Photo above: Mark Foss from California caught this nice hen from the Wilson River on Tuesday, January 3rd. He was bobber-dogging with pro guide Rob Gerlitz (503-812-4950).
Portland/Metro Oregon Fishing Report – The Willamette is coming off a major river rise, with sturgeon remaining the best option for those that enjoy a catch-and-release opportunity.
Plunkers working Meldrum Bar should see catches improve in the coming weeks, as Clackamas River steelhead start to come back in better numbers.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – Much of a surprise to me, Clackamas River steelheaders found some success on the river here last week. With flows coming into good shape just after the last high water event, experienced Clackamas River Faithfuls were rewarded with fresh run steelhead although fishing was far from epic.
Sleds and driftboats working the lower reaches (driftboats from Barton downstream, sleds working downstream of Carver) found a few fish, which is promising for an early season showing.
The season is underway, and a decent early season showing sets the stage for an exciting February so get ready to rumble!
Sandy River Fishing Report – Avid angler Jeff Stoeger reported, “I hope that everyone had a good New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. We saw the river last week take a rise and then drop into perfect shape. The weather turned cold with rain off and on. This week the forecast is for the winds out of the east to blow making difficult fishing with winds ranging from 12 to 20 mph for the rest of the week and going into the following week.
The best fishing is going to be in the upper river. This weekend the weather forecast shows the river taking a small bump, starting Saturday night and into Sunday and going up to 11.5ft. The current condition is the river is running at 10ft and is clear with 2 to 3 ft visibility and the water temperature is 43 degrees.
Find the full report and forecast for Members on the Sandy and the Clackamas from this page here.
North Coast Fishing Report – Early season rivers such as Big and Gnat Creek, the NF Nehalem and Necanicum River are as seeded as they are going to get. The early return seems to be a bit under-whelming, but broodstock fish are beginning to show as well.
Anglers this week were dealing with high winds and inclement weather, making for short days or cancelled plans. The Wilson and Nestucca will become primary targets as the season wears on and broodstock fish become more available.
Bay and ocean sport crabbing opened up coast-wide today although the ocean remains a dangerous place to recreate. Bay crabbing is good in Netarts Bay, challenging in other estuaries as they are inundated by recent freshwater events.
Don’t overlook fall trout opportunities on the coast, the north coast stocking schedule can be found HERE.
See the full North Coast Report and Forecast for Members right here.
Willamette River System Report – Contributor Glenn Zinkus reports:
Alton Baker Canal: Alton Baker Canal was stocked with 700 legal size trout last month before Christmas, for the end of year. As always, a great put and take option for anglers and families in the Eugene area.
Detroit Reservoir:
As of right now, Detroit Lake surface elevation is currently at 1492 feet. Levels jumped up but are decreasing now.
Check the water levels here: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?site_no=14180500
Kokanee reports dwindled except for an angler catching a limit within 3 hours, about a week ago. Otherwise, I’d say koke fishing will be back in the early spring.
Detroit was stocked up through the end of June with trophy trout each week. The deeper, cooler waters of Detroit make this a good trout fishing option, in depths below 20 feet and at times closer to the surface. Most recently trout were in the deeper zones with some nice catches reported. Anglers have been catching bigger trout, up to 15 inches, near the dam.
Green Peter Reservoir: Levels are allowing for easy access. Early January reports some fish around, and modest koke catches. Many fish at 45 to 60 feet.
Fishing near the mouth of Quartzville Creek for trout can be effective. Trout have been stocked in Quartzville Creek.
Green Peter received 4,000 legal size trout at the end of May. Water level jumped up over the past day. Water level is at 934 feet right now – higher than last report. Water level can be found here: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=14186100
Quartzville Creek: Quartzville Creek flows spike over the past day, and is slowly receding, currently at 908CFS. Kind of high, and with warming temperatures coming in this will remain high.
Quartzville Creek is open all year. Quartzville was stocked last summer, and will be again next spring.
Spinners, spoons, nymph fishing and attractor dries will all work on Quartzville Creek.
Junction City Pond: JC Pond was stocked with 1250 legal size trout this week.
JC Pond was stocked last month with 1,300 legal trout and 60 steelhead. Good local option for southern Willamette Valley anglers and a good option.
Timber Linn Park Pond: Was stocked with 1000 legal size rainbows in mid December. This is a good option winter option right now.
Lower Willamette River Fishing Report – Bob Rees
When we think Willamette, we think about spring Chinook and January is not too early to think about it. The first spring Chinook of the season is usually a pretty big deal. Although there will be some boat effort later this month for spring Chinook, early springers of often tallied at Meldrum Bar, by plunkers targeting steelhead instead. Regardless, when it happens, other spring Chinook enthusiasts will be keenly aware that it did.
The Willamette is a bit too high to get excited about any kind of fishing right now. It is dropping and clearing, but it’s simply too early to consider salmon or steelhead as key targets right now. The Sultan of Sellwood stated over the holiday, that he’s going to start in the 3rd week of January. He’s on a life-long mission of catching a January springer, maybe this will be the year. With north of 70,000 predicted, it very well could be. That’s an exciting number after so many years of around 50k coming back.
Find the latest full report and forecast as well as past reports for Members on the Willamette Valley/Metro start on this page here.
Central Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Glenn Zinkus reports:
Weather Outlook Across Central and Eastern Oregon:
There is a warmup starting today and through the weekend.
Friday will top out in the 40s in places like Sisters and the Metolius River area, and at Fall River, with low 40s for high temperatures on the weekend and continuing into next week.
The Deschutes canyon near Maupin will be in the 40s with some scattered showers.
ODFW News – Angling Restrictions
Lower Deschutes River:
The Lower Deschutes has been dropping since New Year’s weekend, with current flows of around 4210 CFS at Madras and 5330 CFS at Moody.
Trout fishing is now closed in the Warm Springs to Trout Creek area until April 22, but there is activity around Maupin. The slight warming trend that’s coming in right now will help both the fishing and access to the fishing.
Middle Deschutes River: The Middle Deschutes is running high now, and best bet is to fish streamers and jigs. Try areas below Benham Falls.
Upper Deschutes River: Closed as of Oct 1 for the season.
Haystack Reservoir: Drained for maintenance – should be complete and starting a refill. At 11 %.
Lake Billy Chinook: A few anglers were reporting good koke fishing prior to the latest snow.
Crooked River: Steady flows, but the Crooked has iced over. May start thawing again, but again there are not many reports. The reports in recent weeks have been fair to poor, unusual for the winter.
Although there are not many reports, anglers are catching fish nymphing – Perdigons have been the ticket. Nymphing is consistent and anglers are catching redsides and whitefish.
Blue Wing Olive and midges will be the primary surface action, especially during the warmest time of day during the early afternoons. BWOs as emergers and cripples are especially effective. Sizes 16 to 20, mostly 18s.
Glenn is writing bi-weekly this time of year. Members, go HERE to see his report from last week.
Members can always see the latest complete report as well as the forecast for this section by starting right here.
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
Happy New Year 2023!
Winter rain and wind storms have left little fishing options for those anglers wanting to break in their new fishing licenses and looks to continue through the weekend 😕
The Chetco saw a couple days this week of decent fishing conditions but didn’t last long. There’s winter steelhead there but probably won’t be fishable into at least mid next week. 🤞
The upper Rogue from Dodge Bridge on up has been fishable and might continue to be an option for the weekend. The flow is more consistent from the dam and has still been holding summer steelhead. Winter fish have yet to be seen. The mid Rogue might also be an option into Saturday as a new storm is expected to blow out later into the weekend. Summer steelhead and a few newly arrived winter steelhead are here.
When conditions are good, the north and south forks of the Coquille are seeing some steelhead action as well as the west and east forks of the Millicoma. These systems fluctuate quickly so be ready to fish when there’s a weather window!
The Sixes and Elk rivers are blown out right now, but depending how much rain comes this weekend, either might be fishable for mid week. Chinook season is at the tail end and winter steelhead is just starting.
The Smith river just above Crescent City California is producing some first of the year winter steelhead!
Conditions through out the weekend don’t look good, but should pick back up hopefully for the following weekend.
The ocean will be off limits with high winds and rain forecasted this weekend. Also, crabbing a no go with all the fresh debris laden water entering the bays.
Be safe, be nice and enjoy!
Jeff’s expanded report, multiple lake updates, and forecast in this week’s version for Members!
See our SW Washington fishing report for the week.