Oregon fishing

Willamette Valley/Metro - Shad fishing is underway on the Willamette River at both Coon Island and Oregon City below the falls. Many anglers have reported flurries of nonstop action if the shad's travel lane is located. Expect the run to continue through the second week of June. Spring chinook fishing is open and the occasional salmon is caught, however effort is at a minimum due to this seasons low catch rates. A few fish have been taken earlier this week in the Multnomah Channel and below Willamette Falls at Oregon City. Many of the sea lions are beginning their mass exodus and heading for their own breeding grounds. Catch and release sturgeon fishing remains open below I-205 at Oregon City and continues to be the best, most under-fished opportunity in the region. Double digit days are the norm for many sturgeon anglers who are experienced at locating the herds of aggressively feeding fish.

Fly flingers on the upper McKenzie enjoyed the whitewater and good fishing over the past weekend as abundant hatches of a myriad of species had fish looking up and grabbing offerings off the surface. This stretch of the Mac should continue to reward anglers through June.

Springers are headed up the Willamette along with summer steelhead. As numbers increase, fishing will continue to improve on the Santiams. Mehama would be a good place to start on the North Santiam. Steelhead counts should top 1,000 this week at Foster Dam with downstream recycling of fish an ongoing process on the South Santiam.

The Clackamas River has both summer steelhead and spring chinook available. The peak of the Spring chinook run is still a couple weeks out and summer steelhead are well spread throughout the system. The water is holding at a favorable level giving access to jet boats and drift boats alike. Bank fishermen find the most opportunity in the upper stretch from Rivermill Dam down to Feldheimers.

On the Sandy River, the water level has dropped to 9 feet, which will soon start limiting the jet boats. Summer Steelhead and a few spring chinook are available and like the Clackamas, the peak of the springer run is still a couple weeks away. Small baits of cured roe and sand shrimp are the favorite but some drift boaters have been doing well back trolling small plugs.

Northwest – Spring chinook continue to show on Tillamook Bay although catches are far from consistent. With the weak tide series, effort has largely been focused on the lower bay. Trolled herring were taking springers on the last half of outgoing tide in the afternoon early in the week but adjacent ocean fishing has been challenging. The new set of minus tides coming up this weekend will shift effort to the upper bay. Significant precipitation mid-week will also likely draw fish in and send them upstream for both bank and driftboat anglers to take advantage of.

The Trask, Wilson, Nestucca and Three Rivers should all receive a shot of fish from the current rain freshet. Levels are expected to reach ideal heights by Thursday, also the best opportunity to fish the river. By the weekend, flows will likely drop and fish may become more cautionary again. The Trask will offer the best opportunity as that receives the largest number of hatchery plants.

Although no all-depth halibut season will occur this week, ocean conditions look improve by the weekend. Crabbing is very poor but bottomfishing may be productive. Be aware however of the extreme low tide that will create hazardous bar crossings.

Razor clam digging should be excellent along Clatsop Beaches this weekend.

Southwest- Currently, ocean swells under three feet and mild winds are forecast for the long holiday weekend ahead.

All-depth halibut fishing rewarded many with large fish out of Depoe Bay over last Thursday and Friday with rough ocean conditions preventing trips on Saturday. The next all-depth opener off the central coast is May 30-June 1.

Combo trips are not feasible when the all-depth halibut opener is underway but anglers may fish for (and retain) both targeted species during near-shore halibut openers. The regulations are confusing this way so check the ODF&W regulation page carefully before attempting to pursue either of these species.

Rivers opening May 25th with the trout season include the South Umpqua, Coos, Coquille, Applegate, Chetco, Winchuck, Elk and Sixes.

South Coast Estuary crabbing is fair but requires sorting of undersized Dungeness. With molting occurring early this year, start checking for softshells.

Ocean conditions were conducive to offshore trips out of Gold beach over the past week. Then it turned sour for the weekend. While it was decent, rockfish and lingcod limits were the rule with plenty of halibut taken on Thursday and Friday last week as Saturday was rough. Without sufficient rainfall to rise levels of the lower Rogue, chinook fishing remains slow. It has been somewhat better on the middle river with plug-pullers and back-bouncers taking fish. Upriver remains the best bet although springers have been slow to bite over the past week. The numbers are there.

Boats launching out of Brookings are having little trouble limiting on large black rockfish but lingcod have been elusive for some. Small boats and even kayakers are reported to be jigging up fish in nearshore kelp beds. Ocean chinook fishing is on schedule to kick into gear in June.

Trollers are getting fish at Diamond Lake as clouds of tiny bugs create the annual hatch which causes trout to move up in the water column according to the resort. Bait fishers are also taking a few but fishing slows when midges hatch.

Eastern – While big bugs are evident on the Warm Springs to Trout Creek stretch of the Deschutes, trout were slow to react to imitations over the past weekend. Anglers are having success with redsides as they drift from Trout Creek downstream. Stoneflies are popping and trout are responding.

Seasonal warming of the water at Wickiup has triggered surface vegetation to grow. Take advantage of good fishing here early mornings before the wind comes up.

Bait fishing has been productive at Big Lava Lake with decent numbers of trout 15 inches or better being taken.