Willamette Valley/Metro - Fishery managers met Wednesday by phone, extending the Columbia River mainstem select (fin-clipped only) spring chinook fishery. Starting May 15th, anglers will be able to retain 2 salmonids per day, of which only 1 may be a chinook. Furthermore, anglers may fish on the mainstem Columbia all the way to the Bonneville Dam deadline.
Springer migration has slowed over Willamette Falls but not before pushing the total to near 8,000. There are also about 2,200 summer steelhead upstream. Water temperature was in the mid-50s on Tuesday this week with visibility fair. Spinners are picking up a few in Multnomah Channel while whole herring with or without a flasher is taking some chinook out of Willamette Park. Diver and bait is preferred in Oregon City where sea lions are getting as many as anglers. Bank fishers have been taking a few springers with Spin 'n' Glos rigged with tuna balls a popular option. Turbid water early this week slowed catch rates however.
Recent high water on the Santiams has moderated with levels dropping nicely and water clarity very good for fishing. Concentrate efforts in the lower river as cold water is preventing springers and summer steelhead from moving upstream. Results have been fair.
Clackamas water levels are forecast to be dropping through the coming week. While there are still some winter steelhead available above Barton, fresh summers are scattered throughout the system. Fishing for spring chinook will move to the forefront in late May and into June as more fish enter the system. Doug Briggs of Gresham took a nice springer on Monday, near Barton, on a wee wart fished in about 10 feet of water.
Water conditions are excellent on the Sandy. Spring chinook and summer steelhead are entering the system and a fair number are being hooked. The most productive stretch is from Oxbow Park down to Lewis and Clark. For those interested in spey fishing, there will be a Spey Clave on May 16, 17 and 18 at Oxbow Park.
Northwest – Catches of spring chinook are becoming more consistent in the Tillamook area. Although the lower estuary produced the best results last weekend, the upper bay has been productive as well, for those trolling herring. Mid-May marks the start of the peak for this fishery. With another minus tide on tap for the weekend, effort will likely, and justifiably, switch to the upper bay where herring and spinner trollers should find success.
Trask River anglers also report fair success for spring chinook from the tidewater reaches to the hatchery. High flows kept salmon moving but with flows subsiding, fish will begin to hold in deeper water and become more wary in the clearing rivers. The Wilson and Nestucca Rivers are also options but receive fewer plants than the Trask. Summer steelhead should also start showing with more regularity in the coming weeks.
Lower Columbia beaches open for hatchery steelhead, and now with the recent joint-state action, hatchery spring chinook on May 15th. The timing couldn't be better with a minus tide and high flows keeping fish close to shore where bank anglers have good access.
Soft tides and friendly seas early in the week produced good catches of lingcod and sea bass off of the south jetty near Astoria. Strong tides this weekend will quell success near the river mouth but clamming along Clatsop Beaches will likely be good. Diggers have been reporting good success for larger clams with younger broods not faring quite as well.
Southwest - Some charters launching out of Newport reported limiting the boat on the first all-depth halibut opener of 2014 with some fish over 50 inches in length. The next opportunity will be on May 22-24 with additional dates set in June for a quota of 22,274 pounds.
Bottomfishing slowed out of central Oregon ports early this week but still allowed anglers to take fair catches of rockfish and lingcod.
Ocean salmon fishing opened from Humbug Mountain to the California border on the 10th of May allowing boats launching from Port Orford, Gold Beach and Brookings to troll for chinook as anglers to the north have been doing since March 15. Early results indicate a slow start, but this was expected. Catches will improve into June.
Surf perch fishing is producing decent numbers of south coast beaches with this fishery expected to shine for many weeks to come.
Boats launching out of Reedsport scored chinook over the past weekend as schools moved closer to shore, putting them within reach of sport boats. Spring chinook catches have been spotty on the Umpqua mainstem but shad are in with catches improving. Try fishing Sawyers Rapids or Yellow Creek with bright, sunny days often most productive.
Boats launching out of Charleston have been making good catches of bottomfish although ocean chinook fishing has been slow with salmon scattered. Clamming has been excellent in Coos Bay although crabbing remains slow.
The offshore launch window out of Gold Beach was closed more frequently than it was open over the past week due to rough conditions. When boats have been able to get out, fishing has been rewarding with which limits of lingcod and a colorful variety of rockfish. Spring chinook catches are spotty on the lower Rogue with rods bending whenever a pod of salmon moves through. Boat anglers are faring better than those fishing from the bank. Springers passing through the middle river seem more interested in migrating than biting. Results on the upper Rogue have been quite good for chinook, particularly for this early in the year. Winter steelhead are available but well past their prime. Steelheaders may no longer keep wild fish.
Eastern – Salmon Flies and Stone Flies are making an appearance on the lower Deschutes in one of the earliest showings in memory. Redsides are responding now. There's no predicting how long the big bugs will endure.
Lemolo Lake has been producing fine catches of brown trout.
Wickiup was very slow for kokanee over the past weekend. Neither trollers nor jigs fishers had any advantage.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will be holding a free youth fishing event at Pine Nursery Pond in NE Bend near Ponderosa Elementary School on Saturday, May 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Soapbox - See Oregonian article on Timberline Ski area's salting of the headwaters of the Salmon River (Wild and Scenic salmon and steelhead stream). http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/05/saltng_of_mt_hood_glacier_is_b.html
Friends of Mt Hood website on the salting: http://www.friendsofmounthood.org/
Pass this on to your networks- Put a stop to the abuse of our scenic treasures/resources by the Kohnstamm family-operated ski area.
Send a message to the Supervisor of the Mt. Hood National Forest via Internet: http://www.fs.usda.gov/contactus/mthood/about-forest/contactus
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