Oregon fishing report

Willamette Valley/Metro- Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12 is Free Fishing Weekend. No licenses or harvest cards are required which creates an excellent opportunity to show a friend, neighbor or youngster the outdoor opportunities existing in Oregon.

Anglers below Bonneville Dam continue to struggle finding willing salmon or steelhead to take gear. Bank angling holds some of the best opportunities but with persistent high water, fish are hard to target. The river is forecast to remain high through mid-month. Jack counts are on track to break the historical record meaning a productive 2012 is likely.

Lower Willamette flow is moderating slightly. About 20,000 springers and 9,000 summer steelhead have crossed the falls. Spring chinook fishing is slow in the Oregon City area but persistence will provide one or two chances per day. The Multnomah Channel and the lower Portland Harbor are booting out great catches of late run chinook however. Trolled spinners and herring are working well. Shad are in at Oregon City but catches should improve when water temperatures climb.

Following fluctuations in flow this week, the McKenzie should settle down and fish well in the coming weekend.

Santiam water levels remain high although spring chinook are being caught below Waterloo.

With water flow moderating slightly this week, steelheading is fair on the Clackamas with spring prospects improving.

Results are slow to fair on the Sandy although persistent anglers are taking a few. Try drifting eggs and yarn for springers.

Northwest – Tillamook spring chinook are in full blossom with good catches coming from the upper bay on the current strong tide series. Boaters are taking good numbers of salmon averaging 16 to 22 pounds on herring and spinners from Memaloose Boat Ramp to the corral in the middle of the bay. Herring trollers working the lower bay were taking some fish but the upper bay has been the most productive.

Participants in the 9th annual Bounty on the Bay tallied 18 spring chinook on Saturday. The largest fish weighed in was 25 pounds. Some anglers sought salmon in the bubble with limited results. Sharon Harmon of Portland tallied a sand dab for several hours of effort offshore in calm seas.

Local rivers remain low with weather forecasts unlikely to help matters. Driftboaters working the lower stretches should find an occasional fish but early mornings are likely to produce the best results are these fish will be spooked. Tidewater anglers should fare well in the coming weeks using bobbers and a shrimp/egg combination.

Another minus tide series will hit beginning Sunday. Razor clam digging in the ocean surf and bay clamming in Tillamook and Netarts should be excellent through the weekend.

Offshore fishing for bottomfish and halibut should be good if the forecast rings true.

Southwest – Offshore salmon fishing has been only fair but catches are expected to improve as the summer months near. Ocean conditions are predicted to be friendly this week.

South coast beaches are providing limits of pinkfin and striped surf perch with a variety of baits appealing to these fish.

Only 28% of the spring quota has been harvested following all-depth efforts through May 26-28 with results from the past weekend not yet available. Sufficient poundage remains in the quota to allow the next scheduled opening will be the 9th, 10th and 11th of June. Catches should be good with calming seas in the forecast.

Crabbing has been spotty in Winchester Bay but will improve with moderating precipitation. Umpqua water levels are dropping this week which should create excellent opportunity for the prolific shad which are in the mainstem now. North Umpqua anglers are making fair to good catches of spring chinook.

Prospects on the lower Rogue are looking up as the water level is forecast to be dropping over the coming week and non-hatchery chinook nay now be retained. A 49-pound native springer was recently taken near Gold Beach. Wrapped Kwikfish are taking a few springers on the middle river. Upper Rogue fishers have continued to enjoy decent results for chinook.

Bottom fishing out of the Port of Brookings has been excellent with limits of rockfish and, when ocean conditions allow access to the reef, limits of large lingcod. Last weekend's all-depth halibut effort yielded good catches. Chinook fishing is fair within five miles of shore. Sea-run cutthroat fishing is good on the Chetco.

Free of ice and with weather moderating, Diamond Lake, where a lucky angler recently bagged an eight pound rainbow, is an appealing destination this coming weekend.

Eastern – Redsides are dining on big bugs with the Salmonflies hatching in force on the entire length of the lower Deschutes. The river is still a little high but is in great color and fishing well, particularly at the edges where insects drop off brush.

The Umatilla River may provide some spring chinook action in the coming weeks. Flows are forecast to drop well past the weekend.