Portland/Metro Fishing Report
With Metro rivers nearing flood level, fishing has been and is on hold for the foreseeable future. Even if rivers were in fishable shape, it’s shoulder season, with not much to fish for.
It won’t be anytime soon before we get excited about Metro prospects either, but lower, clearer water would be a good first step.
Clackamas and Sandy
Clackamas River Fishing Report – The Clackamas River has remained relatively high for most of the week and even if it were in a more fishable condition, anglers don’t have much hope for early-season steelhead on the Clackamas. Anglers will get more hopeful come late January, with February being one of the best months for adult returns.
Suffice it to say, next to no effort this week translates into next to no success, although actual reporting has been predictably light. In short, you’re not missing anything on the Clackamas.
Sandy River Fishing Report – Avid angler Jeff Stoeger shares: This week’s river conditions have been dynamic, with water levels fluctuating significantly over the past several days. Last week, the river surged to a height of 16 feet, rendering it unfishable for a period. Fortunately, levels dropped back down to a manageable and floatable 10.65 feet, making for improved angling opportunities. However, the past couple of days have seen another rise, with the river currently running at 13.6 feet.
A handful of hatchery fish have been caught, and some have already been returned to the hatchery. There are still a few coho present in the river, and anglers have found success targeting both winter steelhead and coho using spinners, beads, and plugs. Cooler weather is needed to bring snow to the mountains and help stabilize river levels, which remain high with continued rain.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report
With district rivers currently blown out, and persistent high water for most of last week, anglers had a hard time finding consistent success, even on the small stream systems that should be peaking right now.
No doubt, there are winter steelhead available on Gnat and Big Creek, the North Fork Nehalem, Klaskanine and Necanicum Rivers too. The Alsea River down south also realizes an early returning broodstock with the river is at a fishable level.
Larger rivers such as the Wilson, Trask, Nestucca, Siletz and certainly the mainstem Nehalem are a ways off from dropping into fishable levels. Those systems were simply too high for success for much of this week.
Offshore anglers did find a small window to recreate in big blue last weekend, and catches of bottomfish AND lingcod were fairly good. It’ll be a while before we see that option again, and with the commercial crabbing gear now deployed, all the quality keepers will soon be cooked and off to market.
The lower Columbia is inundated with fresh water, making even that fishery challenging.
People should always call the Shellfish Safety Hotline at 1-800-448-2474 before heading out to harvest any shellfish or visit the ODA Recreational Shellfish Biotoxin Closures Webpage.
Much more on the site for Chinook Members:
- Buzz Ramsey’s latest post – Tackling High Water Steelhead. High water doesn’t have to shut down your steelhead season. Discover how anglers find success before rivers turn green. Chinook Members can see his post HERE.
- Bill Monroe’s latest post – Salmon for All. Anglers, families, and industry leaders packed Ilani Casino for a record-breaking Hatchery & Wild Coexist banquet that raised over $100,000 and sparked bold new plans for the future of Northwest fisheries. Chinook Members can see his post HERE.
You can find all the articles from these two professionals on this page.
- The article of the week: 1970. This article was written 55 years ago by Frank Amato. You will find it interesting to read how things have and haven’t changed. Chinook subscribers can find the article HERE.
All the STS articles are located here.
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Members head to the Member’s Landing Page to find everything you have access to.
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports
Rain is in store for most of Oregon this weekend, causing most (if not all) of the coastal rivers to go unfishable until at least mid-next week. That means the Chetco, Elk, Sixes, lower Rogue, and Umpqua rivers that were too low will be too high, and not to forget, ugly weather conditions for the weekend.
The mid to upper Rogue River will also see rain increasing flow; however, it shouldn’t make it unfishable, especially on the upper, if you must go. This would be my best bet if you have all your shopping done 😉Take your rain gear!
The ocean will also be off limits due to heavy seas and wind until next week.
High wind and torrential rain starting Thursday will keep ocean goers on land till at least next week.
Commercial crab season opened on the 16th. Let’s hope and pray that our crab fishermen stay safe, as one boat has already sunk this week. What had been great for crabbing at Brookings-Harbor to Winchester Bay is now flooded with fresh rainwater runoff and won’t be good again for quite a while.