Oregon fishing update

The Guide's Forecast - volume 13 issue number 29
Northwest Oregon and Washington’s most complete and accurate fishing forecast

Forecasting for the fishing week of July 22st – July 28th, 2011

Willamette Valley/Metro- With the summer chinook closure earlier this week, anglers will again focus on summer steelhead which should be abundant in the mainstem Columbia. Boaters usually do very well this time of year in the gorge but continued high water may delay the action up there. Metro area beaches, such as those on Sauvie’s Island, should provide a fair opportunity for bank anglers using spin-n-glos that are heavily scented. Chinook season will re-open on August 1st but won’t get good again in the metro area until late August.

Daily fish passage at Willamette Falls dropped off a little at mid-month. The shad run, disappointing for many, seems to be over. Trout fishing has been good on the Middle Fork Willamette.

McKenzie anglers are catching rainbows and native cutthroat. A few bright summer steelhead were taken over the past weekend. Flow increased with precipitation on Tuesday of this week.

Fish are being seen on the North Santiam below Fishermen's Bend but few are biting. A few summers have been landed upstream to Packsaddle.

A few steelhead have been caught at McIver, but overall it's been very slow on the Clackamas.

The Cedar Creek area on the Sandy is producing a few summer runs but it has been crowded.

Northwest – With momentum gaining for albacore tuna fishing, focus has quickly shifted from salmon to “long-fins” out of most northern ports. Action for coho is reported as fair NW of the Tillamook Bay entrance but calm seas have had anglers more motivated to travel further west in pursuit of bigger quarry. Garibaldi, Pacific City and Depoe Bay remain the 3 most productive ports on the Oregon Coast for coho salmon although wild fish dominate the catches.

Tuna anglers were having success just outside of 20 miles to the west. However, warm water pockets change almost daily so anglers interested in learning how to successfully target this species should get to know how to read sea surface temperatures at www.terrafin.com. Trollers are doing best using bright colored clones but jigging should pick up later in the season.

Sturgeon fishing remains good on the lower Columbia with numerous oversize fish in the catch. Keepers remain focused on sand shrimp for bait with Taylor Sands and the water above Tongue Point producing good catches. The better bite has been on the incoming tide.

Tides become less favorable for beach plunkers looking for summer steelhead. Fortunately, with the high summer flow, action should stay fair for those working hot colored spin-n-glos in the outgoing tide. Jones Beach near Westport to Rainier should produce well.

River fishers on the north coast should be focusing on sea-run cutthroat trout in the lower reaches of most watersheds. Action should peak in the next several weeks with small spoons or lake trolls tipped with worms. Regulations vary by watershed so check them carefully before venturing out.

Chinook are rumored in the Nestucca tidewater. Chinook fishing in Nehalem Bay has been predictably poor. Other district streams are very low and clear, creating challenging conditions for those targeting coastal summer steelhead.

Southwest – Ocean-bound boaters out of Winchester Bay found albacore over the past weekend at just over 25 miles to catch all they could carry back to port. Very few coho have been taken outside of Winchester and crabbing is slow. Steelheading is worthwhile in the North Umpqua while smallmouth bass fishing has turned on in the South Umpqua.

Tuna fishers out of Charleston enjoyed good fishing last weekend with most boats landing good numbers.

Offshore bottom fishing has been hot or cold one day to the next out of Gold beach with easy limits one day and only a few opportunities the next. Ocean crabbing has been fair but steady. Salmon fishing in Rogue Bay fell off over the past week as chinook catches picked up in the lower river due to good flows of cool water, a non-typical event in July. Fishing is poor in the middle river but the upper Rogue has continued to put out springers and summer steelhead.

While central and northern Oregon ports have been bagging albacore for weeks, boats launching from the south have had to cover a lot of water to find tuna. Over the past week, however, warm, blue water moved nearer to shore, enabling recreational craft to make good catches out of Brookings fewer than 20 miles out. Mild offshore conditions contributed to boater success although didn't help chinook and coho fishing which has been poor.

Eastern – Steelheading remains slow on the lower Deschutes with numbers of summers in the river still low. Trout fishing is good as water levels drop.

Fishing is fair on the Wallowa River with the water level starting to drop. Wallowa Lake has been fishing well.

Water remains high on the Grande Ronde hampering results which would otherwise be decent at this time of year.

Surf perch fishing has been excellent at river mouths, particularly the Winchuck and Elk.