Willamette Valley/Metro - The Columbia below Bonneville Dam has been a ghost town for fisherman. If you're willing to brave the wind, the rain and the cold (and quite possibly some snow) you could have some action catching and releasing sturgeon.
A report finally came in of a winter steelhead taken from Meldrum Bar. Although not confirmed, supposedly a few have also been taken by the back-trollers at the mouth of the Clackamas River. This is the season, catch and release sturgeon fishing in the Portland Harbor should produce solid action for anglers willing to give it a try.
McKenzie level and flows are moderating following the freshet early this week. Fish caddis patterns and Blue-winged Olives patiently. A big McKenzie River redside is a worthwhile payoff.
Waters of the North Santiam crested on December 2nd but have been dropping since that date. While steelhead are scarce and coho uncooperative, rainbow and cutthroat trout will take Caddis imitations on the Stayton to Shelburne stretch all day long.
An adventurous angler reportedly caught two winter steelhead on the Clackamas River last week. Although it's still pretty early, more fish should show once the river drops back into shape by the weekend.
Winter steelhead are finally showing up on the Sandy River. After the high water recedes, look for angler effort to increase and more fresh fish to show up in the catch.
Boaters: If you haven't done so already, be sure to winterize your craft.
Northwest – Tillamook chinook fishing remains slow. After a brief battering of storms and a quick rise in river levels, anglers were forced to take a few days off of effort. Swollen rivers are now coming back into shape but steelhead will be on the minds of most, following a poor showing of late season chinook.
The Wilson and Kilchis Rivers will remain prime late season options for chinook with some returning early hatchery steelhead as well. The early component of steelhead will give us an idea as to how the rest of the season will perform. The first streams to fish after significant rainfall are the North Fork Nehalem and Three Rivers. Effort was high for Three Rivers anglers on Tuesday but conditions will improve by Wednesday and Thursday for most North Coast streams. After the strong deluge and high winds, rivers can become hazardous to drift. Rumors of a downed tree on the North Fork Nehalem might make it impossible to safely float this weekend. The Necanicum River is much the same although apparently did not get the rainfall that Tillamook County streams received.
With dropping water temperatures and an east wind influence, the bite likely won't take off but late mornings and early afternoons should produce best. Steelhead should be present in most north coast streams.
The lower Columbia River remains a strong crabbing option with a good tide series happening over the weekend. Clam digging will be best before the weekend; especially with the forecasted mild surf. Diggers will need lanterns and warm clothes to produce catches.
With the east wind knocking down the ocean swell, offshore crabbing and bottomfishing should be a strong option if you can tolerate the cool temperatures. Lingcod and seabass should be willing and available on most rocky reefs but the south jetty out of Astoria is reporting poor catches. Adult Dungeness males are more likely to be found at depths greater than 35 feet this time of year.
Southwest- Long-range central Oregon offshore forecasts indicate friendly launch conditions for the coming weekend. Bottomfishing and crabbing should be excellent. Commercial efforts for crab have been delayed until December 15th and possibly longer as testing of Dungeness showed meat content too low for market standards.
Crabbing has been slow in Yaquina Bay although some hard, legal Dungeness are being taken.
Bright chinook were taken out of the Siuslaw over the past weekend although it's getting late in the season for this river.
Trollers at Siltcoos Lake have been taking wild coho on plugs recently. This fishery is open through the end of the year although fish are starting to show some color.
Lower Rogue anglers are taking the occasional winter steelhead although half-pounder catches have been fair to good. Fishing on the middle river has been slow to fair for summer steelhead. Upper Rogue anglers continue to take steelhead thanks in part to ongoing recycling of fish from Coles River Hatchery. Most of these summers are pretty colorful at this time of year. Coho are also in the mix.
When the ocean has cooperated, limits of lingcod and rockfish have been taken out of the Port of Brookings. The Chetco is coming off another minor freshet with water predicted to be low and dropping into the coming week. Bobber and bait fished in deeper holes will take chinook. Prospects for winter steelhead will improve in January.
Rain is still needed to jump-start the chinook fishery on the Elk River. Precipitation in the southwest corner of the state over the past weekend was not enough to effect river levels.
Fishing remains slow at Diamond Lake.
Eastern – Crooked River is still flowing at 72 cfs and is producing trout. Anglers are using nymphs for the most part.
Mid-day fishing is likely to be most productive for steelhead in the chilly waters of the Grande Ronde River.
