Fishery managers will decide Thursday whether to extend the sport season downstream of Bonneville Dam. An extension is highly likely given the poor catch rates witnessed this season but managers will have to take a precautionary approach until more positive signs of a healthy return exhibit themselves. Only 41 fish have bypassed Bonneville Dam, one of the lowest return rates recorded for early April.
Following the wettest March in history, the Willamette started to moderate at the Falls and is forecast to drop into the coming weekend. The water is likely to be too cold and muddy to fish well for springers by the weekend but, barring heavy rain, it won't be long until the season takes off.
The McKenzie River which crested at just over bank-full at the end of March will be on the drop and should fish in the coming weekend. Look for March Browns hatching.
The Santiam system remains very high after cresting at the end of March. While there are steelhead in the system, it will still be too high to fish well this week.
Northwest – North coast steelheaders had another weekend off due to a late season flood event. The Wilson should finally come back into shape before the weekend and should once again fish well during the clearing spell. With one of the best seasons in memory, the run should easily extend into mid-April with fair weather likely to produce aggressive fish.
The Wilson and Nestucca remain the best hatchery fish options although other district streams should receive good numbers of wild fish. Some smaller streams closed on April 1st so check fishing regulations before venturing out. With Willamette Valley salmon fishing likely a poor option for several more days, area rivers may get more pressure than in previous years.
The Trask begins to peak this time of year with some of the largest steelhead on the coast returning to spawn. The upper reaches should fish best prior to the weekend and lower reaches as the flows drop. It wouldn't be unheard of to catch an early spring chinook as the north coast opened up for fin-clipped salmon on April 1st. Catches don't peak until mid-May however.
Tillamook Bay still has sturgeon available and early morning tides may prove productive for shrimp soakers. Try Bay City and the west channel for the best opportunity.
Ocean anglers are hopeful the offshore forecast holds. Easy limits of black rockfish and lingcod are attainable and crabbing should be fair as well. There have been very few opportunities this winter but anglers need to study regulations carefully as recent modifications limit access. A bounty of offshore chinook awaits the sport and commercial fleet but no one has been able to access them because of rough seas. It may take a while to find them but catches are often best between 7 and 15 miles offshore.
Southwest – As of April 1st, salty fishers are allowed to keep one cabezon 16 inches or better as part of their seven-rockfish limit. Retention of this species has been disallowed since July 20th of last year. Cabbies will readily take jig-type lures and will be anxious to bite when located.
Offshore conditions are expected to improve this week and be friendly by the weekend. Be aware, however, that as of April 1st, bottom fishing is restricted to no deeper water than 30 fathoms (180 feet). This restriction is for all species of bottom-dwellers, including nearshore halibut.
Crabbing should start to pick up in Winchester Bay as salinity levels improve. Local fishers have been trying for sturgeon but legal-sized fish are rare here. The Umpqua system is dropping and will fish by the coming weekend with spring chinook in the mainstem and the South Umpqua the best bet for steelheaders.
While the lower Rogue dropped sufficiently early this week to allow fishing, the results were very slow. Prior to the last freshet, a surprising number of mint-bright, late winter steelhead were caught. Water levels on the middle and lower Rogue crested the last day of March and are forecast to be dropping into mid-April. Spring chinook will be the primary target. Winter steelheading has slowed on the upper Rogue. The Applegate River closed April 1st.
The Chetco, Elk and Sixes Rivers are now closed to steelhead and salmon fishing until May 26th.
Eastern – Deschutes levels were a little high with the water off-color early this week but conditions are predicted to improve through the weekend. March Browns should be in the mix with caddis being the best opportunity for dry action in the afternoon.
Anglers have been enjoying good results from the Crooked River but rain has pushed flows many times higher than just a week ago making it unfishable this week.
Green Peter is in fair shape with kokanee tightly schooled but the cold-water bite is very slow this early in the year.
