Portland Oregon Metro Fishing Report – There still remains little sign of a strong spring Chinook return to the Willamette Valley. A confirmed report of a spring Chinook caught in the district remains missing, but there have been rumors. The mainstem Columbia remains full of smelt, but the run doesn’t appear to be as robust as last year. None-the-less, it may still have an impact on mainstem success for the next few weeks.
Willamette River spring Chinook anglers have been sidelined for several days due to high, off-color water. Conditions are favorable for weekend anglers however, I fully expect to see the season’s first confirmed report in the coming day, but I may again be wrong.
Steelhead passage at Willamette Falls continues to surprise onlookers, it’s the best return we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s likely to spark interest upstream (Santiam system but anglers are reminded of the artificial lures and flies only regulation to protect this (hopefully) rebounding stock of fish. See the press release HERE.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – Clackamas River anglers continue to find good fishing, from both boats and the bank. Although hatchery fish seem to be on their way out, wild fish returns should be strong well into April. Mike Roberson from the Oregon City Fisherman’s Marine and Outdoor store reported that the river was running at perfect height and color at mid-week, getting 2 – 3 chances a day for his efforts. Pictured below is Mike with a nice wild fish from the Clackamas River this week, taken on a pink worm in 3 foot of water.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report – North coast anglers had a good week for steelhead. As we predicted in last week’s report, smaller systems fished well over the weekend, with the bigger systems coming into play early this week. Several quality fish were taken although it’s clear that the smaller 2-salt fish are the prosperous age class returning this season.
The Kilchis was good on Sunday, with Dave Hancock and his crew with pro guide Kent Anderson (503-550-6303) “Catching 3 before lunch!” Top of page, Dave hoists one of the 3 chromers that they caught that morning.
Buzz Ramsey also reported a productive week, targeting steelhead mostly on the Trask, but fished a little -on the Wilson as well as the Necanicum. Look for his report in the full version available to our paid subscribers.
North Fork Nehalem anglers are still struggling to find late-run broodstock fish although some are certainly present. Other early season streams such as the Klaskanine and Big and Gnat Creeks are done for the year.
One of the north coast “favorites” produced best early in the week, but pro guide Chris Vertopoulos (503-349-1377) still found some quality fishing at mid-week. Although catches were tapering, those that put in a full days effort were rewarded with steelhead such as this one, being held by Clark Phillips.
The Siletz also produced good catches early this week, but the Nestucca is just now coming into shape for anglers to fish.
The Alsea also saw some decent fishing, mostly for wild fish, but a few late-run broodstock fish are appearing as well.
Ocean anglers saw a brief window of opportunity for offshore lingcod and bottomfish. Reports were promising although those that dropped crab pots were not surprisingly disappointed. The commercial effort has been intense for the last many weeks.
Pictured below is avid anglers and awesome knifemaker David McMurtey with a nice lingcod he caught out of Depoe Bay. It was a nice ocean on Tuesday, with not much competition out there.
Members – read the latest and complete fishing report and forecast in the NW Oregon section of our site.—
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
Winter Steelhead Options Poor
I really hate sounding like a broken record, but it’s looking to be another limited fishing opportunity weekend 😥 The latest rain and snowstorm blew out just about every angling option and now with snow melt and another rain event coming this weekend, us anglers are left in a fishing hiatus.
While some rivers were on the drop, some anglers did catch some nice Winter Chrome! There’s few options for anglers as just about all steelhead rivers are a no go, however there is a good chance to get on the ocean Friday before it gets tough on the weekend. Also, there are some more lakes that are getting stocked with trout. I’ll elaborate more on lake and pond fishing when we get more “Spring” like weather and the trout are biting.
The upper Rogue from the dam to Shady Cove is higher, but fishable. A few more winter steelhead have been counted, so numbers are increasing here and catches have been decent when weather and flow is good. The mid and lower Rogue sections are blown out right now. A possible high-water opportunity might be a fast float from Rogue River to GP, or possibly some plunking down at Robertson Bridge area and Griffin Park.
The Applegate is fishable with fair catches reported around Fish Hatchery park before the last rain event.
Stocked trout are expected again in Reinhart pond with expo pond, Saunders Lake, Bradley Lake, Powers Pond, Johnson’s Mill Pond on the agenda this week.
Anglers wanting to fish the Chetco, Elk, Sixes, and Umpqua systems may have to wait till the following week.😏
I’m keeping my fingers and toes 🤞👣 crossed that next week’s forecast is much brighter!
Be safe, be nice and enjoy!
Tight Lines 🎣 – Romer
Jeff’s expanded reports, multiple lake updates, and forecasts including his past reports can be found here for Members! There is SO much more.
Read this week’s SW Washington fishing report.