The Yukon River is mostly closed to salmon fishing this year

Salmon fishing on the Yukon River is mostly shut down for 2026 — kings, chum, and likely coho — with the river's runs still badly depressed. King salmon are returning to the lower Yukon in better numbers than the state forecast, but still below average, and the drainage stays closed to king fishing entirely, even catch-and-release. Sport fishing for them is "very unlikely" all year, the state says.

The kings are also bound by a cross-border agreement. Alaska and Fisheries and Oceans Canada signed a seven-year deal in 2024 that suspends directed Chinook fishing — commercial, sport, personal use and, in most years, subsistence — on Canadian-origin Yukon kings through 2030. Roughly 40 to 50 percent of Yukon kings spawn in Canada, and the run has been so weak that the minimum number of fish crossing the border hasn't been met since 2019. Canada, which negotiated the pact with Yukon First Nations, says it still allows a limited ceremonial harvest.

Chum salmon have been on a rollercoaster. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed summer chum fishing across the drainage on May 15, reopened it for 15 days when the run beat the forecast, then closed it again July 22 because the fall chum run is projected to fall short of spawning goals and Canada treaty obligations. The Tanana River drainage, managed separately, keeps its chum fishery open.

Coho may be next. The department's preseason forecast pointed to a poor coho run that would miss escapement goals, and it warns restrictions or a closure could follow as the fish enter the river this month. Coho fishing is open for now; the department advises checking its emergency orders before any trip.

Subsistence users face their own shutdowns. A fall update closes subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho around Fort Yukon, Circle and Eagle, beginning Aug. 10 in the lower and middle subdistricts and Aug. 15 upriver.

That leaves non-salmon species as the main draw — Arctic grayling, northern pike and sheefish — though Nome Creek is catch-and-release only for grayling.

Anglers heading out also face some rough travel. A section of Nome Creek Road is closed for construction through September, the Dalton Highway near Atigun Pass is hard going after flood repairs, and floaters on Beaver Creek and Birch Creek face debris-choked channels that may require lining or a short portage. The department urges care with campfires in hot, dry, windy conditions.