2018 Nushagak River Fish Counts

Every year the Alaska Department of Fish and Game compiles Nushagak River fish counts, specifically for our five salmon species. Nushagak River Adventures sits on the world’s largest king salmon run, and the 2018 data proves it. 2018 ended up being a phenomenal year as we saw hundreds of thousands more salmon in the Nushagak River than in 2017. We’re so proud to be one of few Alaska salmon fishing lodges on the Nushagak! Here is some of the data from this year’s report.

King (Chinook)

After a record-breaking 2016, we saw approximately 68,000 less king salmon in the Nushagak River in 2017. Thankfully, the chinook came back in full force in 2018. In fact, 97,239 king salmon blessed our waters from June 7 to August 17, over 40,000 more than last year.

Chum

Chum salmon absolutely flocked to the Nushagak River in the summer of 2018. Over 811,000 chum made their way through our peaceful waters, marking a new record, which means 522,000 more chum salmon rushed through the Nushagak than in 2015. What an incredible turnaround! You cannot ask for better Nushagak River fish counts.

Silver (Coho)

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is attempting to revive the silver salmon population. They didn’t compile data from 2015-2017. The Nushagak River played host to 111,455 silvers in 2018, which is much less than desired, but the Fish and Game department smells a comeback in 2019.

Pink

The Nushagak River produces more pink salmon than any other river in the Bristol Bay region. We’ve seen much better results this decade, but pinks made a strong showing in 2018 with over 628,000. We’ve seen over two million pink salmon on a good year!

Sockeye (Red)

It’s likely we’ll never be able to top last year’s 2.85 million sockeyes, but we still saw 1.25 million in 2018, which is well above average! July 3 was a monumental day as the Nushagak saw over 120,000 sockeyes in 24 hours!

Alaska Fish Camps

We’re incredibly thankful for 2018’s Nushagak River fish counts. We’re already counting the days until 2019’s opener here in beautiful Bristol Bay. As one of the few Alaska salmon fishing lodges on the Nushagak River, our availability fills fast. So, remember to give Nushagak River Adventures a call at 1-877-876-NUSH (6874), or fill out an inquiry today.