Oregon Fishing Report

Updated for for the week of September 16th – September 22nd, 2005
Oregon Fishing Update

Columbia River - The signature Buoy 10 fishery is on its way out. Catches in the estuary out of Astoria are sporadic with coho making up the bulk of the catch. Hardware such as spinners are taking the majority of fish and red continues to be the color of choice. Normally, this time of the season can be quite productive for river coho anglers. The bust of the second "B" run of coho into the river this year will not afford sport or commercial fishermen much opportunity this fall. These coho are typically bound for Washington State hatcheries. Crabbing remains fair at best in the lower Columbia but should improve as the month progresses.

Ocean anglers out of the Columbia gained additional opportunity this week as fishery managers decided to re-open the ocean sport salmon season to chinook retention starting Saturday, Sept. 17, from Tillamook Head north to Leadbetter Point in Washington. Although good news to salmon fishers, ocean effort has waned as the availability of the more numerous hatchery coho dwindles. Also, additional halibut opportunities were granted to anglers fishing from Cape Falcon to Leadbetter Point. The quota for the 7-day per week season is only 6,000 pounds but it may last a while considering the lack of effort. Anglers are reminded that when halibut fishing, the only other species allowed for retention are tuna, salmon and black cod. Other groundfish species need to be released. Tuna anglers offshore have scored well recently. Angler Ron Piazza reported a catch of 14 quality sized tuna about 30 miles offshore but anglers that fished among the commercial boats at the 125 longitude line landed as many as 25.

Upriver, anglers targeting Chinook salmon have enjoyed excellent results. Catch rates are hovering around 6 Chinook for every 10 boats river-wide with the bulk of those catches happening at the mouths of the Cowlitz, Kalama and Sandy Rivers. Chrome wobblers are always the ticket in this fishery with a 3 to 4 foot dropper line and 5 foot leader to your hardware. Learning the travel lanes of these fish will always be the key to your success in this fishery. Although dam counts seemed to have peaked, recent catch rates downstream of Bonneville indicate the possibility for a second peak passage date in the very near future. A joint state hearing was held on 9/14 keeping the mainstem fishery open through midnight on Saturday, 9/17. After that, retention of Chinook may only take place in the ocean, north of Tillamook Head (2 fish limit) or the Buoy 10 fishery (1 fish limit) and above Bonneville Dam.

Mid Columbia/Deschutes River - Steelhead and salmon anglers at the mouth of the Deschutes seem to be doing better than those exploring the lower Deschutes itself. Salmon anglers are doing best right at the mouth while those targeting steelhead seem to find better results right under the I-84 bridge. On the Deschutes River itself, warm temperatures seem to be producing excess aquatic weeds hampering success in that stretch. For trout fishermen, fly anglers are concentrating efforts with caddis dries early and late in the day and experiencing good results. Nymphs are fairly effective during the day.

North Coast - The Tillamook Bay fishery is shaping up indicating the possibility for a change in the trend of 2005 fisheries. Good catches were reported early last week and Saturday catches were excellent as well. Herring trollers did well at the jaws and upper bay spinner trollers also took fair numbers of fish.

Nehalem anglers weren't having as good of luck as on Tillamook but they don't have the seaweed problem that seems so prevalent on Tillamook this time of year. There was a crowd of people at the jaws over the weekend but only a few fish were taken.

North Coast rivers are too low to float and no rain in sight. Rain would not only stimulate a great Chinook bite but blow obnoxious seaweed from the bay allowing anglers to fish unimpeded.
Mid-Coast - The Siletz River continues to produce chinook daily, though sometimes only a handful. The tidal series over the weekend will increase the salmon's activity level and interest in bait or lure. Coyote Rock has posted nearly 50 pictures at their establishment, many over the last week.

Alsea has produced a few nice chinook recently although river levels are low.
Depoe Bay continues to provide the majority of halibut providing fisherfolk with limits during the weekly Friday through Sunday all-depth fishery. Bottom fishing remains excellent for rockfish with most boats reporting limits.

The Siuslaw River continues to reward anglers with chrome Fall chinook below Cushman.
South Coast - Trollers are doing well out of Winchester Bay for chinook on hoochies behind flashers at 40 to 50 feet, in over 180 to 280 feet of water.

Chinook fishers in the middle Rogue are finally seeing some action with the increased flow. Drift cured salmon eggs in this stretch for best results. In the lower river, salmon continue to be caught by trollers below the bridge.

Dan Ambrose, a local South coast angler, took the top prize in the recent Slammin' Salmon Derby out of Brookings with the biggest fish ever scaled in the brief three-year history of this event. He took home $5000 for a 42.2 pounder. Last year, a relatively modest 35-pound fish won top honors.
Willamette Valley/Metro- The Sandy remains slightly off-color bit visibility is improving. There have been coho sighted near Cedar Creek and one or two hooked but it's early yet. Cooler weather will reverse the glacial characteristics of this Columbia tributary.

The Clackamas remains low, clear and non-productive. On the bright side, there's plenty of room for improvement!

North Santiam anglers are challenged to find fish with summer steelhead numbers down this year. Establishing a holding pattern on any particular day will increase one's odds of scoring, but at best, it is slow.

Trout fishing- Here's a bonus for coastal stillwater trout fishers! Trout in the "trophy" (16-inch) class have been stocked by the hundreds this week at Cape Mears Lake, Coffenbury Lake, Lost Lake (Clatsop County), Sunset Lake and Town Lake, all of which are located in the Northwest Zone. In the Deschutes watershed, the South Fork Crooked River was planted with 8" to 10 " rainbows this week.