Oregon fishing report

Willamette Valley/Metro- With the closure of fishing for salmon from a floating device above Beacon Rock, chinook season on the Columbia near Bonneville is effectively over. Most chinook are dark now and close to spawning. Sturgeon season remains open but catches have slowed. Bank anglers yielded a keeper for about every 10 rods while boat anglers didn’t quite do that good. The bite will likely continue to slow. Sturgeon anglers fishing downstream of Portland on the mainstem Columbia are still catching a few keepers but that too is likely to slow. Good catch and release sturgeon fishing remains in the Portland Harbor. With the water temperature dropping, fish passage remains low at Willamette Falls. A few coho are being counted along with 15 winter steelhead. Steelhead passing Willamette Falls beginning November 1st are considered winter-run fish. McKenzie levels have dropped and held steady for several days but this will change with weekend rains. North Santiam levels will be fairly high through November. Start looking for winters in December. Clackamas water levels are little changed and fishing is slow for mostly dark fish. Many are waiting for winter steelhead. Results have been slow to fair on the Sandy. The next round of rainfall should improve prospects. Northwest – Chinook fishing really took off late last week with the North Coast Rendezvous tallying over 100 fish for the 2-day event. The jetty produced the best action on Thursday but the Ghost Hole and Bay City took off on Friday. Since the event, bay action has slowed but Jeff Nickol of Hood River took the biggest salmon of his life on Sunday. The 28½ pound buck hit a herring near Lyster’s Corner along the jetty about 2 hours before low slack. Good tides through the weekend and the prospects of rain on Sunday should continue to motivate salmon to enter Tillamook Bay. There have been a surprising number of chum salmon caught and released with fish jumping like coho near Bay City. Tidewater of the Wilson has been producing good catches of bright chinook lately. Chinook are well distributed in most tidewater sections of Tillamook area rivers and sloughs. Bobber and eggs tipped with shrimp will continue to produce results through the weekend. If the weather models remain accurate, rivers may rise early next week, jumpstarting the driftboat season with unprecedented action likely on the Wilson, Trask, Kilchis and Nestucca Rivers. The Necanicum River near Seaside should also produce results. Chum and coho salmon will also likely be present and must be released unharmed unless they are missing an adipose fin. Wild coho season remains open on the Nehalem but few fish are being taken. An occasional chinook remains in the fishery but this season is winding down. Strong tides should damper crabbing success but clammers willing to use lights at night should find favorable conditions on the minus tide series beginning tonight. Southwest – With rough ocean conditions in the forecast this week, boats may not be able to get out to take advantage of the seasonally excellent bottom fishing. Halibut closed for the year on Monday this week. Crabbing remains excellent in Winchester Bay although chinook catches have slowed dramatically. Chinook are being caught below Roseburg. North Umpqua steelhead catches are slow. Action for chinook is slow on Coos Bay although crabbing has been excellent for somewhat lightweight Dungeness. Results will be good for crabbers until the fall rains start. Trollers dragging herring behind a flasher are making slow but steady catches of chinook on the Coquille. Chinook fishing is slow to fair on the lower Rogue. Steelhead and half-pounder catches are spotty at Agness. Steelheaders on the middle Rogue are taking a few but most are wild, requiring release. Low, clear water has slowed the steelhead bite on the upper Rogue. Side-drifters seem to be doing best below the Shady Cove boat ramp where bait is allowed. Above Shady Cove to the old dam site, only artificials are allowed and plug pullers have done well although egg flies are still effective. The Chetco River opened above Milepost 2.2 on schedule November 2nd with precipitation in the forecast. Water levels rose sharply on November 6th and are forecast to come way up around mid-month, falling thereafter (creating optimum fishing conditions) but shutting down action in tidewater. A couple of fish in the 40 and 50-pound range were taken over the past week. Rainfall has improved water conditions and catches on the Elk and Sixes river but more water is needed to encourage fresh fish holding offshore to enter. Fly anglers do well for chinook here. Eastern – Steelheading is fair on the Deschutes with smaller offerings most effective. While there was a decent chinook return this season, most are spawning. Caddis patterns are most effective for red-sides with fishing good at this time of year. Results have been good on the Crooked River recently. Fish haven't been large but numbers are good for those using a nymph fished with a strike indicator. John Day River and John Day Pool steelheading is ramping up with boaters reporting nearly a fish per boat average on the last creel check. Over half of the fish caught are wild however and must be released. This wild to hatchery ratio is likely to be maintained throughout the season.