Area Sport Fishing Reports
Tanana

Archived Sport Fishing Report

June 08, 2022

Freshwater Fishing

Arctic grayling

• Most local rivers have begun to drop and clear. River fishing will be very good as grayling set up in their summer feeding habitats.
• Arctic grayling are in the Delta Clearwater River near Delta Junction and fishing should pick up as the warm, sunny weather stimulates aquatic insect activity.
• Small spinners and any number of dry flies usually produce good results attracting the interest of grayling.
• Alaska Range streams remain high and occluded due to the continued melting of the copious winter snowpack.

Northern pike

• Fishing for northern pike in the Minto Flats area (including the lower portions of the Tolovana and Chatanika river drainages and Minto Lakes), opened on June 1. Given this past winter’s heavy snowpack, expect high water levels in Minto Flats for the next week or two.
• The daily bag and possession limit for Minto Flats northern pike (including the Tolovana and Chatanika river drainages and Lakes) has been reduced by an emergency order from five to two fish a day, only one of which may be 30 inches or longer. The reduced bag limit will remain in effect for the duration of the pike fishing season from June 1 to October 14.
• As with grayling, spawning has concluded for most pike populations, and they are actively foraging in rivers and lakes.

Stocked Lakes

• More than 111,000 fish were stocked into 21 lakes in the Fairbanks and Delta Junction areas last week. That included almost 48,000 catchable-size rainbow trout, more than 8,300 catchable-size Arctic char, and more than 55,000 fingerling coho salmon. The catchable-size fish are in the 9-10 inch range. The crew at the Ruth Burnett Sport Fish Hatchery in Fairbanks will continue stocking local lakes through mid-June.
• Some of the more popular Fairbanks-area-stocked lakes include Ballaine, Birch, Chena, Cushman, and Quartz, to name a few. Ponds and lakes along Chena Hot Springs Road, the Steese Highway, the Richardson Highway, and Alaska Highway have also been stocked.
• You can find up-to-date information on what lakes have recently been stocked on the Alaska Lake Database.

Emergency Orders

Please review the Emergency Orders and Advisory Announcements below in their entirety before heading out on your next fishing trip:

• Emergency Order 3-NP-U-03-22 reduces the bag and possession limits to 2 northern pike, only of which may be larger than 30 inches, in all lakes and flowing waters of the Minto Flats area, including the lower portions of the Tolovana and Chatanika drainages.
• Emergency Order 3-R-U-01-22 restricts Bear, Moose, and Polaris Lakes, Bathing Beauty Pond, Piledriver Slough, and Moose Creek to catch-and-release fishing for all fish species, and Kimberly Lake is closed to fishing.

Additional Tips

• Both the Delta and Fairbanks offices have fishing rods to loan out as part of the ADF&G Rod Loaner Program. All you need is a current sport fishing license (for resident anglers 18 and older and non-residents 16 or older) to borrow a rod. You’ll have to provide your own tackle but rods are free of charge.
• Check out ADF&G’s public use cabin reservation system to see about renting a free public use cabin on one of six different stocked lakes in the Delta Junction area.
• The Tanana Valley Fisheries Center in the Ruth Burnett Sport Fish Hatchery at 1150 Wilbur Street in Fairbanks is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Stop in to say hi and see what’s growing in the hatchery.
• Don’t forget to bring your 2022 sport fishing license. Help maximize social distancing by purchasing your sport fishing license at the ADF&G Online Store and printing it off from the comfort of your home. Also, be sure to review Emergency Orders and the 2022 Northern Sport Fishing Regulations Summary Booklet for the area you are fishing in before you head out.

For More Information

• Call the Fairbanks office at (907) 459-7228 or the Delta Junction office at (907) 895-4632.