Portland Oregon Metro Fishing Report – With the Columbia done for the season, anglers will shift their focus to the lower Willamette, where Meldrum Bar plunkers will likely take wild and hatchery winter steelhead over the course of the season. Although there hasn’t been any reported as of yet, it won’t be long before catches become more regular here for this metro fishery.
The Columbia and Willamette spring Chinook prediction for 2025 is now out. Although we’re supposed to see a slight uptick from 2024 numbers, it’s still far away from providing meaningful opportunity through the course of the spring. None-the-less, it’s the region’s most prized possession and anglers will start the hunt as early as next month.
You can see the predicitions in our Forecast section of the Willamette River report, but they will soon be posted on the Oregon and Washington Department’s web sites.
Starting early January, sturgeon anglers will have 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 – Although you’ll read some good early season news from Jeff below, the Clackamas seems to lag behind the Sandy as far as early season catches. Meldrum Bar plunker success often is a bellwether as to when Clackamas River steelhead are starting to show.
There remain a few anglers still catching late-season coho on the Clackamas. The fish are falling to twitched gear and plugs.
Drew from Fisherman’s Marine in Oregon City sent us this picture, along with this report. Drew writes, “This fish was caught trolling a MagLip 3.5 and I had two other fish on, but they came off. The other fish were caught casting. The coho caught on spinners were at the bottom of some rapids, with just a pink and silver #4 Blue Fox spinner. The fish on the twitching jig was caught using pink at the tailout of the same hole. All the fish have been wild.
Reports of Meldrum Bar success have been slow to come in. River conditions haven’t been great for plunkers there but that should change in the coming days.
The hatchery coho return at Eagle Creek National Fish Hatchery is complete, with just over 9,000 adults back to the facility. A very impressive return for sure.
Passage at the NF facility has slowed dramatically in recent days, a bit of a surprise compared to previous year’s December counts. Regardless, wild coho have made a good showing here, there is still much to celebrate.Sandy River Fishing Report from Jeff Stoeger
Above, Luke Maurer proudly holds one of the early winter catches, a 31-inch, 11-pound beauty. Luke was fishing with Rob Gibbs when they landed this impressive fish using a diver and sand shrimp.
Currently, the river is running gin clear at 8.86 feet, with an extended forecast predicting it will rise to nearly 11 feet over the next week. The water temperature is holding steady at 42 degrees.
When the river level drops below 9.5 feet, the number of sleds on the lower river tends to decrease. Rafts and driftboats are floating from Oxbow to Dabney.
If you plan to float in that section, finding a shuttle service might be challenging. The last I heard, a few shuttle services are available, charging around $40 per shuttle. Please note that the Stark Street Bridge remains closed as the county works to secure the foundation on the east side of the river. Wishing you tight lines.Find the full report and forecast for Members on this page here for the Clackamas and Sandy Rivers.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report – It’s early season steelhead time and although conditions haven’t been great this last week for small stream success, that’s due to change this weekend.
Precipitation is falling, causing streams to rise, with winter steelhead waiting for this opportunity to head upstream
The NF Nehalem, Necanicum and Klaskanine Rivers, along with Big and Gnat Creek should have good numbers of early season steelhead by Sunday, where anxious bank anglers should have a good crack at them.
Bigger systems could be in play too as the rain isn’t expected to be all that torrential, but those systems such as the Wilson, Nestucca and Trask are better later on in the season.
Bait is best in high water, smaller soft beads and even hardware when flows drop. It looks like a wet week ahead and we’re entering peak season for fresh run fish.
With another high wind storm system moving onshore, bay crabbing won’t be fun, maybe downright dangerous for weekend enthusiasts. Commercial crab gear dumps on Friday the 13th, let’s hope that’s not a bad omen as seas are forecast to be dangerous for those desperate to make a dollar. Be safe out there crabbers!
Find the complete report and forecast for Members in the Northwest Oregon section.
How to Prepare and Cook Five Delicious Razor Clam Recipes
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports: Weekend anglers that are already done with shopping and want to go fishing only have a few, not-so-great options. Chinook on the Chetco, Elk, and Sixes have been on and off due to river conditions and unfortunately, this weekend looks like anglers might get a chance as the rivers rise from this next rain starting Friday. However, it’s looking like it might blow them out for at least several days before getting back into fishable conditions. Steelhead are starting just starting to show in the Chetco.
The ocean looks to be a no-go for the weekend. Possibly mid-week should have happy anglers back out for some nice ling cod, rockfish, and good December holiday crabbing. Ocean and bay crabbing is back on for sportsmen, but the commercial season starts next week which will definitely hamper sportsman catches.
The lower Rogue River has been slow for winter steelhead action. The upper Rogue is still seeing decent coho catches for anglers targeting them, but their condition is not great. Summer steelhead along with some new winter steelhead have also been caught in the mid-section. These sections will also have a bump in flow but shouldn’t “blow out.
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 a slow go right now.
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.