Oregon Fisheries Update:
Willamette Valley/Metro - Salmon fishing in the gorge has slowed dramatically as this fishery winds down for the year. Upstream anglers will continue to watch dam counts above Bonneville to target coho near tributary mouths.
Sturgeon anglers in the gorge are still pursuing keepers with boaters doing best. Fish are well distributed, putting bank anglers at an unusual disadvantage. Success rates will likely taper with a lowering snow level in the coming weeks.
The first retention sturgeon opportunity following the re-opening of the lower Willamette will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Middle Fork will fish well for steelhead when the water drops and clears.
The McKenzie is dropping this week and should provide some late fall fishing for steelhead.
Steelheading has picked up on the Clackamas with the recent freshet.
A few coho have been taken on the Sandy but they're getting dark this late in the season.
Limits are being taken by trollers at Hagg Lake. Trout are scheduled to be planted at Walling Pond and Walter Wirth Lake.
Northwest - Brief flurries of success were witnessed late last week following the last rain freshet. Although the Wilson and Kilchis produced sub-par results, the west channel in Tillamook Bay produced good catches on Wednesday but slowed by the weekend. A new series of storms swelled rivers to a season high over the weekend, which should improve fishing once again for this weekend.
Despite low visibility, trollers working herring in the Bay City area as well as the west channel scored fair numbers of fish on Tuesday. With most rivers still out of shape, the few anglers fishing under sunny skies and 60 degree temperatures fared well on the first part of outgoing tide.
As rivers clear, driftboaters will come out in force with the Wilson and Kilchis primary targets. The Kilchis fished best by midweek but the Wilson and Trask will be primary targets over the weekend pending further bouts of torrential downpours.
Most driftable sections of the Nestucca and Nehalem are off limits to boaters this year but some fish may be available in downstream areas. An early winter steelhead may come from Three Rivers or the North Fork Nehalem or Necanicum Rivers but peak season will be later into December.
Heavy rains should clear out crab from most coastal estuaries, making them viable options for sturgeon seekers, especially on Tillamook Bay. Sport crabbing will remain best on Netarts Bay and the lower Columbia River out of Hammond.
Trout season has closed on north coast streams but some quality fish were taken during the consumptive opener.
Southwest - Offshore forecasts indicate difficult ocean conditions. Bottom fishers have successfully made early morning trips but use caution if doing so.
Trolled plugs are catching coho at Siltcoos Lake but the action is hot one day, cold the next.
Winchester Bay crabbing has continued to improve. Most of the Dungeness are hard now and even those trying from docks are getting them. Chinook and coho fishing has been good in the bay and lower Umpqua.
With the wild coho fishery over on the Coquille, chinook catches have remained good.
Concentrate chinook effort on the South Coos now with trolled herring.
A few chinook have been caught near the mouth of the Elk but more rain is needed to kick-start this fishery.
Rough seas out of Gold Beach coupled with high winds has kept boats off the ocean most of the week. Bottom fishing has yielded limits of rockfish when boats could get out. Chinook fishing is slow in the bay with the season nearly over here. Steelheading is fair in the middle river. Summer steelheading remains good on the upper Rogue. The flies-only restriction was lifted on November 1st.
Rain last week allowed the Chetco River to open a week early for chinook fishing. Catches have been slow to fair with best results at the mouth. Fronts passing through have caused Chetco levels to fluctuate, but the river has rarely been out of the optimal range to fish well. It will fish whenever the flow is 4,000 cfs or less providing the water isn't muddy. Winter steelhead will be available here in late November.
Snow was on the ground for the final weekend for Diamond Lake. Fishing was excellent as it will be in the spring next year.
Eastern - Steelheading improved over the past weekend on the lower Deschutes as the water cleared. Catches are mostly native fish, however.
Trollers working the John Day Pool reported good catches but the bulk of the catch were wild, which must be released. This fishery should become more consistent into the month.
Large Mackinaw are being taken by trollers using downriggers in chilly conditions at Crescent Lake.
