Thursday, May 03, 2012

Oregon fishing report

Willamette Valley/Metro- Fishery managers met early this week, deciding to extend the sport fishery above Bonneville Dam through Sunday. Spring chinook counts took a predictable nose-dive when flows jumped over the weekend but most believe fish will start pouring over Bonneville in the coming week. Managers will likely stall further sport opportunity until a significant number of fish pass upstream to meet treaty and other state obligations. Sturgeon fishing remains slow. Plagued with high water this week and last, the Willamette continues to offer fair fishing for those that apply high water strategies. The plus side is that the color/turbidity remains good, with levels ranging between 6 and 8. Most consider anything below 12 very fishable. Oregon City backtrollers finally got a taste of good fishing last week with Thursday, Friday and Saturday looking like the season was well underway, but the catch had dropped off a bit by Sunday as the next rise in water level took effect. The Falls counts are healthy for both springers and summer steelhead, so by all indications the fish are moving through, the savvy anglers will get theirs by fishing close to shore and finding seams that break up the flow. Getting your offering in the travel lane is paramount. Milwaukee, Sellwood, downtown and the harbor all continue to put out their share, but "lights out" fishing is far from the norm. The downstream troll from the Broadway Bridge all the way down to the head of Multnomah Channel remains a reliable tactic. Troll downstream as slow as possible, just fast enough to keep your bait spinning. Try to zig zag on the way downstream, as the turns will change the action of your bait, raising and lowering it a foot or two. Green and blue label herring with or without a flasher, held down with 6 to 8 ounces of lead is the standard. Some anglers are also doing well with Delta Divers fished the same way you would at Buoy Ten. The top twenty five feet of water is where most of your bites will happen. Sea lions have been problematic at times. Although the entire McKenzie opened for trout over the past weekend, water conditions have been hampering efforts. Conditions are forecast to improve, however, with the river in good shape for fishing over the coming weekend. Summer steelhead are also available. North Santiam levels are high but forecast to drop this week. Summer steelhead have been taken on the South Santiam. Clackamas steelheaders are taking a few in the high flows with spring chinook just starting to enter the lower river. The Sandy spiked from 10 feet to over 12 at the end of April but will be dropping this week. Summer and winter steelhead as well as spring chinook are available. Northwest – With most steelhead now on the spawning beds, anglers have their eye on spring chinook. Reports of one boat having a 3-fish day in the bubble over the weekend are believable but the ocean has picked back up again making it a poor option all week. Spring chinook have been rumored to have been caught in the bay but the first big push of fish should come in about another 10 days. With the Willamette Valley rivers largely unfishable for much of the season, anglers will be anxious to recreate in a more stable environment. The annual Bounty on the Bay fundraiser is now open for registration. Dates for the event are June 1st and 2nd and details can be found on the TEP web site at www.tbnep.org. A variety of offshore opportunity exists when the ocean lays down again. Spring chinook, offshore chinook, nearshore halibut, bottomfishing and crabbing are all strong options this month. Safe passage over north coast bars into a calm ocean is all that is required. Southwest – Charter boats launching out of central Oregon ports have done very well when the ocean has cooperated over the past week. Lingcod are on the bite with fish taken to 30 pounds. A variety of colorful rockfish have provided mostly limits to anglers. Crabbing is slow to fair but worthwhile to round out a seafood feast. Nearshore halibut opened on May 1st for depths of 40 fathoms or less. Rockfish may not be on board with halibut catches. The spring all depth halibut season will start on May 10th through 12th, continuing weekly on select days of the week, until the quota fills. Ocean chinook is now open and with a huge run of Klamath and Sacramento-bound fish forecast to return this year, optimism is high. Catches usually start off slow but will improve as the season progresses. Winchester Bay crabbing has been slow but will pick up as salinity improves and the water clears. Spring chinook fishing has been fair to good whenever the mainstem Umpqua is dropping. No springers have been reported on the North Umpqua. Crabbing has been fair to good for boats in Coos Bay. Low tides over the past weekend allowed clam diggers to take limits. When fresh springers have been entering the lower Rogue, fishing has been very good. Chinook to 38 pounds have been landed and the action will hold up whenever the ocean lays down, allowing fish to cross the bar while river flows remain favorable. The middle Rogue will be dropping this week with springer catches expected to improve. Bottom fishing out of the Port of Brookings has been excellent, yielding many limits of rockfish and lingcod. Area beaches are producing limits of surf perch when the ocean has laid down. The Diamond Lake opener on April 28th drew about 150 anglers to the still-frozen waters. Results were decent with many taking eight-fish limits of large trout on bait. Eastern – The lower Deschutes has been rising over the last week due primarily to snowmelt. It's high but clarity has been decent so prepare accordingly. Redsides are cooperating at Mecca Flats. Wickiup produced fair to good catches of large kokanee at the opener over the past weekend but action slowed on Sunday. Odell trollers have been enjoying good results with kokanee averaging 12 inches. Fishing at Howard Prairie was good over the past weekend for trout to 18 inches. SW Washington – The Cowlitz will continue to be the strongest option for spring chinook and summer steelhead but the Kalama and Lewis Rivers will also be viable options for the next 4 weeks. Unfortunately, flows remain high hampering angler success. Anglers are likely to see peak catches later than normal, with action likely to get better towards the end of the month. As Bonneville counts begin to swell, so should catches in the Wind River and Drano Lake fisheries. Drano fished excellent last Wednesday but has dropped off ever since. Regulations have changed here in recent years so be sure to check your favorite destination before venturing out.