Also called sockeye, red salmon, blueback salmon, kokanee.

The sockeye salmon is endemic to the Pacific Ocean and its tributaries from Hokkaido in Japan to the Anadyr River, Russia, and from the Sacramento River, California to Point Hope, Alaska. Freshwater, non-migratory populations, known as kokanee, occur naturally in Japan, Russia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Yukon and British Columbia and have been introduced elsewhere. Sockeye are plankton feeders which has discouraged many anglers from pursuing them. They can be caught on a small hook baited with salmon eggs, a piece of worm, a maggot, or a small flashy metal troll such as a willow leaf troll. The landlocked kokanee can be taken by fly fishing at times when they are feeding on insects on the surface. The flesh is delicious whether smoked or prepared any variety of ways.