Oregon fishing today

Willamette Valley/Metro- The Columbia River below Bonneville Dam did put out a few chinook last week but few were of harvestable quality. Chalk this fishery up as over for the season. Catch and release fishing for sturgeon should provide good sport through November. The mouth of the Sandy gave up a handful of silvers to spinner casters and it might be worth a try this week as well.

 
The Willamette has had little to no angling effort and nothing noteworthy to mention. With rivers swelling, there is little reason for anglers to focus on fish that will only be moving through this area.

 

Late mornings and early afternoons will be most productive on the McKenzie as the days grow shorter and colder. Bugs are still abundant with Caddis and BWOs predominant.

 

There are summer steelhead and coho in the North Santiam River but catches have been spotty.

 

The Clackamas River has produced a few silvers and some straggler summer steelhead in the upper stretch from McIver to Barton Park. The mouth of Eagle Creek is a favorite haunt for anglers and silver salmon alike. 

 

The Sandy River is the brightest spot in the metro area as the coho run is finally underway. The water from Oxbow Park to Cedar Creek should be the target area as the fish move through the lower river quickly. Over a thousand fish have entered the hatchery and anglers have been having average success in the immediate area below the creek. The water is reportedly on the dirty, but is expected to clean up before the weekend.  Drifted roe, spinners and bobber/jig combo's have been scoring.

Northwest – Although action on Tillamook Bay has been less than stellar, there are still fish taken every day from the middle bay to the jetty. Most recently, Bay City has produced consistent catches just after high slack. The Ghost Hole has been barren for much of the week. A few fish were taken along the jetty close to low slack on the weak tides early in the week but that will likely change as tidal flows increase. Crabbing in Tillamook Bay is slowing but Netarts remains productive.

 

Tillamook area streams swelled slightly at mid-week but produced few biters, especially on the Wilson. The Trask remains one of the top options but flows will be too low for productive fishing by the weekend. Coho are largely back to the hatchery now but provided poor opportunity for anglers throughout the freshwater fishery. The wild coho season remains open with very few fish taken on the Tillamook system. Action and opportunity should improve this week however.

 

The Nehalem is largely done for chinook but some anglers continue to pursue coho with ample numbers left on the quota. Chinook are spawning in the upper reaches and adjacent tributaries that are closed to fishing. The North Fork Nehalem remains low and coho action at the hatchery is disappointing.

 

The Nestucca produced some chinook on the recent rain but remains only a fair prospect.

 

A chinook over 40 pounds was recently reported from the Necanicum River but the river needs more rain for upriver areas to become productive. There are several trees reported down, making for hazardous boating conditions.

 

Southwest- The ocean is less friendly at this time of year so opportunities for offshore launches are few. Even charters have been challenged to get out this week.

 

With catches of wild coho very good over the past week, the Alsea closed as the quota filled on October 23rd. Chinook catches on the Alsea should be peaking for bobber casters this week. The Siuslaw quota was at 86% as of October 21st although the remaining wild coho fisheries remain in no danger of imminent closure. Fishing has yet to get started at Tahkenitch and Tenmile although Siltcoos has producing coho.

 

Chinook and coho are being caught in fair to good number on the lower Umpqua but smallmouth bass fishing is slowing upriver near Elkton as water temperatures drop. Steelheaders are taking fair numbers on the North Umpqua.

 

Crabbing remains excellent in Coos Bay. Although chinook catches are slowing seasonally in the bay and lower river. Coho fishing has been picking up.

 

Sporadic catches of chinook and coho are falling to trollers on the Coquille River.

 

While many chinook and coho moved upstream with the recent freshet on the Rogue, fresh fish have continued to enter the bay with trolled anchovies taking primarily coho. Steelheading has improved on the middle Rogue with drifted eggs or egg imitations by far the most effective methods to catch them. Flies that mimic salmon eggs are most effective on the upper river for summer steelhead as they're holding below spawning chinook.

 

Trollers using anchovies are making fair to good catches of chinook in the harbor out of Brookings while the majority of these fish have been in the teens, the occasional chinook has topped 30 pounds.

Fishing is fair at Diamond Lake with most anglers catching two or three trout. The limit here remains eight fish due to the excellent trout population.

 

Eastern – Trout fishing is good on the lower Deschutes with redsides falling for small nymphs. Try Prince Nymphs, Hare's Ears or Pheasant Tails. Steelhead are being caught but require some time to do so with the low returns this year. The river is currently blown out and may take some time to recover.

 

Fish the Metolius during the warmest part of the day for best results. Hatches can be sparse during typical cloudy days although insects will be active when it's sunny.

 

SW Washington- Although the Cowlitz and Kalama both have steelhead, coho and chinook available, most effort and success is coming from the North Fork of the Lewis River. The Lewis will likely be the highlight for the remainder of the year although the Cowlitz may produce fair coho catches into early November.

 

The mouths of the Klickitat and White Salmon will remain primary targets for coho anglers although chinook continue to fall on the Klickitat system. The coho fishery will last into mid-November but it’s clear that the return this year isn’t as strong as it has been in years past.