Delta Clearwater River, Clearwater SRS coho access
Big Delta
Today
Getting there
- Access
- Clearwater State Recreation Site on Remington Road, about 7 miles east of Delta Junction: turn east off the Richardson Highway onto Jack Warren Road, follow it to Remington Road. State-maintained campground and boat launch; some shore fishing near the campground, most access is by riverboat, canoe or kayak. Also reachable by jet boat from the Tanana River via the Big Delta launch at the Richardson Highway bridge.
- Drive from Anchorage
- Full day, 6h29 to Big Delta
- Drive from Fairbanks
- 1h32 to Big Delta
- Water
- River
- Best time
- Coho enter mid-September through early November, peaking in mid-October.
- Fish
- Coho (silver), Arctic grayling, Whitefish
- How to fish it
- Bank, Boat, Fly, Spin
- Gear rules
- Bright pink or green streamer flies, or Pixie/Crocodile spoons and Vibrax spinners on spinning gear
- Crowds
- High
- Local rules
- Coho limits move by emergency order some seasons; verify before you go. The boat launch can ice over during the fall run.
| Species | Months | Typical size |
|---|---|---|
| Coho (silver) | Sep to Nov | regulated by emergency order, verify current limit |
What it is like
The largest documented coho salmon run in the whole Tanana River drainage, over 60,000 fish most years, on a clear, spring-fed river that stays ice-free into early winter. Most of the river's banks are private, so the campground stretch near Clearwater SRS is one of the only places to fish from shore; most anglers fish from a riverboat.