Welcome to Small Stream Outfitters, Oregon fly fishing guides and outfitters. Helping you catch salmon, trout and steelhead since 1997. Join us for a day of fly fishing!
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Big North Oregon Coast Wild Chinook Salmon
Keith with a stellar late January specimen. Click to view our Winter steelhead fly fishing gallery.

Winter Steelhead Photo Gallery
Posted April 24, 2013

Around here, late April and Early May have a different feel than the frantic pace of Winter's call, "The rivers are in shape, gotta go fishing!" It's time to take a deep breath, reflect over the Winter Steelhead season and get excited for the upcoming Summer fishing season.The brief pause between seasons gives us a chance to explore new water, catch up on blog posts and photo galleries. Plus, invest some time in other creative projects. Along those lines... the Winter Steelhead Season Recap slide show is now live our our site Read more...


We are Western Oregon's premier fly fishing guide service for Steelhead, Salmon and Trout. Guiding fly anglers since 1997, we focus on the Oregon Coast, Willamette Valley and Portland area streams including the Siletz, Nestucca, Sandy, Clackamas and McKenzie rivers. Our knowledgeable and friendly guides can help put you some amazing fish, like wild steelhead, sea-run cutthroat trout, and huge coastal chinook all on a fly rod!

From beginning to expert anglers alike, we have the perfect fishing trip to match your needs, desires, skill level and geographic location. We provide all tackle including flies so you don't have to think about it. We also serve great streamside sack lunches and love to create tremendous shore lunches upon angler request. Visit our rates and bookings page for more information!


We have spent decades fishing local waters and fine tuning our knowledge base in order to put you on the best fisheries when they are fishing their best. We cover a broad area from the base of the Cascades to the Southern Willamette Valley and a large chunk of the Oregon Coast. Famous coastal streams like the Siletz and Nestucca, and other smaller creeks prodvide incredible fly fishing opportunities including coastal chinook, sea-run cutthroats and steelhead. If time and travel is short and find yourself in the Portland area, the Clackamas and Sandy are excellent steelhead rivers and also fish well for coho and rainbow trout at certain times of year. For those anglers in the Eugene area or fisherman looking for the blue ribbon trout experience, the world famous McKenzie is a spectacular three season trout fishery. Whatever the time of year, there are always great angling opportunites on the rivers we guide. Let us help show you the Oregon Fly Angling Experience!

Featured Spring/Summer Species - Summer Steelhead; Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus

Summer steelhead share a lot of similarities with their Winter cousins on the opposite side of the calendar, but they also have many differences. The variations between the species keep sportfishermen on their toes forcing them to change and adapt techniques from season to season.

Summer fish begin to enter Coastal and Willamette Valley streams in May and continue through October. Unlike Winter Steelhead, who enter the river and spawn quickly, Summer Steelhead will not spawn until Fall. Since they spend so much time in freshwater during times of low Summer flows and warmer water temperatures they react to flies quite differently then Winter fish. They require lighter leaders, smaller presentations, lighter tackle and generally a stealthier approach. Most often, if a fish sees you before you see it, the fish will spook or get a nasty case of lock jaw.

Techniques for Summer Steelhead vary greatly but some of our favorites are dry line swing, skating flies and nymphing on occasion. Time of day also has an impact on these fish because of the long Summer days and bright sunny skies. Early mornings and late evenings when the sun is off the water are peak times for snappy biters. Cloudy days with drizzle can often extend the bite.

There are very few runs of native summer steelhead left in the state. In our area, the Siletz has the healthiest population of native Summer steelhead. Smaller numbers of wild summer steelhead can be found in streams up and down the coast. However, hatchery runs are prevelant and provide excellent opportunites for multi-fish days on a regular basis. The Siletz, Nestucca, Wilson, Clackamas, Sandy and North Santiam all have good populations of hatchery summer steelhead stock. These fish average 6-9 pounds with a few large fish in the low-teens. These fish are go absolutely crazy when hooked, often cartwheeling above and below water over and over again. A fight with one of these fish will leave you giggling all day!

Give us a call and find out just what the Oregon Summer fly fishing experience is all about! Ring 503-515-3533 or email us.

CURRENTLY BOOKING:

Summer Steelhead
Clackamas, Sandy, North Santiam, Wilson and Nestucca Rivers
April 30 - October 31, 2013

Willamette Valley Trout
Clackamas, North Santiam and McKenzie Rivers
April 30 - October 31, 2013

Coastal Cutthroat Trout
Nestucca, Siletz and Coastal Creeks
June 1 - October 31, 2013

Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout
Central and North Oregon Coast
August 15 - October 31, 2013

Call 503-515-3533 or email us to inquire about booking a guided fishing trip!

steelhead on a swung fly

LATEST NEWS

Our brand new clothing and outdoor gear is now in stock! Check out our new embroidered micro-fleece shirts and supplex fishing shirts. We also have a great selection of trucker hats, ball caps and beanies for sale.

pan seared chinook salmon recipe
Pan Seared Chinook Salmon Recipe
Check out the newest recipe in the mouth-watering section of our blog. Great recipes for Northwest fish inside.