Thursday, September 06, 2012

Oregon fishing reports


Willamette Valley/Metro- Pro guide Chris Vertopoulos (503-349-1377) reports, “The Columbia River anchor fishery is well underway with chinook being caught from Tongue Pt. to Bonneville Dam. The mouths of the Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, Washougal and Sandy Rivers are popular with anchor fishermen and in some cases bank anglers as well. Although it is peak season, the bite can still be very volatile at times. The Kalama, Washougal and Sandy have some access for the bank angler to cast spinners to the staging salmon. Chinook counts over Bonneville have bumped substantially, while although still present, the steelhead count has dwindled. 

 

“On the Willamette, there have been no reports of silvers off the mouth of the Clackamas yet but it could be as little as a week away.”

Cool overnight temperatures have continued to improve prospects for trout on the McKenzie River. It's mostly a caddis show but include nymphs in your arsenal.

Trout fishing is fair on the North Santiam while summer steelheading is slow.

 

Although there might still be a few summer steelhead present on the Clackamas, fishing for them will be slow at best. Look for the first of the silvers to show up by mid-month, especially if we get any precipitation at all.

 

It wouldn't be unheard of for a savvy angler to pick up an early silver at Cedar Creek on the Sandy, or even a late summer steelhead, but the summers are all but over and the silvers are likely a couple weeks off.


Northwest – Good numbers of salmon still remain in the Buoy 10 fishery. Bob Keerins and his group from Portland took a 6 chinook and 6 coho limit from the area on Sunday. Although this section of river closed to the retention of chinook on Tuesday, ample numbers of hatchery coho remain and chinook catches should improve above Tongue Point prior to the weekend. Jack salmon may also be kept in this area and numbers are plentiful this year.

 

The ocean north of Cape Falcon (Manzanita) opened up for the taking of any salmon, including wild coho on Monday. Catches are good but anglers should fish closer to the river mouth instead of the traditional coho grounds SW of the Columbia River Buoy.

 

South of Cape Falcon, the ocean opens up for any salmon for several 3-day per week seasons beginning tomorrow through Saturday. Wild coho should be plentiful, especially near the mouths of Tillamook and Nehalem Estuaries.  Some hatchery coho should begin to show in these same estuaries and limited wild coho take will be allowed on many north coast systems. Check regulations for more detail.

 

Chinook fishing continues to improve on the Tillamook and Nehalem systems. Softer tides this weekend should make lower bay fishing and the adjacent ocean waters productive. Ocean crabbing is excellent with crab finally filling out nicely.  Crabbing should also be good in most north coast bays.

 

Albacore fishing should be excellent when the ocean allows. Tuna are responding best to live bait versus clones or jigs. This is common for this time of year.

 

Southwest- Coho fishing out of central Oregon ports has been excellent with mostly limits reported. Best fishing has been in the morning. Wild or hatchery coho may be kept every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through September 22nd unless the quota of 11,800 fish is taken.

Limits of pinkfin surf perch are being taken off south coast beaches. Fishing is best on the incoming tide in a moderate surf.

Trollers using plug-cut herring around Reedsport are taking a few chinook. Better results are coming from the jaws and coho fishing, when open, has been good just outside the bay entrance. Bay crabbing has been good.

Boats out of Charleston have been taking good numbers of tuna over the past week, often within 20 miles of port. Bay crabbing remains excellent. The 13th Annual Coos Basin Salmon Derby will take place September 8-9 in from the Empire Boat Ramp to the head of tidewater. The derby begins at 5 a.m. Saturday and ends at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Chinook fishing was slow on the lower Coquille over the past weekend.

The charter report out of Gold Beach included early-day limits of chinook over the past week along with plenty of rockfish and very large lingcod to bottom fishers. Trolling results in Rogue Bay should improve as river temperatures rise, keeping chinook in the estuary. Results upriver for steelhead, half-pounders and fall chinook have been good.

Chinook fishing out of the Port of Brookings has been good but with coho retention disallowed on this stretch of the coast, anglers need to be certain of the species of salmon they keep. Halibut fishing is allowed south of Humbug Mountain through October and boats have been making fair to good catches.


Eastern – Fishing for steelhead on the lower Deschutes will improve through September. Warm water has slowed movement in the Columbia as well as the Deschutes. Trout fishing is fair but should improve with cooler weather.

Green Peter is producing good numbers of kokanee on the troll at roughly 60 feet deep.

The ODFW announced recently that it will suspend fishing in several Lahontan cutthroat trout streams in southeast Oregon due to severe habitat damage from the recent Holloway fire. The specific streams are here: http://bit.ly/R3ni5t

 

SW Washington- Efforts in the SW district tributaries should start to bump this week. Chinook will be entering the lower Lewis, Kalama and Cowlitz Rivers with savvy boaters working the lower stretches of these systems using small baits and light lines. Eggs will take the lion’s share of the catch. Bank anglers will use bobbers and bait in well-defined holes. The mouths of these systems should also produce well for anglers using hardware fished near the bottom.

 

With Bonneville counts on the climb, the Wind River and Drano Lake fisheries should start to see significant bumps in chinook production. Although these fish often have lock-jaw at these popular destinations, there should still be fair opportunity for harvest.

 

Numerous new regulations take effect this month so be sure to check regulations before heading out.