Fishing report for Oregon

Willamette Valley/Metro - Although the sturgeon opener in the gorge started slow, success rates have jumped slightly in the recent week. Some keepers are available but oversize fish seem to make up a large portion of the catch. The fall fishery in the gorge can provide some of the best opportunity for bank anglers to tangle with keeper fish.

Salmon fishing from the gorge to Troutdale continues to wind down with fewer quality fish in the catches. Late run coho should offer some opportunity near tributary mouths in the coming weeks.

Steelheading remains good on the Willamette below Dexter. The upper Willamette and Middle Fork are fishing well for trout.

Trout fishing and steelheading will be holding up through October on the McKenzie, weather permitting. The water level will be dropping in the coming week.

Coho fishing has been slow on the Clackamas despite decent numbers of fish in the river. Eagle Creek is low and clear.

The Sandy River has been off-color but has good numbers of coho available. The bite has been slow to fair. Try various lures and baits for the best chance of a hookup.

Northwest - Tillamook district anglers fared well over the weekend. The predicted wind storms never materialized so what few anglers fishing over the weekend scored fair results. The upper bay produced the best catches but the fish that were present, shot upstream on the recent rain freshet. Chinook fishing has since slowed with only an occasional fish taken from the upper bay to the Ghost Hole.

Weekend rain afforded driftboaters their first real chance at chinook and coho on Monday. The Trask was laden with salmon but were very reluctant to bite. Wild coho were present in heavy numbers but good numbers of chinook were present as well. Flows quickly dropped back down to summer lows, making driftboating challenging once again.

Although it was still a bit early for the Wilson River to produce catches, a few chinook were present early in the week. Flows have subsided making fish wary to anglers offerings. Another rain freshet isn't due in the near future.

Recreational crabbers have not been able to take advantage of the ocean extension for well over a week now due to rough ocean and bar conditions. The season closes after Friday with so much potential lost. Bay crabbing is poor in Tillamook and fair in Netarts and Nehalem estuaries. Soft tides will favor crabbers over the weekend.

The Nehalem and Nestucca Rivers were predictably slow and the North Fork Nehalem hatchery received another shot of hatchery fish this week. Coho catches were only fair near the hatchery with many of the fish landed being wild, requiring release. The hatchery coho run on the north coast is all but over.

Southwest - Crabbing has been poor to slow in Winchester Bay recently. Boats fishing below the confluence of the North and South Umpqua are doing well using bobber and bait combos. The best results occur early and late in the day.

Trollers are taking coho at Siltcoos Lake which are bound for Maple Creek.

Coos Bay has been productive for chinook with Marshfield Channel a high traffic area. Crabbing has been fair to good in the bay.

The wild coho quota on the Coquille has been filled and this fishery is closed. Trolling plug-cut herring is taking chinook in tidewater.

Boats out of Port Orford took limits of black and blue rockfish over the past week. In addition, crabbing has been good for quality Dungeness.

Good returns are forecast for the chinook fishery off the mouth of the Elk River starting Friday, October 15th but fall rains will mark the real kickoff.

Trollers in the Rogue estuary continue to hook plenty of coho, most of which are wild requiring release. Only a few chinook are being taken from the bay. Chinook fishing has been worthwhile upriver below Indian Creek.

The Chetco Ocean Terminal Fishery the first 12 days of October produced mixed results and several chinook over 40 pounds. Rockfishing is good out of the Port of Brookings Harbor with ling cod catches improving.

Eastern - While steelhead numbers are good in the Deschutes now and pressure has been heavy, the bite has been only fair with fish hesitant to strike lure or fly. Persistence is required of these fish as action can occur at any time of day. Recent rains has clouded the river, slowing success rates. Trout catches have improved as cloudy days produce Blue-Winged Olive and Caddis hatches in the evenings.

Steelhead are hitting dark colored flies on the Grande Ronde. Fishing is picking up between freshets.

Mann Lake has been treated with rotenone to control undesirable species introduced by the public. It will be restocked.