Troutnut.com Fly Fishing for Trout Home
User Password
or register.
Scientific name search:

> > The Chena River



The Chena is a popular catch & release grayling stream that runs through the second largest city in Alaska, Fairbanks. It's also the site of the Troutnut's Ph.D. research on juvenile Chinook salmon. There's easy access to good grayling water all along Chena Hot Springs Road for 15-20 miles in the river's upper reach.

Arctic grayling in the 16-inch range are easy to come by, and grayling above 18 are possible in a good day. The better-than-average size and numbers here can be attributed to the catch-and-release-only regulations that have been in place since the 90s. Grayling are very slow-growing fish that can live for decades, and in a river so close to town and with such easy access the population of big fish dwindles quickly if people are allowed to keep them. The maximum size here does not match the monster grayling of Alaska's west coast, but this is as good a grayling fishery as any on the Alaskan road system.

Although the Chena holds both Chinook and Chum salmon, the fishery for them does not match what outsiders picture when they think of Alaska salmon fishing. The river is only open to salmon fishing in its deep, slow, meandering lower miles, where fly fishing, sight fishing, and wading are all difficult. It's mostly the domain of bait and lure fishermen in boats, and the good fishing for them only lasts a week or two as the main pulse of salmon blows through to their spawning grounds in the upper river, which is closed for salmon.

Landscape & scenery photos from the Chena River

Page:1234...6
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2X larger)
Add
This is not a sunset picture, but a midday picture in Alaska in the winter. The sun is low in the sky all day at that time of year. From the Chena River in Alaska.
This is not a sunset picture, but a midday picture in Alaska in the winter. The sun is low in the sky all day at that time of year.
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenFeb 20, 2006
Date AddedApr 15, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon EOS 20D
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (4.3X larger)
Add
This rock formation overlooks a grayling stream on the central Alaskan road system. From the Chena River Valley in Alaska.
This rock formation overlooks a grayling stream on the central Alaskan road system.
StateAlaska
LocationChena River Valley
Date TakenFeb 20, 2006
Date AddedMay 21, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon EOS 20D
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (3.1X larger)
Add
Floating down the North Fork From the Chena River in Alaska.
Floating down the North Fork
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenOct 12, 2013
Date AddedOct 13, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2.6X larger)
Add
Close-up of gear setup From the Chena River in Alaska.
Close-up of gear setup
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenOct 12, 2013
Date AddedOct 13, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2.6X larger)
Add
Ready to go From the Chena River in Alaska.
Ready to go
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenOct 12, 2013
Date AddedOct 13, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2X larger)
Add
A thick layer of ice clings to the branches of low bushes over an Alaskan river in the winter. From the Chena River in Alaska.
A thick layer of ice clings to the branches of low bushes over an Alaskan river in the winter.
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenFeb 20, 2006
Date AddedApr 15, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon EOS 20D
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2X larger)
Add
This is a small, photogenic tributary of the main river I was photographing in Alaska. From the Chena River tributary in Alaska.
This is a small, photogenic tributary of the main river I was photographing in Alaska.
StateAlaska
LocationChena River tributary
Date TakenFeb 20, 2006
Date AddedApr 15, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon EOS 20D
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2X larger)
Add
A tangled canopy of fir trees overhangs a small, completely frozen tributary of a grayling stream in central Alaska. From Chena Hot Springs Road in Alaska.
A tangled canopy of fir trees overhangs a small, completely frozen tributary of a grayling stream in central Alaska.
StateAlaska
LocationChena Hot Springs Road
Date TakenFeb 20, 2006
Date AddedApr 15, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon EOS 20D
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (2X larger)
Add
Dusk over a frozen grayling stream in Alaska. From the Chena River in Alaska.
Dusk over a frozen grayling stream in Alaska.
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenFeb 20, 2006
Date AddedApr 15, 2006
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon EOS 20D
View Full SizeView Full Size and Comment (3.1X larger)
Add
From the Chena River in Alaska.
StateAlaska
LocationChena River
Date TakenOct 12, 2013
Date AddedOct 13, 2013
AuthorTroutnut
CameraCanon PowerShot D10
Page:1234...6

Start a Discussion of the Chena River:

You must log in at the top of the page to post. If you haven't registered yet, it's this easy:

Username:          Email:

Password:    Confirm Password:

I am at least 13 years old and agree to the rules.
Top 10 Fly Hatches
BaetisBaetidaeEphemerellidaeHexagenia limbataChironomidaeHeptageniidaeEphemerella subvariaEphemerellaIsonychiaHydropsychidae
Top Gift Shop Designs
I outfish my daddy!Electric blue Hendrickson dun.I love buggers. Big, green, wooly ones.I outfish my husband!Be the trout.
Eat mayflies.
Top Insect Specimens
Baetisca obesa Mayfly NymphCorydalus Hellgrammite LarvaNeophylax Caddisfly AdultRhyacophila fuscula Caddisfly LarvaPteronarcys biloba Stonefly Nymph
Miscellaneous Sites
Dalton Highway (Haul Road) Corridor Map