426
Jun 2312,7396,617
Jun 2420,5356,849
Jun 2513,7137,067
Jun 2615,3117,345
Jun 2717,9187,945
Jun 2820,4458,371
Jun 2917,4918,677
Jun 3010,4639,118
Jul 115,1849,398
Jul 218,5969,710
Jul 320,30710,218
Jul 414,86410,448
Jul 510,78311,226
Jul 611,06311,799
Jul 715,16212,207
Jul 821,37712,522
Jul 912,75312,592
Jul 1011,25712,041
Jul 1112,76511,359
Jul 1211,37810,695
Jul 1311,41211,757
Jul 1412,81914,054
Jul 157,64415,070
Jul 1611,04116,697
Jul 1720,48019,450
Jul 1827,65020,767
Jul 1921,68220,869
Jul 2017,56420,120
Jul 2112,63418,347
Jul 226,84018,393
Jul 2388,83018,041
Jul 24145,58216,705
Jul 2595,40016,364
Jul 2633,05616,191
Jul 2715,99515,580
Jul 2811,75214,774
Jul 2912,08713,518
Jul 309,74512,078
Jul 3110,24310,788
Aug 19,19110,026
Aug 214,5119,772
Aug 313,9999,213
Aug 412,6548,811
Aug 59,1878,301
Aug 68,2427,841
Aug 76,2957,129
Aug 8—6,355
Aug 9—5,674
Aug 10—5,117
Aug 11—4,410
Aug 12—3,905
Aug 13—3,276
Aug 14—2,900
Aug 15—2,576
Aug 16—2,272
Aug 17—2,036
Aug 18—1,749
Aug 19—1,473
Aug 20—1,290

2026 was the Kasilof's second-biggest season of the last 15: 1,055,565 sockeye, 60% above average. That is why we fish more than one river: when one run is late or light, another is usually right on time.

Escapement

How fast the Kasilof fills up

The Kasilof's run is generally very healthy and strong. In 10 of the last 10 seasons the count passed the bottom of Fish and Game's goal range, at a median of Jul 6; in 2026 it got there by Jun 25.

Some of the Kasilof's biggest counts come in years when Kenai kings are in trouble. To protect the kings, Fish and Game also limits the commercial sockeye nets near the mouths of the Kenai and Kasilof, and with fewer nets in the water many more sockeye reach the river. In years when the nets fish normally the counts are lower, and the fishing is excellent just the same.

Kasilof sockeye counted so far, season to dateThe running total of the 2026 count against an average season (2016–2025) and Fish and Game's goal range.
  • 2026: counted so far
  • An average season, 2016–2025
  • Fish and Game's goal range
0250k500k750k1M1.3MJun 15Jul 1Jul 15Aug 1Aug 15ADF&G goal 140k–320kGoal usually reached ~Jul 6Average season2026
0250k500k750k1M1.3MJul 1Aug 1ADF&G goal 140k–320k

Counts: ADF&G preliminary daily counts as published by Alaska FishTopia; timing from the 2016–2025 seasons. Goal ranges as Alaska FishTopia prints them.

Show the numbers
Kasilof sockeye counted so far, season to date
Through2026 so farAverage season so far
Jun 154,7854,830
Jun 22104,92643,966
Jun 29223,07895,377
Jul 6324,338166,902
Jul 13420,442251,192
Jul 20539,322387,341
Jul 27937,659504,279
Aug 31,019,187579,798
Aug 10—629,705
Aug 17—650,008
Aug 24—657,744

Run timing

Two rivers, one week apart

Fishing is usually good right from the start of the Kasilof run in mid-June, and the daily count builds until the peak in the third week of July. Because the Kasilof peaks about a week before the Kenai, the second half of July has two big runs at once, ten miles apart.

The Kasilof runs firstSockeye counted per day on the Kasilof and the Kenai, averaged over the 2016–2025 seasons. Same scale for both rivers.
  • Kenai sockeye
  • Kasilof sockeye
020k40k60k80kJun 15Jul 1Jul 15Aug 1Aug 15Kenai sockeyeKasilof sockeye
020k40k60k80kJul 1Aug 1

Counts: ADF&G preliminary daily counts as published by Alaska FishTopia; timing from the 2016–2025 seasons. Average fish counted per day (7-day average).

Show the numbers
The Kasilof runs first
Week ofKenai sockeyeKasilof sockeye
Jun 10——
Jun 17—4,417
Jun 24—6,849
Jul 14,0059,398
Jul 816,49112,522
Jul 1532,45815,070
Jul 2263,16118,393
Jul 2963,66613,518
Aug 547,8388,301
Aug 1229,8793,905
Aug 1921,2211,473

15 seasons

Every season since 2012

Kasilof River sockeye, 2012–2026Fish counted each season. The line is the 2016–2025 average; the band is Fish and Game's goal range.
0250k500k750k1M1.3MADF&G goal10-season average 659k201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420251.2M20261.1M
Show the numbers
Kasilof River sockeye, 2012–2026
SeasonFish countedAgainst the ADF&G goal
2012374,523Above
2013489,654Above
2014439,977Above
2015470,679Above
2016239,981Within
2017358,724Above
2018394,309Above
2019378,416Above
2020545,654Above
2021521,859Above
2022971,604Above
2023932,896Above
20241,048,092Above
20251,198,423Above
20261,055,565Above

How it is counted

The Kasilof sonar

The Kasilof sonar sits at river mile 7.8, just above the Sterling Highway bridge in Kasilof and next to the Kasilof River State Recreation Area. Two counting stations face each other across the river, each with a sonar transducer near the bank and a shelter for the electronics. Here the river runs through a single 190-foot-wide channel over cobble and boulders.

The Kasilof drains Tustumena Lake, the largest lake on the Kenai Peninsula: 115 square miles and up to 942 feet deep, fed by the Tustumena Glacier off the Harding Icefield. Its glacial silt makes the river too murky for a counting tower, and the river is too wide for a weir, so sonar it is.

Close aerial view of the Kasilof River sonar site
The sonar site from above.
Aerial view of the winding Kasilof River with its sockeye sonar site marked near the highway bridge
The lower Kasilof from the air, with the sonar site marked by the highway bridge.
Four anglers in waders on the Kasilof riverbank behind a row of sockeye
A Kasilof sockeye morning.

Questions

Kasilof River sockeye count questions

When do sockeye run on the Kasilof River?

The Kasilof's sockeye are usually counted from Jun 15 to Aug 14, about a week ahead of the Kenai. The peak week is Jul 16–Jul 22, and in most years half the run has passed between Jul 17 and Jul 20. Our Kasilof sockeye trips start June 11.

How many sockeye run up the Kasilof?

An average of 658,996 a season over 2016–2025. The most in the last 15 seasons was 1,198,423 in 2025.

Why are some Kasilof sockeye counts so high?

When Kenai king salmon are in trouble, Fish and Game also limits the commercial sockeye nets near the mouths of the Kenai and Kasilof, because they can catch kings by accident. With fewer nets in the water, many more sockeye make it into the rivers.

Where is the Kasilof River sonar?

At river mile 7.8, just above the Sterling Highway bridge in Kasilof, beside the Kasilof River State Recreation Area. A sonar station on each bank listens across a single 190-foot channel.

Counts are Fish and Game's preliminary in-season numbers and can be revised. Fish and Game can change seasons and limits by emergency order: check the current regulations before you fish.

More fish counts

Every run we watch

Counts: ADF&G preliminary daily counts as published by Alaska FishTopia; timing from the 2016–2025 seasons. All counts on these pages come from Alaska FishTopia, which posts them daily in season; the Alaska FishTopia app sends count alerts to your phone.