Portland, Oregon Fishing Report – With little to fish for, anglers are headed west to fish the last remaining days of a mediocre Chinook season, but early season winter steelhead are starting to show.
Mainstem Columbia fisheries are done, spring Chinook is the next fishery on deck, but that won’t get meaningful until early April.
Willamette River anglers have some hatchery fish to work on, mostly at Meldrum Bar near the mouth of the Clackamas River. Last year was good for winter steelhead, but the bite won’t pick up until later in January.
The last of the coho run is ascending Willamette Falls, it may top 53,000 adults before it’s all said and done. A record, by far.
Find the full report and forecast for Members on this page here for the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – With coho all but done here, anglers await the return of catchable numbers of winter steelhead. That is still many weeks away however. Meanwhile, the Eagle Creek National Fish hatchery has tallied over 9,000 adults back to the hatchery so far this year, a very respectable return for sure.
Those hatchery fish are all but gone, with a few late run wild coho still in the system, passing by the NF facility on a daily basis. Those still fishing on the Clackamas aren’t really looking for coho to play with, their hopeful for early season steelhead, which are quite sparse.
Not as sparse as hatchery winter steelhead this time of year. There’s been about 20 wild ones witnessed at the PGE facility, but these are a big of an anomaly this season, maybe not, given the robust return of summer steelhead and coho this year.Sandy River Fishing Report – Avid angler Jeff Stoeger reports – “I would like to first wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time with friends and family.”
“The last rain event has pushed good numbers of fish upstream to the hatchery and the fish pictured was caught below the hatchery. The report was fresh fish have been caught daily and will continue for the next few weeks.”
Find the full report and forecast for Members on this page here for the Clackamas and Sandy Rivers.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report – North Coast Chinook season wraps up on Saturday. The Wilson, Kilchis and to a lesser extent the Trask River will be options for Thanksgiving Chinook. The Wilson is likely the best prospect as river conditions should be ideal.
Winter steelhead is headlining weekend opportunities, a traditional kick-off for this fishery. In years or robust returns, seasoned veterans could bank on landing a fish or two this early in the year.
Adult returns of quality fish typically peak between December 10th and January 1st. Early season “brats” don’t bite as well as the later returning broodstock fish, but they do offer good opportunity, especially for bank anglers since smaller systems such as Big and Gant Creek, the Klaskanine, Necanicum and NF Nehalem Rivers have decent returns if the early showing is any indication.
The ocean looks to be very friendly in the coming days, saltwater anglers have been licking their lips. Bottomfishing for sea bass and lingcod should be good.
Sport crabbing on the ocean re-opens on December 1st along the central and north coasts.
Evening minus tides should bode well for razor clam diggers. With a soft surf, clams will be anxious to get up and out to feed on plankton. It’s been a crashing surf for quite some time.
Find the complete report and forecast for Members in the Northwest Oregon section.
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
Free Fishing Days after Thanksgiving
This Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving are Free Fishing days in Oregon. That means you don’t need a license to fish, crab, or clam anywhere in Oregon. That’s no license, no combined angling tag, no endorsements, no validations needed.
Conditions on most if not all fishy rivers are improving for a good weather FREE FISHING post-Thanksgiving weekend. Even the ocean that’s been off-limits is gonna be nice and bay crabbing should be picking up as well.
The Chetco may be a bit higher than optimum, but should be fishable as will the Elk and Sixes for holiday Chinook opportunities. The Rogue River should have better conditions in the mid and upper stretches than the lower. Coho and summer steelhead are still present in decent numbers, but winter steelhead should also be showing at any time.
The weather is supposed to be chilly, but nice for the weekend, so go take a break from football and Black Friday shopping and get out and enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Be safe, be nice and enjoy! Gooo Beaves! 🏈🙌😎 – 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.