Tanana stays closed to king salmon sport fishing in Aug. 12 report

Sport fishing for king salmon remains closed across the Tanana River drainage, including the Chena, Salcha, Goodpaster and mainstem Tanana, with no change in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Aug. 12 Tanana report.

Emergency Order 3-KS-U-01-26, issued Feb. 18 and set to expire Sept. 30, closed all flowing waters after the preseason Yukon River king salmon forecast came in below average; ADF&G said the 2026 run was not expected to meet escapement goals. "This closure prohibits all sport fishing for king salmon, including catch-and-release fishing, in all waters of the Tanana River drainage, including the Chena, Goodpaster, and Salcha Rivers," the report said. Kings hooked incidentally must be released immediately without being lifted from the water.

Yukon king stocks remain at historically low productivity, and Salcha and Chena escapement goals have gone unmet for six straight years. Estimated 2025 escapement was 1,832 kings on the Salcha and 1,247 on the Chena. As of July 8, Chena River tower Chinook passage stood at 198 fish, below the historic average of 379. Andrew Gryska, the department's Tanana area management biologist, is named as a contact in the order.

Elsewhere, hot days and cool nights mean lakes fish best mornings and evenings, rivers during the day. Arctic grayling are on their summer grounds feeding on insects: dry flies in sizes 10 through 16 (caddis, mayflies, midges, mosquitoes, gnats), nymphs, small spinners in sizes zero through two, spoons from 1/4 to 1/2 ounce and small jigs. Grayling rules: only one unbaited, single-hook lure or fly in the Chena River drainage, Five Mile Clearwater Creek, Delta Clearwater River and Tok River drainage; a one-fish limit in the lower Chena beginning 300 feet downstream of the dam; catch and release only upstream of the dam year-round; one fish 12 inches or less on the Delta Clearwater River; two fish (only one 12 inches or longer) in Five Mile Clearwater Creek; two fish in the Tok River drainage.

For northern pike, try big, flashy spoons, spinners and topwater lures at Minto Flats lakes, Cushman Lake, Little Harding Lake, Harding Lake (catch-and-release only), Tanana River sloughs and tributary mouths. Burbot fishing should pick up as waters cool, with herring or whitefish on the bottom in back eddies downstream of tributary mouths. Lake trout hold deep while surface waters are warm. Fall stocking begins when the weather cools; at stocked lakes, try shrimp or salmon eggs under a bobber, small spoons or spinners, or nymphs, matching a dry fly to the hatch.

Anglers can check the Alaska Lake Database and the Tanana River Drainage Stocked Lakes Fishing Guide, online or at the Fairbanks and Delta Junction offices, and review the 2026 Northern Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary. Both offices loan rods free through the ADF&G Rod Loaner Program with a current fishing license; call 907-459-7228 or 907-895-4632.