Willamette Valley/Metro - Anglers will be given another open season for sturgeon retention in the Bonneville Pool above the dam, starting on Monday the 24th and going through March 9th. As of now anglers have only harvested 16% of the 1100 fish quota, so further openers are likely. If the weather improves and the water temperature bumps up a few degrees, anglers will burn their way towards the quota much quicker.
With a raging, dirty brown river, little is happening on the Willamette. However, boat anglers in the Portland harbor have been catching and releasing plenty of nice sturgeon despite the dirty water. Get out of the heavy flowing main current and soak sand shrimp, smelt or anchovies. Once the river cleans up in a week or so, spring salmon fishing will be underway at Meldrum Bar, Sellwood and the head of Multnomah Channel. Plug cut green label herring will get the most bites in the lower river, while spin n glos, with or without a prawn, sand shrimp or coon shrimp is favored up at Oregon City.
McKenzie River levels are dropping and the water has cleared this week although there is still lots of water. The prospects are fair for catch-and-release winter fly fishing for wild redsides. Keep an eye out for March Brown hatches.
Flows at the North Santiam remain big; certainly unsafe to boat and too swift to bank fish. The level and flow are forecast to moderate in the first week of March.
Still a bit high but on the drop, the Clackamas River is starting to kick out a few steelhead. March and April are the prime months for Clackamas winter steelhead. All the drifts from Rivermill Dam down to Riverside Park will produce over the next few days.
On the Sandy, steelhead were showing up in the catch over the weekend. The river from Dodge Park down to Dabney Park will provide the best opportunity, but fresh fish should be spread throughout the system. Look for prime conditions to last through most of the week.
Northwest – Offshore bottom fishing has been good when boats have been able to get out of northwest ports but this time of year those opportunities are uncommon due to rough ocean conditions. Check the latest reports prior to launching.
With the hatchery winter run winding down, expect fair fishing for wild steelhead on the Nehalem River depending on water conditions. The river remains a bit high for productive fishing.
Now that the Wilson has dropped and the water clarity has improved, wither steelheaders have been hooking a few on jigs, corkies and drifted egg clusters. The level will remain around five feet near Tillamook this week. Fishing was productive over the weekend for wild and broodstock fish.
The Nestucca was slow to recover following the last storm front. Conditions are improving with catches reported as slow to fair for a mix of broodstock and hatchery winters.
Steelheading has been spotty on the Alsea as fewer than 500 winter steelhead having entered the lower hatchery trap. This is somewhat below the 10-year average.
Trask levels are fishable now although catches have been fairly slow. There have been a few hookups at the Dam Hole.
Southwest – Catches have been mixed for sport and charter boats this week. Some are slaying good numbers of rockfish and lingcod while others have boated only a few.
Steelheaders on the Umpqua mainstem have been doing well again this week. The recent storm front brought good numbers of hatchery fish into the South Umpqua, improving results for steelheaders.
Coos Bay crabbing is poor and will remain that way until salinity levels return to normal and Dungeness return from ocean haunts.
The Siuslaw is forecast to be about 7.5 feet near Mapleton by Friday this week and the water color should be good. Fresh winters will have entered during the freshet and will be well-distributed. Try around the Whittaker Creek area or the stretch near Lake Creek.
There's still plenty of water in the lower Rogue although the clarity is decent and this stretch offers the best chance of a hook-up with a fresh winter steelhead for those pulling plugs or drifting egg clusters. Steelheaders on the middle Rogue stand a fair chance of success drifting lures or tossing spinners. Upper Rogue flows were around 4,000 cfs over the past weekend and will remain around 3,500 cfs this week. A few spawned-out summers are mixed with a few fresh winter steelhead.
As the Chetco dropped sufficiently to plunk late last week, it was evident that good numbers of winter steelhead entered with the freshet. While the Chetco is in the low and clear category as of Tuesday, it is still producing winters to 12-pounds and is forecast to rise and color up slightly overnight on Friday, which will only improve conditions.
Boat the Chetco with caution as several accidents have occurred over the past week and one boater was lost below Loeb State Park.
The slush that covered the surface of Diamond Lake has now frozen with fresh snowfall atop. Ice fishing is slow to fair. ODFW will be conducting a "fishing on ice” workshop at Diamond Lake workshop on March 8th. The cost of the workshop is $52 per adult and $12 per child under age 18. Register at the ODFW website.
Eastern - Take the Deschutes off your fishing list for a while, it's just not worth the trip.
The low flows of the Crooked River are producing fair catches of mostly small trout. Blue-Winged Olives and midge patterns are most effective here.
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