Willamette Valley/Metro - Many have given up on the Willamette River's spring chinook season. The combination of the poor bite and the overabundance of thieving sea lions has rendered the fishing useless and a waste of time for a large part of the angling public. Anglers intent on the possibility of catching springers in the Willamette are encouraged to carry on as usual, as there will be fish moving through the system for another four to five weeks. The Multnomah Channel, Portland Harbor and Oregon City will have the best action. The catch and release sturgeon fishing has been excellent, for the few who participate. The Portland Harbor is the favorite zone for the sturgeon crowd offering access at Swan Island and Cathedral Park boat ramps. There are also good numbers of sturgeon in the deeper slots of the Multnomah Channel and further upriver from Milwaukie up to Willamette Falls. Look to the deeper holes for the best action, often times reaching depths of 60-80 feet. The shad are in and taking center stage at Oregon City, expect the action to be in full swing by the weekend. Smallmouth bass are on the bite and bass boats are frequenting the river, especially in the afternoons and evenings. Soon, the all too secretive walleye guys will be plying the shelves of the Multnomah Channel looking for their quarry.
Hatches have thinned out on the McKenzie River but nymphs remain productive. The Mac has been fishing well since early in the season this year. Rainbows, cutthroat and a few bull trout are available.
Flows at the North Santiam are expected to remain stable over the coming week. With little snow in the mountains, the level may drop a little once it's gone. With strong passage of spring chinook and fair but steady passage of summer steelhead at the Falls, results are expected to improve on the Santiams. Both chinook and steelhead have been caught on the North Santiam over the past week.
The Clackamas River is in good shape and has been giving up both summer steelhead and a few spring chinook. The steelhead will continue to trickle in and the fishing should remain about as steady as its going to get through the middle of July. The springer numbers should build through mid-June. Boaters are getting fish in the runs, back trolling plugs, side drifting small baits and running small divers and shrimp or roe. Bank anglers concentrate in the upper river from Barton upstream. Bobber and jig stet ups are the preferred method of the bank bound fisher, but a skilled hardware fisherman can do some real damage with spinners and spoons. Anglers targeting springers are picking up fish on small baits of roe and shrimp in the deep runs, but the odd fish will sometimes take a small plug. Both summer steelhead and a few spring chinook are present in the Sandy River. Water levels are slowly dropping but remain about par for this time of year. Boater and bank anglers are scoring in the earlier part of the day as well as the evening when shade is on the water. Drift boats are working the water between Oxbow Park and Lewis and Clark State park with average success. Bank fishers are finding the best access at Oxbow Park and Dodge Park.
Northwest – Although still sporadic, spring chinook have made a sizable showing on Tillamook Bay recently. During the current minus tide series, upper bay fishing held some promise, with rumors of a 6 fish day last week and fair action witnessed on Monday. Pat Vining and Keith Braun of the Tillamook area each took a hatchery springer on plugs early on Monday morning. Area rivers saw only a slight rise in levels on Monday but as dry as it has been, even a negligible river rise could have sent more fish upstream on the Trask and Wilson Rivers.
Offshore, all-depth halibut anglers came back largely disappointed after calm seas heightened interest on the last Thursday – Saturday opener. This is usually a slam-dunk fishery but action on the entire north coast was poor during this traditionally productive period of time. Something is amiss. Bottomfishing remains fair to good out of most ports although not as good as it was earlier in the season.
Sturgeon anglers on the lower Columbia fared well on the Saturday opener. Lower than normal flows for this time of year stimulated a fair bite out of the John Day Ramp (near Astoria) with nearly a keeper/boat witnessed on Saturday.
Crabbing both inshore and off remains challenging. Effort is running especially high during open days for halibut. Clamming was good on the last tide series as well. Another minus tide series won't happen until May 23rd.
Southwest- Good catches of rockfish and lings have been taken out of Newport and Depoe Bay, though mostly short of limits. Spring all-depth halibut fishing was decent and will continue May 16-18 and May 30-June 1.
Offshore forecasts for the coming weekend are optimistic about ocean conditions and conducive to bar crossings but the situation can change quickly so get last minute updates before hauling the boat westward.
Halibut fishers launching out of Winchester Bay for the first round of all depth angling had fair to good results. The redtail surf perch run has started in the bay with decent catches occurring recently around Marker 12. Spring chinook catches have been fair to good on the mainstem Umpqua where the shad run has started with best results at Sawyers Rapids. Steelheading is fair in the flies-only stretch of the North Umpqua. Bass fishing is expected to be good on the South Umpqua when it opens May 25th.
Boats launching out of Gold Beach over the past week had hot bottom fishing for rockfish and lings one day, short on limits the next. The first halibut fishery of 2013 was spotty. Spring chinook fishing remains slow on the lower Rogue despite a gradual increase in flows. Catches are poor in the middle river. With springers in the upper Rogue now and numbers building at the hatchery, chances of a hookup are improving daily. The upriver stretch will be the area to fish in the coming week.
Salmon hopefuls launching out of Brookings have returned to port with nothing to show but that's not unusual at this time of year. Chinook trollers will find success as ocean temperatures warm into the lower 50s which will occur later this month. Rockfish and lingcod were cooperative and several Pacific halibut were landed. Local beaches are producing good numbers of surf perch.
Trout fishing has been good at Diamond Lake following ice-out. Campsites will be available at the resort until the local campground opens for the year.
Eastern – Salmon Flies and Golden Stones are becoming more active daily on the Deschutes. Nymphs have been very effective and redsides are starting to look up for big bugs.
Crooked River flows have been just over 200 cfs and stable for over a week which is good news for fly fishers.
Dry flies have been effective at first light before a breeze comes up at Lava Lake.
Brook trout have been responding to nymphs at Hosmer Lake.
Chinook salmon season on the Umatilla River will close effective 12:01 on Thursday, May 16 under emergency regulations adopted today by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Soapbox Update: Come to the 10th annual Bounty on the Bay targeting spring chinook. It looks like it's going to be a good run here in Tillamook. Fair catches have already been experienced. PLUS, hear the latest and greatest on how Oregon is managing our cormorant population for ODF&W biologist Lindsay Adrean. Lots of great information here, including a spring chinook seminar on Friday, May 31st in Garibaldi! Check out all the details at www.tbnep.org.
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