Oregon fishing report
Portland/Metro Fishing Report by Bob Rees
Willamette River anglers witnessed the best catches of the season last week, and it certainly transferred into this week as well. Water conditions were near ideal for much of the week, but that’s about to change with an 85 degree day in the weekend forecast. None-the-less, we’re in peak season so catches should continue to be peak season productive well into next week.
Reports from the lower Multnomah Channel were good at mid-week, those fish are working their way through the Portland Harbor at the time of this writing.
Oregon City remained productive, with egg fishers taking fish in the dropping flows, but hogliners working above the I-205 Bridge are starting to lose their flow. Jiggers have been scoring mediocre results in this reach of river, targeting springers before they cross Willamette Falls. Counts at the falls have been increasing, with one 1,000 springer day already recorded.
Shad are on their way, but anglers are too focused on peak season spring Chinook fishing to give a darn.
And speaking of peak passage, although anglers don’t have access to mainstem Columbia springers, they are passing in big numbers at Bonneville Dam. The run is tracking similar to last year so far, with good passage likely through the month of May. Jack counts are down, but it’s too early to be alarmed about that this early in the run.
Upper Willamette Valley Fishing Report by Terry Otto (From last week)
Trout stockings getting serious. Summer steelhead, spring Chinook showing in the upper Willamette systems. Warm water species biting in local lakes.
Best bets this weekend
Summer steelhead and spring Chinook are beginning to enter the upper Willamette systems.
River system trout are becoming more active, good hatches increasing.
Trout stockings got serious this month, thousands stocked.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass are biting in warm water lakes.
Panfish are beginning to feed hard ahead of the spring spawn.
Upper Willamette Valley Weather
Starting this weekend, anglers should see nice, spring-like weather through the weekend and the following week. Partly cloudy skies and highs in the upper 60’s will dominate all week. No rain is forecast for the Eugene area.
Willamette Falls Fish Counts
As of April 21, 6966 fin-clipped steelhead have passed the falls, with the vast majority of those being clipped summer steelhead. 1,033 spring Chinook have also crossed the falls.
Trout stocking
Stocked in April: EE Wilson Pond, Row River Nature Park, Alton Baker Canal, Foster Res, Sunnyside Park Pond, Junction City Pond, Timber Linn Lake, Green Peter Res, Foster Reservoir, Dorman Pond, Willamette River Coast Fork, Fall Creek Res, Cottage Grove Res, Dorena Res, Huddleston Pond, Blue Lake, Salmon Creek, Canby pond, Waverly Lake, McKenzie River R-1 and 2 below and above Leaburg Dam, Clear Lake, Fall Creek, Blue River Res, Leaburg Lake, Silver Cr. Res, Quartzville Creek, Turner Lake, Clear Lake, Blue River Res.
You can check the ODFW trout stocking schedule here.
Dexter Pond road closure
No public access into the Dexter Ponds Hatchery at least through Summer 2026 due to construction. Please call the USACE Park Ranger Office at (541) 942-5631 with questions.
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North Fork Santiam River
According to Mike Ferris of Fishermen Mike’s Guide Service, fishing this week was slow in the upper North Fork Santiam River. The river bumped up a bit following rains this past week, but is already settling down and flowing at about 1,680 CFS. While reports for summer steelhead and spring Chinook have been slow, a few fish are being found here and there, but fishing is still pretty spotty. The spring Chinook will be best tempted with salmon eggs, but the summer steelhead can be taken on a wider assortment of methods and baits. Spinners, eggs, sand shrimp, jigs, and beads will all take steelhead.
You can check the gauge at Mahama here
Detroit Reservoir
The reservoir is continuing to slowly fill up with the help of last week’s rain. Water levels are currently about 20 feet below full pool and slowly rising. Mongold State Park boat ramps as well as the main boat ramp at Detroit Lake State Park are available. When the weather is nice, especially on weekends, the boat ramps can get crowded, so plan ahead.
Reports from anglers fishing Detroit Lake recently point to the kokanee growing and biting well. The schools are still holding in the upper 20 feet of the water column, especially when it is cloudy. Most anglers are trolling dodgers and kokanee spinners tipped with kokanee corn. Some trout are also being caught, mostly by bank anglers fishing Powerbait on the bottom.
South Fork Santiam River
According to Matt Halseth of Matt Halseth Guide Service the South Fork is giving up some spring Chinook and summer steelhead, although the fishing is still a little slow. No report as yet on methods or baits. These runs are just getting started. The spring Chinook will be biting salmon eggs, but the summer steelhead can be taken on a wider assortment of methods and baits. Spinners, eggs, sand shrimp, jigs, and beads will all take steelhead.
McKenzie River
The McKenzie River is fishing well. From the Blue River area down, anglers are seeing some march browns, caddis and a few stoneflies. The best trout bite has been on double nymph rigs and dry dropper rigs, and also some small streamers and soft hackle swung, including on a 10′ sink tip.
The lower McKenzie River is open to retention of adipose fin-clipped salmon and steelhead and non-adipose fin-clipped steelhead greater than 24 inches long. A Columbia River Basin Endorsement is required for anglers targeting salmon and steelhead in the McKenzie.The river was stocked the week of April 20th with 6,000 hatchery rainbow trout.
Sandy and Clackamas River reports by Jeff Stoeger and Bob Rees
Clackamas River Fishing Report – The Clackamas has been quiet with the Willamette grabbing all the spring effort in pursuit of Chinook, but there is promise. Summer steelhead are starting to show in better numbers, with lower river anglers intercepting them with more frequency.
The upper river is still housing late-returning winter steelhead, with some spawned out fish in the mix as well.
There have been reports of spring Chinook caught on the Clackamas, but consistent catches won’t happen for another few weeks, with most of those fish likely to be wild anyway.
The river is dropping and clearing, calling smaller, more subtle baits into the near future.
Sandy River Fishing Report – Avid angler Jeff Stoeger shares the following: The river climbed to 11.4 feet after the last rain event. It stayed on the clear side, but heavy sand was boiling up through the system, which made fishing difficult. Fish were holding close to the bank, and a few were caught.
The river has been dropping, and water temperatures have started to climb. As of this report, the river is running at 9.46 feet and 51 degrees.
Fishing was fair to good this past week, with reports of a good number of summer steelhead and a few spring Chinook caught. There was also a report of a local guide hooking a couple of nice hatchery spring Chinook.
The mid-river Dodge Park area has had the most action, while Oxbow is also holding fair numbers of fish. On the lower river, boat traffic was light, with only two boats observed during a recent float. A few spring Chinook were seen moving upstream through the shallows.
Warmer weather is expected, with temperatures forecast to climb near 80 degrees over the next couple of days. With that warmup, snowmelt may increase quickly. Sunbathers were already showing up, and boat ramps are expected to be busy.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report by Bob Rees
We’re in shoulder seasons between winter steelhead and coastal spring Chinook. That leaves bottomfishing, and soon halibut fishing, as great options when the weather permits.
Both should remain productive for the entire month of May, and ocean crabbing for sport legals should remain fair as well.
Newport will be the top port for successful halibut anglers, but bottomfishing is excellent out of Garibaldi, Depoe Bay and from the dory fleet out of Pacific City as well.
Details on the liberalized halibut seasons can be found HERE.
Offshore Chinook remains most productive on the south coast, but commercial trollers are catching some out of Newport. It’s a lot of effort for small returns, but hopefully it’ll pick up as spring progresses.
There’s another good set of razor clam tides coming up, there’s plenty of small ones but the digging should be productive.
Much more on the site for Chinook Members:
- Buzz Ramsey’s latest post – Last Day Columbia Report, What’s Next.A slow springer season turned into a last‑day Columbia adventure packed with big fish, tight friends, and a look at what’s coming next for anglers. Chinook Members can read Buzz’s post HERE.
- Bill Monroe’s latest post – First, biggest, most memorable? They’re all blessings. Relive the unforgettable first catches and hard‑fought battles that prove every fish comes with a blessing. Chinook Members can read Bill’s post HERE.
You can find all the articles from these two professionals on this page.
- Salmon Trout Steelheader article of the week: Full Circle Alaskan Bucket List Trip by Paul Zlotek. Halibut, salmon and trout, oh my! See his article HERE.
All the STS articles are located here.
Not a Chinook Member? Become a Member or Upgrade here.
Members head to the Member’s Landing Page to find everything you have access to.
Central-Eastern Oregon Fishing Report by Terry Otto
Lake fishing taking off across central Oregon. Columbia walleye still biting very well. Big bug hatches coming to rivers soon.
Lake fishing Special
With all the central Oregon lakes opening up, this week we will ease off the rivers in order to take a good look at what these hot trout lakes have to offer. Special thanks to Jeff at the Fly Fishers Place for the fresh lake reports.
Best bets for weekend fishing
Lake fishing is taking off, with good action at Crane Prairie, Haystack, Ochoco, Hosmer, Lake Billy Chinook, and the Lava Lakes.
Caldera Lakes, East and Paulina, open now and fishing well.
Shevlin Park youth and disabled fishing pond, Prineville youth pond, and Pine Nursery Pond were recently stocked to provide excellent spring break angling opportunities.
The Crooked and Metolius Rivers continue to provide excellent early spring angling opportunities for redband trout and mountain whitefish.
Deschutes River surface action heating up, spring rivers good, too
Anglers report excellent nymphing opportunities on Fall River.
Seasonal Road closures
As of April 22nd, the Cascade Lakes Highway remains closed from Lava Lake to Dutchman Flat Snowpark near Mt. Bachelor. However, the Lava Lake Campground and boat launch remained closed and access to Lava Lake is limited to small craft, kayaks and float tubes at this time. Deschutes County is preparing for an estimated opening date of April 30th. Deschutes County is targeting an opening date of April 30th for the Paulina Lake Road (Forest Service Road 21). For additional information see the Deschutes County Road Department website: https://www.deschutes.org/road
Weather
Saturday is expected to have cloud cover all day-a good day to watch for hatches. The rest of the week will be in the 70’s, with sunny or partly cloudy skies. No rain expected.
Trout stocking
Stocked the weeks of
April 6-17: Fall River, Twin Lake S, Rock Creek Res, Twin Lake N, Baker Pond, Taylor Lake, Smock Prairie Res, Kingsley Res upper, Pine Hollow Res.
Scheduled to be stocked the week of April 20- May 8:
Shevlin Pond, Prineville Fishing Pond, Rock Creek Res, Pine Hollow Res, Middle Fork Pond- Hood River, Ochoco Res, Antelope Flat Res, Cottonwood Pit, Twin Lake N and S, Metolius Pond, Sprague Pit Pond, Laurance Lake, Walton Lake, Clear Lake, Century Gravel Pond.
You can check the ODFW trout stocking schedule here.
Lake Reports
Paulina and East Lakes
On Wednesday 4/29/26, the Deschutes County Road Dept unlocked the gates to Paulina and East Lakes. Early season at Paulina Lake has often been best with 2 chironomids; a #18 olive, and #14 with a darker shade grey. Balanced Leeches in Vampire, Bruised with Orange Bead, Brown and Watermelon are great choices, and also stripping leeches on a full sinking line up to a Type 5, but type 3 or clear camo is your most likely sweet spot.
Trolling is also effective, especially with a Spinfish. Also, throwing spinners can also be effective.
East Lake will be an interesting opener since ice off occurred quite a while ago. Instead of H2O temps in the 30’s, as it opens up this week water temps are already in the 40’s and there should be good chironomid bites along the edges in less than 12 feet of depth. Balanced Leeches and also stripping Brown or Black Leeches on a Camo Intermediate is a great bet.
Spinners and trolled Spinfish should also work at East Lake.
Crane Prairie was very good this week after opener on Chironomids. Access with the new permanent dock at Crane Prairie is great! And also the Quinn River ramp (never a dock there) is open too.
Balanced Leeches, Damsel Nymphs and Balanced Minnows, plus Black Double Down CDC Nymphs and Red PT’s will be good choices this week.
Hosmer Lake has been accessed by a couple of people, but it is still snowy in the lot and not quite ready for prime time for the average angler going to the lake. Give it a week or so for more normal access and launch conditions. Chironomids and Callibaetis nymphs, Leeches and even some streamers like a Soccer Mom, Zonker and Sculpzilla.
Docks are in at Lava Lake but the gate is closed until the concessionaire is ready to open the camp ground on May 15th at Lava Lake.
Crane Prairie Reservoir
Crane Prairie is currently 90% full. The reservoir reopened April 22, 2026. A mild winter has resulted in warmer than normal surface water temperatures and district staff anticipate active fish and a hot start to the season.
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome
As we wrap up April, anglers will still find a wide mix of opportunities heading into the first weekend of May. Ocean conditions may be a bit unsettled until possibly Sunday, when winds are expected to ease depending on your port of launch. If you do make it out, the lingcod are close in and running large, and the offshore Chinook—fat from abundant baitfish—continue to grow by the week. Halibut season also opens this Friday, adding another great option. Ocean crabbing remains solid across much of the coast.
Rivers
The Rogue and Umpqua have dropped back into low, clear conditions, which will make springer and late‑season steelhead fishing more challenging. Weekend thunderstorms are forecast to bring some rain to the Rogue Valley, though most of that moisture will likely miss the Umpqua basin to the north. Still, as the saying goes, you can’t catch fish if you don’t wet your bait—and it’s always worth putting in some time on the water.
Lakes & Ponds
Warm weather and well‑stocked lakes continue to be the most reliable bet for the weekend. The bass bite at Lake Selmac has picked up nicely, and anglers are reporting strong trout limits from Lost Creek, Galesville, Applegate, and Diamond Lake. And of course, last weekend’s impressive Tiger Trout out of Fish Lake (featured in the main photo) is reason enough to give that lake a look.