Portland/Metro Oregon Fishing Report – Fishery managers met on Wednesday of this week, extending the mainstem Columbia River spring Chinook fishery through June 4th. Given the slow catch rates, the season may go longer depending on fishery performance this weekend and into next. Of course anglers can’t count on anything, but they will be challenged to find consistent results in any reach of the river. Boat anglers are doing best downstream of the mouth of the Kalama, while bank anglers are faring well at Hamilton Island near Bonneville Dam.
Willamette anglers aren’t faring much better. The dog days of summer are upon us (even though summer is not), streamlining opportunities on the lower Willamette. Fish passage is under-performing and so is the fishery for that matter.
The lower Multnomah Channel will continue to produce the best catches and the highest effort, but action at Oregon City is sporadic this time of year, with hints of brilliance on a very rare occurrence. The shad are in at Oregon City, and that fishery should go full speed ahead for the next several weeks.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – Creel checks indicate no salmon were caught on the Clackamas this week, but in fact, there were a few. One up by McIver and another downstream of Carver. Springers are few and far between here however, that’s nothing new.
Summer steelhead are starting to make a fair showing around Dog Creek on the Clackamas, fish are caught nearly every day.
The river is running at near ideal levels for both salmon and steelhead, there just aren’t many.
Sandy River Fishing Report – Jeff Stoeger reports, “The weather has been ideal for most of the week with cooler weather and cloud cover most of the mornings with sun in the late afternoon. The upper sections of the river above Dabney have produced most of the action. I have failed to mention that the lower river is a lake for Bonneville Dam is spilling tons of water. The Columbia is 12 to 14 ft above normal. I fished the lower river on Tuesday and there were numerous boats trolling the lower river from I – 84 bridge down to the mouth due to the large amount of water in the Columbia backing up the Sandy. The lower Sandy is a lake as well from the duck hole down river. Everything above the duck hole is running normal. The river is running clear for the most part, but is on the drop.”
Find the full report and forecast for Members on the Sandy and the Clackamas from this page here.
Several lakes in the district are slated for stocking. Go HERE to see if your favorite is on the list this week.
North Coast Fishing Report – Anglers fishing the North Coast have not had a lot to write home about this week. Spring Chinook fishing is starting to improve, but most look to the salt for deep water options this time of year. Northwest winds have kept much of the fleet at Bay in recent days.
The big minus tide series is typically what upper Bay trollers look to as far as their best opportunity for a prized Tillamook Bay spring Chinook. Although catches were far from impressive, reliable reports indicated anywhere from 4 to 6 salmon a day taken close to low slack around the memaloose boat ramp.
Summer steelhead on the Wilson, Nestucca and Siletz Rivers have not been making a strong appearance. That is no surprise given the region’s lack of steelhead returns in recent years, especially this year.
Trout season in streams and rivers opened on May 22nd and although not many take advantage of this opportunity, there should be fair numbers of cutthroat trout available for those that pursue these unique species.
The salty sea wasn’t a great option this week, as persistent NW winds kept most boats at bay. Halibut and bottomfish are a good option, when weather allows.
Razor clam digging was productive last week and should be again next week.
Crabbing has tapered in both the ocean and the estuaries.
Have you seen our FREE webinar on ocean and bar safety? Check it out HERE!
Don’t overlook spring opportunities on the coast, the north coast stocking schedule can be found HERE and it looks as if there will be robust plants in the Newport and Tillamook districts in the coming two weeks.
See the full North Coast Report and Forecast for Members right here.
Upper Willamette River System Report – Contributor Glenn Zinkus reports
Alton Baker Canal: Alton Baker was stocked with 1000 legal size rainbows this week, and stocked again next week with 1000 legal size trout.
Note that Alton Baker Canal was stocked earlier in January with 700 one pounders.
Detroit Reservoir:
Detroit is currently at 1555 feet – same as last week. Docks are in. Check the water levels here: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?site_no=14180500
Detroit was stocked last week and this week, first with 8,000 trophy trout with the same continuing for every week through the end of May, and 4,000 weekly in June.
Green Peter Reservoir: The reservoir is fairly steady, and anglers/boaters are finding Green Peter accessible. Water level is at 1005 feet right now. Water level can be found here: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=14186100
Green Peter was stocked last week with 2,800 legal size trout and again next week with 2,800 legal size trout.
Anglers have been catching trout. Fishing near the mouth of Quartzville Creek was productive.
As a caution, there are some reports of thefts from boat ramps including catalytic converters.
Quartzville Creek: Quartzville Creek is open all year, and just stocked this week with 2,200 legal size trout, and will be stocked again next week with the same. Flows have been dropping this week, currently at 293 CFS – even better than last week.
Temperatures are continuing and upward trend, ranging from 48 to 52 degrees. This and the next several weeks are prime time on Quartzville Creek.
Junction City Pond: JC Pond was stocked last week with 900 legal size rainbows, and will be stocked again with 1,000 legal size trout next week. Good local option for southern Willamette Valley anglers. Next week is the last week of stocking until the fall.
EE Wilson Pond: Scheduled was stocked with 1,200 legal size rainbows this week, and scheduled to be stocked with 850 legal size rainbows next week. This is the last week of stocking for the summer.
South Santiam Steelhead/Salmon: Small numbers of steelhead are present in the South Santiam now, with 80 at the dam as of today – meaning 40 more steelhead came in since last week.
According to ODFW, about 6,000 Chinook have entered the Upper Willamette Basin – so there may a decent S. Santiam catch this spring.
South Santiam Trout: No New Updates.
North Santiam Trout: The North Santiam received 2,000 legal size trout this week, and receives 2,000 legal size trout next week. Stocking continues through June and July.
Foster Reservoir: Foster was stocked during April. Foster was stocked this week with 3,800 legal size trout. Foster is at 638 feet. The water levels are reported here:
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?site_no=14186600
Willamette River – Middle Fork:
The Middle Fork flow is currently 3210 CFS – starting to come into fishing range.
Willamette River – From Harrisburg, to Corvallis, to Albany:
High water in the Willamette. The Willamette River is at 8,250 CFS at Harrisburg – kind of high for optimal fishing. The river was falling, but started and uptick today. Forecasts show a very slight uptick through Friday, then a very slight downward trend
Dexter Reservoir: Dexter received 3,000 trophy trout early in the month. Stocking is complete for the spring. Dexter received in total about 12,000 trophy trout this spring, and remains a good option this week.
Current water level at Dexter Reservoir can be found here: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?site_no=14149500
Clear Lake: Clear Lake is a great option. Clear Lake was stocked earlier with 2,500 legal size trout and will be stocked again with 3,000 legal size trout.
Gold Lake: No reports. Will become accessible in later in the spring.
Hills Creek Reservoir: Hills Creek Reservoir, near Oakridge, received 3000 trophy size trout in April and was stocked earlier in the month with 2,840 legal trout. All bait and lure options will take these trout. Fly anglers could slow troll leech and streamer patterns. More stocking continues in the fall.
Members – 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
Lower Deschutes Dropping Into Fishing Shape. Metolius River Drakes. Lakes Access Opens Up.
Weather Outlook Across Central and Eastern Oregon:
Clear weather and moderately warm temperatures are in the forecast. The high desert has daytime highs in the 70s forecasted over the next week – with low to mid 70s through the weekend, and upper 70s by midweek.
The Deschutes Canyon will be a bit warmer as usual, with temperatures in the 80s most days, perhaps high 70s on Saturday.
ODFW News – Angling Restrictions
The entire ODFW Steelhead Management Framework presentation is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPjaWczzOD8
The same metrics as last year are being applied. However, ODFW does forecast a lower steelhead return, which unlike last year, could close down steelhead for later in the season. But, that is only a return forecast which are not always accurate. Steelhead fishing on the Deschutes will be open to start. We will watch the fish counts.
Lower Deschutes River:
The Lower Deschutes has had a wild week, kicking off with a heavy thunderstorm that created flash flood conditions in many of the tributaries and contributed to higher river levels and muddy water that started with the storm last Friday.
The Deschutes is now dropping, and clearing now, and is fishable up and down the river. Flows are currently at 4540 CFS at Madras, now looking very good in this area.
Middle Deschutes River: Kind of high, but still fishable flows as of now.
Reports from anglers in the area are all quite good – salmon flies had been good. PMD, PED, and caddis activity is picking up and is becoming the best
Nymphing is always working well – euronymphing with perdigons, and I would also use some caddis pupa patterns and general PMD/mayfly nymphs.
Upper Deschutes River: Just open earlier this week. Jeff Perin from The Flyfisher’s Place in Sisters has one of the first reports, and fishing is good using nymphs.
Haystack Reservoir: Water is passing through – at 94% right now. ODFW started stocking fish, including some rainbow broodstock to begin rebuilding after the drawdown last year.
Lake Billy Chinook: Smallmouth bass fishing in the Crooked River Arm is picking up – plugs.
Some reports of kokanee catches in the Metolius Arm – depths all over from online reports, but mostly around 70 feet.
Crooked River: Crooked is still high at about 632 CFS at the time of this writing. This is a big drop from last week, but it’s still too high. Continue watching for more drop over this next week.
ODFW announced “pulse flows” on the Crooked starting April 17. The message reads ““The USFWS and NOAA have decided to release some water from Bowman Dam next week as a smolt pulse to help steelhead smolts move downstream. We’re trying to let as many constituents know as possible to help minimize inconveniences. The pulse flow will start on April 17 where they will slowly increase the amount of water released throughout the day to ramp up at an appropriate rate. The full 250 cfs pulse will be released all day on the 18th and 19th, and then will slowly be ramped back down to base flow on the 20th. We are uncertain at the moment what base flow will look like at that time since OID has indicated they may start releasing irrigation water on the 17th. Irrigation flows usually average about 200 cfs so the total amount of water could be anywhere from 250 cfs to 450 cfs.”
Members can always see the latest complete report as well as the forecast for central Oregon by starting right here.
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
Memorial weekend is here and although there’s options for the angler(s) in the family, a good bet would be to hit any of the many lakes and streams now that all are open for good trout fishing as most have been well stocked by now. There’s still some Springer action on the Rogue and Main & North Umpqua. Windy ocean conditions are forecasted throughout the weekend so it will be a no go until at least mid to end next week. Whatever you do, enjoy and a big salute to our Veterans 😎🎣🍻
Prior to this week’s windy conditions, the ocean has been providing lots of nice sized ling cod and rock fish . Unfortunately for anglers, but good for the fish, windy conditions will keep boats off until mid to end of next week 😕. When the winds subside, expect excellent bottom fishing and good chances for halibut!
Surf perch fishing can be good and fun on the beaches and jettys. Redtail surf perch can be caught on the sandy beaches at Horsefall Beach, Bullards Beach, and near Cape Blanco. Also, they can be caught on the rocky jetty’s.
As a reminder regarding upcoming salmon season:
Ocean Chinook salmon fishing from Cape Falcon to OR/CA Border is closed. The selective coho season from Cape Falcon to OR/CA Border opens on June 17 through the earlier of Aug. 31 or 110,000 marked coho quota.
The Pacific Halibut season in the Central Coast Subarea is open is open 7 days a week from May 1 – June 30. The Southern Oregon Subarea for halibut is open 7 days a week. The daily bag limit is 1 Pacific halibut. During all-depth halibut days, longleader gear fishing or the traditional general marine bottom fish fishery (ling cod and black rockfish) may be combined with all-depth halibut during days when the bottom fish fishery is not depth restricted.
Jeff’s expanded report, multiple lake updates, and forecast in this week’s version for Members!
Read the SW Washington fishing report.
Thanks for the updates. Fished the rogue friday and Saturday. It is slowing. The river is low and about 62 degrees in the lower river. Out of 18 boats only saw 5 fish caught. I was fishing in 4 ft saw fish fins in about 1.5 ft of water.
I am not sure why I can’t find sandy report all I get is clackamas ? When I log in it says to hit remember me but it is not remembering me ?
Hey Scott! I know we traded emails but I am sorry that I did not catch this earlier. You can find some helpful information about problems staying logged in on our FAQ page – https://www.theguidesforecast.com/frequently-asked-questions/
If you continue to have an issue, please send us a note using our contact form – https://www.theguidesforecast.com/contact/
Thanks!