Latest Kasilof River sockeye count: 6,295 on Aug 7, 2026 (ADF&G, preliminary). 2026 season count: 1,055,565 fish (Jun 15 – Aug 7).
- Latest daily count
- 6,295
- Aug 7, 2026
down 1,947 vs Aug 6 - 2026 season total
- 1,055,565
- Jun 15 – Aug 7
2025 to the same date: 1,183,165 - vs 3-year average
- 105%
- of the 2023–2025 average to Aug 7 (1,004,602)
- Peak day
- 145,582
- Jul 24, 2026
- 7-day total
- 74,079
- Aug 1 – Aug 7
down 61% vs the 7 days before
Above the goal range
ADF&G BEG goal: 140,000–320,000
2026 passage: 1,055,565 fish counted through Aug 7. Passage is the fish counted at the site (preliminary), not final escapement.
- 2026
- 2023–2025 average
- BEG goal
- Daily count
Chart data (weekly running totals)
| Date | 2026 running total | 2023–2025 average running total |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 15 | 4,785 | 8,086 |
| Jun 22 | 104,926 | 72,370 |
| Jun 29 | 223,078 | 166,887 |
| Jul 6 | 324,338 | 295,217 |
| Jul 13 | 420,442 | 436,401 |
| Jul 20 | 539,322 | 658,585 |
| Jul 27 | 937,659 | 851,285 |
| Aug 3 | 1,019,187 | 964,346 |
| Aug 7 | 1,055,565 | 1,004,602 |
| Aug 10 | after the latest count | 1,023,768 |
| Aug 17 | after the latest count | 1,040,833 |
| Aug 24 | after the latest count | 1,055,630 |
| Aug 27 | after the latest count | 1,059,804 |
| Date | Fish counted | Change vs prior count | Season total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29 | 12,087 | +335 | 961,498 |
| Jul 30 | 9,745 | −2,342 | 971,243 |
| Jul 31 | 10,243 | +498 | 981,486 |
| Aug 1 | 9,191 | −1,052 | 990,677 |
| Aug 2 | 14,511 | +5,320 | 1,005,188 |
| Aug 3 | 13,999 | −512 | 1,019,187 |
| Aug 4 | 12,654 | −1,345 | 1,031,841 |
| Aug 5 | 9,187 | −3,467 | 1,041,028 |
| Aug 6 | 8,242 | −945 | 1,049,270 |
| Aug 7 | 6,295 | −1,947 | 1,055,565 |
| 2026 season total | 1,055,565 | ||
| 2023–2025 average to the same date | 1,004,602 | ||
Source: ADF&G daily fish counts, preliminary; ADF&G can revise them. Days with no count above zero are skipped.
Kasilof River Sockeye Salmon Fish Counts
Daily and historical sonar fish counts tracking the productive Sockeye (Red) salmon run on the Kasilof River.
Understanding Kasilof River Sockeye Runs
The Kasilof River hosts one of Alaska's most consistent and accessible Sockeye salmon runs, monitored by sonar near river mile 8. The sonar operates from mid-June through mid-August, counting fish as they migrate upstream. Limits on fishing from motorized boats below the Sterling Highway Bridge make the Kasilof a peaceful and scenic alternative to the more crowded Kenai River.
🐟 Sockeye Run (June 15 – August 15)
Strong returns of bright silver Sockeye salmon migrate upstream to spawn in Tustumena Lake and its tributaries. Daily counts usually peak in July, and the biggest days have topped 100,000 fish.
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About Kasilof River Sockeye Salmon Fishing
The Kasilof River on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula is renowned for its productive Sockeye salmon runs and peaceful fishing. Located about 15 miles south of Soldotna, this river flows about 20 miles from Tustumena Lake to Cook Inlet. The 2025 season set a record with about 1.2 million Sockeye salmon counted—the highest season count in ADF&G's online record, which starts in 1983—and 2026 followed with about 1.06 million.
Fish are monitored by sonar at river mile 8, providing daily counts from mid-June through mid-August. The count is an estimate: ADF&G uses a fish wheel to sort out other species, and it posts daily numbers that help anglers plan their drift boat trips during peak run periods.
Best Times to Fish Kasilof River Sockeye
The Kasilof Sockeye run typically builds through mid-June, with peak fishing occurring from June 30 through July 26. Four of the last five seasons had at least one day over 50,000 fish, and the biggest days passed 100,000 in 2022 and 2026. The Kasilof count starts June 15, about two weeks before the Kenai River count, making it an excellent option for early-season Sockeye fishing.
No Motorized Fishing Below the Bridge
From the mouth up to the Sterling Highway Bridge, sport fishing from a motorized boat is prohibited from January 1 through July 31. Motors of 10 hp or less may be used only below ADF&G markers at about river mile 4, and only after fishing from the boat has stopped for the day. This keeps motorized fishing off the river through the peak of the run. Anglers drift downstream in rafts or drift boats, casting flies or lures as they go. The drift takes approximately 3-4 hours depending on water levels.
Fishing Techniques & Locations
Sockeye salmon on the Kasilof are targeted using similar techniques to other Kenai Peninsula rivers—"flipping" or "flossing" with weighted flies or bare hooks. The public boat launch is at the Kasilof River State Recreation Site, just upstream of the Sterling Highway bridge; ADF&G notes there are no public boat launches near the mouth.
Dipnet Fishery
The Kasilof River personal-use dipnet fishery is open June 25 through August 7 for Alaska residents, 24 hours a day, so it starts about two weeks before the Kenai River dipnet fishery (July 10–31). Dipnetting is allowed only at the river mouth (reached by Kasilof Beach Road on the north shore or North Cohoe Loop Road on the south shore), unless ADF&G expands the area by emergency order (as it did in 2025 and 2026). The household limit is shared with the Kenai and other Upper Cook Inlet personal use fisheries: 25 salmon for the permit holder plus 10 for each additional household member. No king salmon may be kept.
Understanding Escapement & Regulations
ADF&G's biological escapement goal (BEG) for Kasilof River sockeye is 140,000 to 320,000 fish; its optimal escapement goal (OEG) is 140,000 to 370,000. When the run is strong, ADF&G may raise the bag limit above the standard 3 fish per day by emergency order. Emergency orders adjust regulations based on the daily sonar counts, so anglers should check current regulations before launching.
Tracking Kasilof River Sockeye fish counts is essential for timing your drift boat trip. Peak daily counts usually come in mid-to-late July. Season totals ran between about 240,000 and 550,000 fish from 2013 through 2021, then topped 900,000 every year from 2022 through 2026.
Kasilof River sockeye count: common questions
Plain answers on how the Kasilof count works, what past seasons looked like and how to use the numbers to plan a trip. This season's numbers are in the count card and chart above. The figures below come from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and were checked on October 21, 2026.
What is the Kasilof River fish count?
It is ADF&G's daily sonar estimate of sockeye, also called red salmon, swimming up the Kasilof River. The count runs from June 15 into August, and each day's estimate is added to a running total for the season.
Where is the Kasilof sonar?
About 8 river miles up from the mouth, just upstream of the Sterling Highway bridge. ADF&G's site page puts it at river mile 7.8. ADF&G says sockeye take roughly 12 to 36 hours to swim from Cook Inlet to the sonar.
How does the sonar count fish?
It estimates them; it does not count every fish. A fish wheel at the site catches a sample of salmon each day, so ADF&G can take pink, coho and chum salmon out of the total and leave the sockeye number. ADF&G switched the Kasilof from its old Bendix sonar to DIDSON sonar in 2011, and it converted the older counts to DIDSON-equivalent numbers so the years can be compared.
How do I check the Kasilof River fish count today?
Look at the count card at the top of this page. It shows the latest daily count ADF&G has posted, the season total so far and how it compares with the 3-year average. On ADF&G's own table, days with no count show as a dash. Counts for the current year are preliminary and can be revised.
When does the Kasilof count start and end?
It starts June 15, as it has every year since 2003, about two weeks before the Kenai River count starts on July 1. The end date changes from year to year. The last count came on August 9 in 2024, August 9 in 2025 and August 7 in 2026.
When does the Kasilof sockeye run peak?
Mid to late July. In the last five seasons the biggest single day came between July 16 and July 24:
- 2022: July 20
- 2023: July 16
- 2024: July 17
- 2025: July 16
- 2026: July 24
From 2013 through 2026, the biggest day fell between July 15 and July 28 in 10 of the 14 seasons.
How many Kasilof River sockeye were counted in 2026?
ADF&G's preliminary 2026 count was 1,055,565 sockeye, from June 15 to August 7. That is the second highest season total in ADF&G's online data, after 2025. The biggest day was July 24, at 145,582 fish, the same day the Kenai River sonar had its biggest 2026 count.
What is the record Kasilof sockeye count?
The record season is 2025, at 1,198,423 sockeye, the highest total in ADF&G's online count data, which goes back to 1983. The record single day is 145,582 fish, on July 24, 2026. Only two days in that data have topped 100,000: that one and 125,628 on July 20, 2022.
What were the Kasilof River sockeye counts in past years?
Season totals at the Kasilof sonar, from ADF&G's count data:
- 2026: 1,055,565 (preliminary)
- 2025: 1,198,423
- 2024: 1,048,092
- 2023: 932,896
- 2022: 971,604
- 2021: 521,859
- 2020: 545,654
- 2019: 378,416
- 2018: 394,309
- 2017: 358,724
Over the five seasons from 2022 to 2026 the count averaged about 1.04 million fish a year, roughly double any season before 2022.
How many fish pass the Kasilof sonar in a day?
It varies a lot. In 2026 the daily count ranged from 4,785 on June 15, the first day, to 145,582 on July 24. Days over 50,000 are still uncommon: ADF&G's data has 11 from 2013 through 2026, all in 2022 or later, and only two before that, in 1985 and 2004. Because single days swing so much, the season total is a better guide than any one day.
What is the escapement goal for Kasilof sockeye?
ADF&G lists a biological escapement goal of 140,000 to 320,000 sockeye and an optimal escapement goal of 140,000 to 370,000. In 2024 through 2026 the count passed 140,000 between June 25 and June 27 and passed 370,000 between July 4 and July 9, before the biggest days of the run.
Does ADF&G raise the sockeye limit on the Kasilof?
It can, by emergency order, when the run is on track to beat its goal. In 2026 ADF&G raised the Kasilof sockeye limit to 6 per day and 12 in possession from June 26, after 117,665 sockeye had passed the sonar through June 23. Limits, open areas and gear rules can change during the season, so check ADF&G's current sport fishing regulations and emergency orders before you fish. This page is not a regulations source.
When is the Kasilof dipnet fishery open?
ADF&G lists the Kasilof personal-use dipnet season as June 25 through August 7, open 24 hours a day. It is open to Alaska residents with a household permit, only at the mouth of the river unless ADF&G expands the area by emergency order, as it did in 2025 and 2026. Each household gets one annual limit, shared across the Kenai, Kasilof and other Upper Cook Inlet personal-use fisheries: 25 salmon for the permit holder and 10 more for each other person in the household. King salmon may not be kept.
Does the count matter for dipnetting?
The dipnet fishery is at the mouth, downstream of the sonar, so the count tells you how many sockeye have already moved past the dipnet area. A rising count means the run is building. It can't tell you how many fish are at the mouth on a given tide.
Can I fish from a boat on the lower Kasilof?
Not from a motorized boat below the Sterling Highway bridge before August. ADF&G's 2026 regulations bar sport fishing from a motorized boat on that stretch from January 1 through July 31, and allow small motors, 10 horsepower or less, only low on the river and only once fishing is done for the day.
How is the Kasilof count different from the Kenai count?
The Kasilof has its own ADF&G sonar and its own run. Its count starts June 15, about two weeks before the Kenai's, and its season total has been smaller than the Kenai's every year since 1983: in 2025, 1,198,423 sockeye at the Kasilof against 4,286,091 at the Kenai. In 2026 the two were close, at 1,055,565 and 1,111,781. See our Kenai River sockeye counts.
Are kings counted on the Kasilof too?
Yes, but not at the sonar. ADF&G counts wild early-run kings at a weir on Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Kasilof, from underwater video. See our Kasilof River king salmon counts.
Where does the data come from?
The counts on this page and the past-season totals above come from ADF&G's public Kasilof River sockeye count. We republish them with averages so the trend is easier to read. The rules above come from ADF&G's regulation pages and emergency orders.
How do I get alerts when new counts post?
In the Alaska FishTopia app, favorite the Kasilof and you'll get a push alert when a new count posts. The alert gives the day's count and the season total so far, and says whether the run is ahead of, on or behind the typical pace for the date, based on the 3-year average. The app also covers the Kenai, Russian and other Alaska counts, plus tides, marine weather, sport fishing regulations and AI fish ID. It comes with a 3-day free trial, then $9.99 a year. Get it on the App Store or Google Play.