Portland/Metro Fishing Report – There’s little to report on for metro anglers but following the crest of the Willamette River on Friday, Meldrum Bar plunkers could be in the game this weekend.
It’s early for Willamette River hatchery winter steelhead, but following the current high water event, there could be some biters come Saturday, for Meldrum Bar plunkers. Plunkers should wait for the drop, and run spin-n-glos and coon shrimp or eggs along the current break. Go big and bright until the water clears, it’s a bit of a long-shot, but it may be the best game in town over the weekend.
Starting in early January, sturgeon anglers will have a catch-and-keep opportunity above Bonneville Dam. See the press release HERE.
Find the full report and forecast for Members on this page here for the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – Anglers had a short window of good opportunity prior to the blowout. Mike Roberson reports it best. Mike states, “So, the 2025 local steelhead season is off to a good start. My buddies and I fished the Clackamas last week, with one hatchery fish and a few natives. This was before the river blew out. Today, the Clack is running at 16 ft. but looks fishy by the weekend. There are a few boats fishing the north and I assume the plunkers will be out with the Willamette running high. Remember to fish tight to the bank when the river is high.”
Mike continued, “My buddy Ron Craft called me Sunday to let me know he’s had several fish in his backyard. He lives on the Sandy River. We joined him on Monday, the river was on the rise but I was able to get this beautiful hatchery fish on a 20 mm cerise BnR bead on a #1 Finesse wide gap. There’s still a few coho up high, but very little pressure. Last year was a great season for local rivers, it’s starting to look like another good one on the horizon.”
Great report from Mike, thank you! Mike reported just what one would expect for the early season on the Clackamas. It takes a good effort to pull off a win, especially this time of year, but if the conditions are right, even though it’s early, one can find some degree of success.
North Fork counts are subdued right now. The late-run coho are starting to taper, looking like the return will fall short of last year’s run. Winter steelhead (almost exclusively wild) are weak, but it’s very early for that run to be materializing. It’s on par with what we saw for early counts last year.Sandy River Fishing Report from Jeff Stoeger – “Good morning All. The only thing to report is that there were some winters caught before this huge storm front came through and dropped just over an inch of rain and caused the river to blow out. The river is just over 12ft and the forecast is for the river to climb to 13.4 ft before it starts to drop over the weekend. Back to the fish, most of the fish were caught on beads in 12 – 16mm in your favorite colors. Spinners in sizes 3 – 5 were the tickets both in bell and torpedo styles.”
Find the full report and forecast for Members on this page here for the Clackamas and Sandy Rivers.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report – District rivers went from too low, to too high, but the perfect rain freshet should provide good weekend opportunities for anglers willing to seek steelhead in the smaller, early season streams.
The North Fork Nehalem, Necanicum, Klaskanine Rivers, along with Gnat and Big Creek and the Alsea down south should all be peaking for quality steelhead this weekend. These early season “brats” are more motivated to spawn than bite, but if there was ever an opportunity, this weekend will provide it. Stream heights will be ideal starting Friday (12/20).
Larger systems will be out on Friday, but fishable by Saturday or Sunday. These larger systems such as the Wilson, Trask and Nestucca fare better later in the season, but there’s likely to be good numbers of wild fish, along with some early returning broodstock fish available here.
The ocean will again NOT be an option for those seeking a saltwater buffet. This just in, the commercial crabber I know is reporting a dismal 20 crab/pot average for opening pick… Uh oh!
Find the complete report and forecast for Members in the Northwest Oregon section.
Perfectly Bake Steelhead Filet with side options
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
As it will be the last shopping weekend before Christmas, anglers will have limited options for a tight line before a big storm is forecasted to blow out many, if not all, steelhead holding rivers. Hopefully, you have your shopping done and your fishing list to Santa by now. If you can get out Friday or Saturday, the Chetco, Rogue, Elk, Sixes, and the Umps could provide a decent opportunity for holiday steelhead. The ocean will be off-limits until at least after Christmas. Hopefully, our crab fishermen will be bringing in good hauls of big tasty crabbages in time for the holidays.
Tis the season to be thankful and enjoy the holidays with family and friends while telling fishing stories and showing off photos of proud moments. Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas to you and yours!
The ocean is another no-go for the weekend and possibly till after Christmas. The crabbing will also be off for a while as the commercials are out and the bays will have a lot of fresh runoff water keeping the crabbages in salt.
The Chetco while slowly getting back into fishable shape is producing some winter steelhead mostly from boaters working plugs. Chinook are pretty much done. Early weekend from both boat and bank could be worthwhile before getting blown out for quite a while.
The Elk and Sixes could provide late Chinook season fish along with early winter steelhead depending on river condition and flow. Both might be fishable on Friday/Saturday.
The lower Rogue River has seen a slight pickup in winter steelhead action mostly by plunkers. Creel checkers are seeing a decent number of hatchery fish which is a hopeful sign. The upper Rogue is in good fishable condition and should continue until maybe early next week. Both summer and winter steelhead are present, but coho is a done deal now. Summer steelhead along with some new winter steelhead have also been caught in the mid-section. These sections will fish into the weekend until getting blown out early next week.
The Millicoma and South Fork of the Coos River is starting to get some winter steelhead action and should improve into this month, especially after this next rain.
The South Umpqua that recently re-opened for fishing saw only a few catches of early steelhead and coho. The main and North Umps are seeing some steelhead action, but not great yet. Early weekend could be a good bet.
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.