The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

I came across this photo of my brother on a trip to Alaska in the 1980's,
i believe this fish was caught on a trib of Lake Iliamna. The world record sockeye is 15 pounds., My brother is 6'4",
so this was quite a large fish for the species. The object was not to catch salmon, but the bow's below gorging on eggs and flesh. Not exactly for the dry fly purest.

Here's me with an average size fresh one:


Greg

Decent one from our Kenai trip last year.

Oncorhynchus nerka is such a great fish! If only it were a little more aggressive toward flies . . .

Still, I love em when they're silver like this



And when they're red like this

When fresh, the best salmon to eat.

These Sockeye are also pretty good!

What a great label! From the look of it, I'd say that fish has been in the river too long -- the River of ALE!!!!

If you have never imagined a river flowing with IPA instead of water, take a moment of silence and try it out

The sockeye world record by IGFA is 15lbs 3oz but the Alaska state record is 16-0lbs.....not sure why that fish wasn't submitted for WR status. Any red over 10 lbs is big. Pound for pound they can pull circles around any of the other salmon.....they go berserk when hooked. By the time they morph and red up they start to lose alot of the fight. Here's a pic of a 12 lbs buck I caught on the Kenai a decade ago....what a fight...it beached itself twice but was back in the water before I could move....they are a hoot.





Here's one from this year....when you are fishing in Sept and Oct for trout and dollies on the Kenai, the reds are considered pests....they do get more aggressive when they are spawning and will pick up egg patterns:



Brian