Portland, Oregon Metro Fishing Report – With the Willamette River finally clear enough to fish, trollers are out and hunting down the first ones of the season and it’s working! Of the three boats fishing at Sellwood Bridge, two of them caught spring Chinook on Thursday (3/6). Of course one of those boats was the Sultan of Sellwood (John Shmilenko), a staple citizen at Sellwood this time of year.
The Columbia mainstem, downstream of St. Helens, is also putting out a few spring Chinook, most of them destined for the Multnomah Channel. One successful angler has two already this season, the last one coming on a herring fished just up from the bottom, while he was on anchor.
The spring Chinook season is underway, likely one of the most popular fisheries for our metro region. Between the mainstem Columbia, Willamette and lower Columbia tributaries, over 200,000 returning adults should make their way over the Columbia River Bar at the mouth in the next 3 months. Interest is sure to swell.
Also big news in the mainstem Columbia, smelt, largely headed to the Cowlitz River, have entered the Columbia as hungry sea lions and diving birds indicate. Only time will tell if there’s enough to justify a sport dipping season in the coming weeks.
Clackamas River Fishing Report – Well, it’s clear that this year’s winter steelhead run isn’t going to be a barn burner. Although there were certainly signs earlier in the year, it’s quite evident at this point, steelhead numbers are back to lower levels.
Mike Roberson of Fisherman’s Marine in Oregon City relayed this information. Mike reports, “Dog Creek is loaded. We weighed in an 18.4 pounder from Dog Creek yesterday (3/4). There are lots of fish up there.”
Reports from other reaches of the Clackamas are similar, it’s tough going as it seems there aren’t many new fish coming in. Yeah, anglers are finding some mostly wild biters strewn throughout the system, but the bulk of the hatchery fish are kegged up at Dog Creek, with a lot of anglers pursuing them up there.
Sandy River fishing, avid angler Jeff Stoeger reports – Good afternoon All. I’m not sure where to start. Well I floated Monday and only had a small tug and no fish to show for it. There was lots of boat action on the entire river from Revenue Bridge to Lewis and Clark. If you do fish from a boat, raft or kayak, please be considerate of the bank guys and smaller floating vessels. The guys that are using sleds need to be considerate and slow down or make sure to give enough room to small boats, rafts and kayaks. The river is slowly dropping and is currently running at 10.03 ft and water temp is 43 degrees.
North & Central Coast Fishing Report – Following the most recent rain freshet, guides and anglers experienced mixed results on north coast rivers this week. Levels are back to low and clear on many systems, with no new rain in sight.
Wilson River anglers did best just prior to the last rain event, but did score some quality fish when the river came back into shape too. There continues to be some sizeable broodstock taken but reports from district biologists show the collection program on the Wilson and Nestucca is at about 50% of where we need to be at this point. It’s a strong indicator as to how the fishery is performing this season.
Nestucca River anglers also struggled for consistent results, with many coming up shy of even landing a fish under good conditions earlier this week. The river had enough water to float even the upper reaches, but prolonged high water likely sent the mother lode upstream before anglers had a fair crack at them.
The Trask, Siletz and Alsea Rivers are also open game right now, but anglers exercising their crafts on these systems report mediocre results at best. The Dam Hole on the Trask fished fair while the water was still high last weekend, but even there, results were inconsistent.
The North Fork Nehalem also has a broodstock program but catch and effort is light under low and clear conditions right now. The mainstem Nehalem should become a fair option by the weekend.
A rough ocean kept most bottomfishing boats in port last week. It doesn’t look a whole lot better this weekend or next week either.
Lakes along the Central coast are looking forward to an upcoming stocking schedule. You can see those bodies of water by clicking HERE.
Central Oregon Fishing Report by Terry Otto
Deschutes, Crooked Rivers blown out and unfishable. Spring fed systems Metolius and Fall Rivers good to go. Warm weather could weaken ice fishing destinations-use caution.
The weather in central Oregon has been warming up all week, and next week’s weather is expected to be dry with highs around 50 degrees F. Many rivers are in flood stage, although some may drop into fishing condition by late week. In the lakes that are open or are accessible, fishing has been fair to good for trout and warm water species.
Deschutes River
Amy Hazel of the Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop in Maupin reports that the Deschutes is in flood stage, and will probably remain too high to fish until late in the coming week, if then. The river was running at over 13,000 cfs on Wednesday and is expected to be around only 7.500 cfs by the end of the week. The water temperature at Maupin was 45.3 degrees F.
Lake Billy Chinook
The ODFW reports that fishing for bull trout and kokanee had been picking up, but dirty water in the Crooked River arm may affect the fishing. The Metolius arm of the lake is currently closed.
Metolius River
The WDFW reports that the Metolius River continues to be excellent for mountain whitefish, redband trout and bull trout. The Metolius from Allingham Bridge to the headwaters closed for the season on Nov. 1.
The good folks at the The Fly Fishers Place in Sisters report that the Allingham Gauge held really steady after the rains, with the river rising only a little bit after inflow from Lake Creek surged. Canyon Creek got high, but the Canyon to Candle Creek below Bridge 99 is fishable with higher water and some off color, compared to the usual clear water.
Afternoon hatches have included mayflies, and there have been 3 or 4 caddis out, and some black midges and a few stragglers of the little black stones.
Crooked River
The Crooked River is in flood stage right now, and is unfishable. It rose to over 8,000 cfs, and has recently dropped back to about 6,000 cfs. It probably will not come back into condition this week, since upstream dams may continue to dump extra water downstream to alleviate flooding.
Fall River
The WDFW reports that Fly-anglers continue to report good and consistent fishing in the Fall River. Nymphing and stripping small streamers have been the most effective methods. With cool winter water temperatures look for fish congregating in the deeper runs, although the warming pattern may change that.
Ochoco Reservoir
The reservoir is 51 percent full and shouldn’t change much over the winter as irrigation has ended for the year. There are recent reports of good rainbow trout fishing and large fish being caught from the bank near Ochoco Dam. No report on baits or methods.
Walton Lake
The U.S. Forest Service has reopened public access to Walton Lake; however, winter access will be walk-in only as the gate has been closed for the season. Walton Lake is a popular winter ice-fishing option when ice conditions are safe. Warm weather will cause some melt, so check the ice before fishing
SW Oregon Fishing Report – Contributor Jeff Rome reports:
As we are getting into the “prime season” time for winter steelhead in most rivers, weekend conditions are looking pretty good for anglers seeking the highly coveted steelhead.
Coastal rivers like the Chetco, Umpqua, Coos and Coquille have dropped into condition causing anglers to “get back on” and thusly increased catches. Anglers targeting strippers are catching some nice ones on the Coquille. As for the Elk and Sixes, they might be a bit skinny now, but earlier this week anglers found a good bite. The Rogue River is also looking good as it is dropping and steadying from recent increased dam flow. Ocean goers should be able to get out for most of the weekend depending on where you go out of. Brookings is looking great for Saturday. Crabbing has picked up in the bays and ocean.
Starting next week, I’ll be listing many of the popular lakes and ponds that will be good choices to enjoy fishing for trout and bass.
Ocean Goers should be able to get out for some good winter bottom fishing and ling cod action with the best option out of Brookings. Crabbing has picked up in the bays and ocean with some limits of big and full crabbages reported this week. Don’t forget the sandy beaches and rocky jetty’s where some great surf perch action can be had this time of year.
The Chetco will be dropping into low fishable condition with fish throughout the river. Expect a lot of fellow anglers as there was a decent bite earlier this week. The Elk and Sixes should also be fishable, but it would be prudent not to check them out first.
The lower Rogue is dropping into nice shape for the weekend. Expect increased angler pressure on the river, but not necessarily a great bite. Lots of winter fish have “screamed” their way upriver.
The Applegate from Cantrell Buckley all the way down river should be good. From the Hwy 199 bridge on down would be my best bet since the river will have a bit more flow and color.
The North and South Forks of the Umpqua would be the better bets for the weekend. Both have been producing fair catches of winter steelhead prior to the last blow out. The main Ump should also be in good shape and worth a try.
Tight Lines 🎣 – Romer
Read this week’s SW Washington fishing report.