Portland, Oregon Metro Fishing Report
Now that the Sultan of Sellwood has broken the ice, spring Chinook anglers on the Willamette River have taken a wider interest in what’s going on here. There were several springers taken in the Sellwood to Oregon City reach of the Willamette this week, following an ideal rain freshet that only put the river out for a short period.
Meldrum Bar plunkers also scored some fish; one spring Chinook and several steelhead, mostly wild winters destined for either the Clackamas or upper Willamette River. There are an impressive number of early returning summer steelhead showing at Willamette Falls, however.
There’s growing interest in the mainstem Columbia, but since the vast majority of springers in the Columbia are destined for the Willamette, and hang an abrupt right fin turn at St. Helens, anglers will find their best success happening downstream of the mouth of the Multnomah Channel (at St. Helens).
Sandy and Clackamas River reports by Jeff Stoeger and Bob Rees
Clackamas River Fishing Report – Clackamas River anglers have had a decent week of steelheading in what most still consider peak season for these fish. Anglers are starting to congregate in higher numbers at Dog Creek, as steelhead stage there in preparation for their spawning cycle at the Dog Creek Hatchery.
Following the last rain event however, a new batch of fish entered the river, providing some fairly decent opportunities for anglers fishing from McIver Park to Barton in particular.
In the dropping flows, boats fishing beads and to a lesser extent, backtrolling plugs were taking fish in the improving conditions. Those working Dog Creek often bobber fish and float beads as well.
Sandy River Fishing Report – Avid angler Jeff Stoeger shares:
Last weekend’s rains blew the river out and pushed it up to 12.4 feet. Since then, it has been dropping and is currently running at 9.44 feet with a water temperature of 45 degrees.
Fishing was fair to good, depending on who you talked to. Most of the fish reported were natives, with a few hatchery fish mixed in.
With the river still on the higher side, the lower river saw heavy sled traffic. On Friday, we counted nine sleds, along with a few drift boats working that same stretch.
There were also good numbers of rafts and drift boats floating from Oxbow to Dabney and down to Lewis and Clark.
The hatchery has been collecting broodstock and reported that they were only five natives away from meeting their expectation.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report by Bob Rees
North and Central Coast steelhead fisherman were not overwhelmed with success this week. Despite favorable water conditions, anglers found brief flurries of success before the tide had turned and made for challenging success rates.
One guide reported in on his weekly success touting a 5 for seven fish day on Monday, with two keepers headed home with his anglers, two nice fish for the broodstock tank and one dark hatchery fish released. He spent the next three days between the Wilson and the Nestucca Rivers, never drawing a strike between the two systems.
Pro guide Rob Gerlitz (503-812-4950) reported limits for Wednesday, but challenging fishing in the days prior. Rob reported the new rain had brought some new fish into the Wilson and does his best work between Mills Bridge and Sollie Smith.
Pro guide Kent Anderson (503-550-6303) offered this, “No good reports from the Nestucca. We’ve had perfect water all week and only a few opportunities per day. I’m not optimistic at this point of a great season but if the weather stays mild, and I don’t get blown out, it’s worth our time to try.”
The Trask has been Exhibiting the same type of success; Sporadic.
Although there is not much effort on the Alsea River, trap counts indicate a better return this year than last.
The Siletz River is nearing its end for hatchery fish but wild fish counts can oftentimes remain strong well into March. The river was in good condition this week with a fair amount of pressure yielding mostly wild fish with an occasional hatchery fish in the mix.
Smaller systems such as the Necanicum, Kilchis and north fork Nehalem rivers remain good late season small stream options. The north fork Nehalem of course has a small return of high quality broodstock fish, but few are being caught at this time.
The north fork Nehalem hatchery hotline reported river levels around 35 to 36 inches with the river running fairly clear and low effort this week.
Offshore, there wasn’t much activity given the volatile ocean conditions we experienced this week. For the few that did make it out, here is what ODF&W reported from their creel census on our North Coast ports:
Port by port reports:
Ocean conditions kept anglers off the water most of last week.
Depoe Bay: Minimal effort was observed last week.
Newport: Anglers landed around 3 rockfish on average. Lingcod was good at around 1.5 fish per angler.
One former fishing guide friend of mine out of Newport scored near limits of lingcod yet again this week, using fresh jigged herring that he had caught out of Yaquina Bay.
My commercial crabbing friend out of Newport is still running his pots fairly deep but finding 2 1/2 to 3 keepers per pot, still making it worth his while.
Reports from herring jiggers are especially good on the South Beach Marina side of the bay.
Another robust round of trout stocking is happening around the Newport area. It’s only going to get more robust as we head into spring break!
Much more on the site for Chinook Members:
- Buzz Ramsey’s latest post – Time for Cowlitz Winter Steelhead. Dial in your tactics as fresh winter steelhead flood the Cowlitz, and Blue Creek lights up with fast, consistent action for anglers who time it right. Chinook Members can see his post HERE.
- Bill Monroe’s latest post – Gotta love a fish that sings the blues! A sudden burst of neon‑blue water and fast limits out of Yaquina Bay has anglers racing to the coast to catch the short‑lived herring spawn spectacle. ALL readers have access to this post this week HERE.
You can find all the articles from these two professionals on this page.
- The article of the week: Catching Steelhead in Rivers by Dave Vedder. Unlock the secrets to consistently hooking steelhead with the proven jig tactics veteran anglers swear by. You can find the 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
Spring rivers fishing well for trout, Columbia walleye getting better. Sturgeon was good in The Dalles Dam during recent retention days. Kokes in Lake Billy Chinook good.
Best bets for weekend fishing
Broodstock rainbow trout were stocked into Haystack Reservoir, Ochoco Reservoir, Pine Nursery Pond, North Twin Lake and South Twin Lakes the last week of January. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to catch trophy trout from Wizard Falls Hatchery, many in the 4-8 lbs. range. As a reminder, to allow everyone a chance at catching one of these fish, only one fish over 20 inches long can be harvested each day.
Anglers continue to report excellent kokanee and bull trout fishing at Lake Billy Chinook. The Metolius Arm of Lake Billy Chinook has opened to angling as of March 1.
Deschutes River trout fishing is rated as good.
The Crooked and Metolius Rivers continue to provide excellent winter angling opportunities.
Anglers report excellent nymphing opportunities on Fall River.
Anglers report good bank fishing opportunities for trout at Haystack Reservoir, now with surplus brood fish being stocked.
Trout stocking
Excess brood stock trout were recently released in Taylor Lake and Pine Hollow, and Haystack Reservoirs.
Weekly fish stocking will resume on March 16, 2026.
You can check the ODFW trout stocking schedule here.
New Kokanee Regulations for 2026
Beginning January 1, 2026, kokanee will no longer be included in the trout daily bag limit. Anglers will be able keep up to 10 kokanee per day, no size limits, and up to five trout per day in lakes. The kokanee bag limit at Elk, Odell, and Suttle lakes will remain at 25 per day. See the 2026 regulation book for details and waterbodies with exceptions: https://myodfw.com/sites/default/files/2025-11/26_Fish_regs.pdf
Weather
Warm, dry weather is forecast for the next week, with weekend temps to be in the mid-60’s amid sunny skies. There may be some clouds around at times, which could help the afternoon hatches. Water temps should rise with the warmer weather, which should also trigger some good bites.
Seasonal Road Closures
The road to Newberry National Monument accessing East and Paulina Lakes and the Cascade Lakes Highway closed on November 18th. For additional information see the Deschutes County Road Department website: https://www.deschutes.org/road
Columbia River
The good folks at the Gorge Outfitters Supply in Rufus report that walleye fishing is improving, and anglers have been getting plenty of nice keepers, with some large females in the mix. The fish are reportedly very deep. Anglers have been trolling with worm harnesses and deep-diving crankbaits over rocky reefs in 50 to 70 feet of water. The fish are supposedly too deep for good jigging. The Bandit deep divers are a good bet and have been drawing lots of bites. You can get these baits at the Gorge Outfitters, as well as fresh fishing info. Good spots have been the Preacher’s Eddy, the Cottonwoods, and the reefs stretching downstream near the southern bank.
Lower Deschutes River
Amy Hazel at the Deschutes Angler Fly Shop in Maupin reports that they are staring to see some more bugs now, with some sporadic caddis hatches coming off at times. Mostly, though, she said anglers are getting them by nymphing in the slower, deeper spots. “We have had beautiful weather, so there’s been a few fishermen around and the river is in good shape. Kind of a little bit lower flows for this time of year, though.” Still, she reports folks are doing well.
Eastern Oregon
Best bets for weekend fishing
Trout and whitefish fishing should be good throughout the winter on the Wallowa River.
Steelhead can be caught throughout the Grande Ronde, Wallowa, and Imnaha Rivers.
Kokanee fishing has been good on Wallowa Lake
Perch fishing has been good at Phillips Reservoir with some large fish caught.
Steelhead fishing is good on the Umatilla River.
Regular stocking will resume in March
Grande Ronde River
Fishing for steelhead has been good with the lower river levels. Lots of nice trout are also available. Steelhead fishing will likely begin to slow in March. Swinging flies and drifting nymphs have been effective for fly anglers, and jigs drifted under bobbers works well for anglers using spinning rods or bait casters.
Imnaha River
Steelhead fishing has been good in the lower portion of the river. Anglers can find fish throughout the lower river using a variety of techniques including casting spinners, drifting jigs, and drifting bait. Fishing will likely improve into March as steelhead holding in the Snake River make their way up to the hatchery.
John Day River
Steelhead fishing has been good lately but flows and water visibility have been highly variable. Anglers are catching steelhead higher in the system by timing fishing trips when river conditions are favorable. Fly fishing is much more challenging this time of year due to higher flows compared to fall, but spinners, spoons, crankbaits, and bobber jig fishing has been producing.