Yukon chum sport fishing closed again, and ADF&G says coho could follow

Anglers fishing the Yukon River drainage are working around a chum salmon fishery that has closed, reopened for 15 days, and closed again since May, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says coho salmon may be restricted or closed next as those fish enter the river this month. The department's preseason forecast for coho also pointed to a poor run that would fall short of escapement goals, so it expects a below-average return and warns that restrictions or closures to the sport fishery may be coming.

The department's Aug. 7 Yukon fishing report lays out the sequence. All waters of the drainage, excluding the separately managed Tanana River drainage, closed to chum sport fishing effective May 15, after the preseason forecast of 345,600 summer chum came in below the drainagewide escapement goal of 500,000 to 1.2 million fish. The department cited weak 2021 and 2022 parent-year returns. The summer run then beat the forecast, and the Yukon and Tanana drainages reopened to sport fishing for 15 days. The Yukon drainage closed again on July 22 because the fall chum forecast will not meet spawning goals or treaty obligations with Canada, where roughly 15% to 20% of fall chum spawn. That closure did not apply to the Tanana River drainage, which is managed separately, so anglers there keep the reopened chum fishery even as the Yukon mainstem shuts back down. The department added that if in-season assessments project fall chum escapement goals will be met and subsistence opportunity in the drainage is provided, sport fishing restrictions may ease in step with run strength.

Subsistence users face their own restrictions. ADF&G's Fall Update #3 closes subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho salmon in Subdistricts 5-D Lower and Middle at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 10 and in 5-D Upper at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 15, covering the area around Fort Yukon, Circle and Eagle.

King salmon sport fishing has been closed drainagewide, including the Tanana, since Feb. 19, including catch-and-release. The report says the king run into the lower Yukon has exceeded the preseason forecast but remains below average, making any sport fishing activity in the drainage in 2026 very unlikely. That closure sits alongside an ongoing seven-year agreement, effective through 2030, that has closed Canadian-origin Yukon River Chinook to all fishing, including subsistence, commercial, personal use and sport fishing.

Arctic grayling, northern pike and sheefish are the main open targets, though Nome Creek is restricted to catch-and-release only for Arctic grayling. Coho sport fishing remains open for now, and chum fishing is still open in the Tanana drainage. The department advises checking its emergency orders page before any coho trip.

The report also carries travel and float warnings. A temporary closure of the section of Nome Creek Road leading to the Ophir Creek Campground from the Nome Creek Bridge runs through Sept. 30, 2026, or until construction is finished. The road stays open on weekends, federal holidays and for moose hunting Sept. 1 to 15, with delays of up to 20 minutes when it is open. The Dalton Highway between Dietrich Camp at milepost 210 and Atigun Pass remains difficult to travel because of flood repairs. Floaters on Beaver Creek were warned that a river channel that opened in 2025 just upstream of the Borealis-LeFevre Cabin has been reported filled with logs and debris; the Bureau of Land Management recommends floaters line around it upstream where the channel splits. On Birch Creek, a potentially hazardous channel found in 2023 a few miles downriver from the Upper Birch Creek Wayside may require an approximately quarter-mile portage. The department also urged caution with campfires and other fire sources during hot, dry and windy conditions.