Portland, Oregon Metro Fishing Report – High rivers have kept metro anglers off their home waters for much of the week, but the welcome rain freshet will renew hope that late season steelhead and maybe an early spring Chinook may be in the forecast.
It likely won’t happen on the mainstem Columbia but Willamette River trollers from Sellwood to the Head of the Channel may find an early riser if luck is on their side.
The more likely species is late season winter steelhead, most which are wild. Some Clackamas River bound hatchery fish may fall at Meldrum Bay by the weekend, but with what looks to be a robust return of wild fish to the upper Willamette and Clackamas Rivers, wild returns will far outnumber hatchery fish this time of year. We’re really entering the peak season for wild fish in the region, and there’s likely to be some brutes caught under the improving water conditions.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – For most Clackamas anglers, starting on Sunday, they got the “week off.” High water and snowmelt have plagued the metro rivers, keeping anglers sidelined, but licking their chops for when the water comes back in shape.
There have been some anglers out and about who are versed in high water strategies in strategic locations.
There are certain spots that harbor higher concentrations of steelhead (i.e. hatchery intake areas) that make the most sense to target. That’s a good idea in both high and low water situations. In other locales up and down those river systems, if there are fish moving through, they are moving fast and don’t have much reason to slow down to consider taking an angler’s offering.
For that reason, we’ll spend more time on the forecast than the report this week; it was simply too high for angler interest and success for much of the week.
Sandy River fishing, avid angler Jeff Stoeger reports – Good afternoon all. Well, what a week and a half. Mount Hood recently received almost 7 inches of rain. The weather forecast is for sun for the rest of the week and temps in the mid to upper 50s with a couple of days making it up to the low 60s. We saw the river climb up almost to 18 ft. The river is on the drop, and the river is currently running at 11.5 ft and forecasted to drop into the 10 ft range. The fish have finally started to show up. Last week, they had almost a hundred fish back to the hatchery, and as the river drops, the fish will be on the move.
The river temp is currently running at 42 degrees and will slowly warm as the weather warms up. There was some good numbers of fish caught just before the weather changed and warmed up. Lots of hatchery fish, as well as natives, have been moving upstream. Most of the fish were caught either using beads or spinners.
Let’s hope that we still see the fish on the move, so get out for the river will be ideal until the next big rain event. Best of luck and tight lines.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report – The week was awash with water and steelheaders spent their time preparing for this weekend versus fishing the high water of the north coast this week.
We’re in peak season here and although most guides and anglers aren’t convinced it’s going to be a banner season, there are certainly catchable numbers around, with this weekend holding a lot of promise, including the promise of a lot of angler pressure.
The North Fork Nehalem and Kilchis were in fine condition today (Thursday, 2/27) but anglers didn’t spank ’em despite perfect water conditions.
The Wilson, Trask, Nestucca, Siletz and Wilson will all be in great shape for weekend anglers, paid subscribers can view our river-by-river forecast in the full version of our newsletter available early morning on Friday.
The ocean was also too rough for anglers to get out and take advantage of bottomfish.
Stakeholders meet Friday (2/28) to discuss summer and fall options for Chinook and coho in the south of Falcon fishery. Chinook opportunity looks far from fantastic, California stocks that largely feed the Oregon ocean fishery are again at depressed levels.
Central Oregon Fishing Report by Terry Otto
Deschutes, Crooked Rivers blown out and unfishable. Spring fed systems Metolius and Fall Rivers good to go. Warm weather could weaken ice fishing destinations-use caution.
The weather in central Oregon has been warming up all week, and next week’s weather is expected to be dry with highs around 50 degrees F. Many rivers are in flood stage, although some may drop into fishing condition by late week. In the lakes that are open or are accessible, fishing has been fair to good for trout and warm water species.
Deschutes River
Amy Hazel of the Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop in Maupin reports that the Deschutes is in flood stage, and will probably remain too high to fish until late in the coming week, if then. The river was running at over 13,000 cfs on Wednesday and is expected to be around only 7.500 cfs by the end of the week. The water temperature at Maupin was 45.3 degrees F.
Lake Billy Chinook
The ODFW reports that fishing for bull trout and kokanee had been picking up, but dirty water in the Crooked River arm may affect the fishing. The Metolius arm of the lake is currently closed.
Metolius River
The WDFW reports that the Metolius River continues to be excellent for mountain whitefish, redband trout and bull trout. The Metolius from Allingham Bridge to the headwaters closed for the season on Nov. 1.
The good folks at the The Fly Fishers Place in Sisters reports that the Allingham Gauge held really steady after the rains, with the river rising only a little bit after inflow from Lake Creek surged. Canyon Creek got high, but the Canyon to Candle Creek below Bridge 99 is fishable with higher water and some off color, compared to the usual clear water.
Afternoon hatches have included mayflies, and there have been 3 or 4 caddis out, and some black midges and a few stragglers of the little black stones.
Crooked River
The Crooked River is in flood stage right now, and is unfishable. It rose to over 8,000 cfs, and has recently dropped back to about 6,000 cfs. It probably will not come back into condition this week, since upstream dams may continue to dump extra water downstream to alleviate flooding.
Fall River
The WDFW reports that Fly-anglers continue to report good and consistent fishing in the Fall River. Nymphing and stripping small streamers have been the most effective methods. With cool winter water temperatures look for fish congregating in the deeper runs, although the warming pattern may change that.
Ochoco Reservoir
The reservoir is 51 percent full and shouldn’t change much over the winter as irrigation has ended for the year. There are recent reports of good rainbow trout fishing and large fish being caught from the bank near Ochoco Dam. No report on baits or methods.
Walton Lake
The U.S. Forest Service has reopened public access to Walton Lake; however, winter access will be walk-in only as the gate has been closed for the season. Walton Lake is a popular winter ice-fishing option when ice conditions are safe. Warm weather will cause some melt, so check the ice before fishing
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
The BIG atmospheric river from last weekend blew out everything fishable. The warm sunny days that are following is allowing anglers an opportunity to get out for the weekend (at least Friday and Saturday) while the weather is nice and the rivers are dropping. Beginning with the coastal rivers, the Chetco, Elk, Sixes, and on up to the Coquille and Coos, they’re all on the drop, and although on the high side, they should be fishable with the former systems the best bets. The Upper Rogue River finally has 16 winter steelhead tallied so far, and would be an option closer to the dam this weekend. As for the mid-section, high flow, but fishable conditions are in store. Working on your taxes would be better than spending time on the lower section of the Rogue. The ocean should be doable at least Friday and Saturday, depending on where you go out of. Good weather and calm seas should have anglers catching some nice rock fish and snapping lingcod. The Umpquas should also be in high fishable condition. The North Fork has been producing some nice hatchery keepers prior to the blowout. Again, as we approach Spring, the lakes and ponds are filling, and many are getting stocked with trout. I’ll be reporting on these again soon when there are some worthwhile to fish again. There are some rumors that some strippers are being caught on the Coquille River.
Ocean Goers should be able to get out for some good winter bottom fishing and ling cod action with the best option out of Brookings. Further North, it’s looking like Sunday might be iffy and rainy. Crabbing in the ocean and bays has been off, but it might be worth a try as the bays are getting a bit more salty.
The Chetco, Elk, and Sixes probably would be good to check out for weekend steelhead anglers. The Chetco will be dropping into high fishable condition with fish throughout the river. Expect a lot of fellow anglers. The Elk and Sixes should also be fishable, but it would be prudent not to check them out first.
The middle and upper sections of Rogue River are dropping, so weekend anglers will have good warm weather to try and see if more fish have moved up since being blown out. It will be fishable and a best bet for boaters floating from Gold Hill on down to Robertson Bridge on the mid-section and up from Casey Park to the dam on the upper. Bank anglers’ plunking spin n glo’s and or bait at Chinook Park, Schroeder Park, Griffin Park, and Robertson Bridge could also see some decent action. The Applegate from Cantrell Buckley down to Fish Hatchery Park would be a good option too, with some ice hatchery fish caught around Fish Hatchery Park the latter week.
The main Ump could also be fishable conditions for the weekend angler. The North and South Forks would be the better bets for the weekend. Both have been producing fair catches of winter steelhead.
Tight Lines 🎣 – Romer