Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

We were on the water a lot last week and what a week it was! The last two weeks of October are usually grand slam time on the Oregon Coast and this year hasn’t been any different. We caught the coastal grand slam landing and releasing Chinook, Coho, Sea-run Cutthroats and Summer Steelhead in the span of two days with a single angler. We also landed a 40lb chinook, a chrome coho on the swing, a 21″ Sea-run Cutthroat (our biggest of the year to date) and an 18″ Cutthroat on a dry throughout the week.

Last week had it all; rainy, windy, sunny all in the same day. The rivers levels pushed up almost a foot in some locations and few inches in others, dropped back down and rose again. That unstable weather put the best push of fish this year on the move. We found our first chrome fish in the upper river sections, but the majority of up river fish are pretty dark. We made good use of our raft this week, taking advantage of some higher flows to access great water that hadn’t seen an angler since last spring. While it was hard work at times, dragging the raft across shallow tailouts and boulder fields, the results were well worth it! Happy fish, undisturbed by anglers, rising steadily to October caddis…

Great pictures from last week and earlier this Fall are now available in two brand new photo galleries
Fall Chinook and Coho
Fall Sea-Run Cutthroat

Tight lines,
Jesse

Not since my days guiding in Alaska have I seen Coho fishing this consistently good. It’s only the first week of October, not quite halfway through the run, and we’re seeing and catching more fish than we did all of last year. To give you some perspective, last year wasn’t half bad! Double-digit days between a pair of anglers has been the norm, not the exception this year. That’s great Salmon fishing anywhere, and now we have it in our back yard!

We’ll be chasing these units around the rivers and tributaries at least through Thanksgiving so if you want to get in on the action, give us a call or drop us an Email. We have just a few dates left available for this Fall.

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff

It’s impossible to script great days, but if you spend enough time on the water, you’re bound to come across them on with fair regularity, and that is what keeps us all fishing.

Yesterday’s weather was cool and blustery with a late day shower here and there. Not enough to get soaked, but enough to let you know Fall is here. Angling pressure was non-existent and the fish could feel the approaching unsettled weather. A recipe for success in any guides book.

We started out the morning fishing sea-run cutthroat and by the time it was light enough to see the opposite bank we were into fish. Lots of fish… and big ones. A couple doubles and lots of fish to the boat in the 15-18″ class by 10:00 and everyone was a happy camper. We could go home now and call it good… but no. It’s a fishing day, let’s catch fish.

Throughout the rest of the day we landed a couple chinook, a chrome bright native coho and many more fat blueback trout. Officially the first coastal triple of the year! A chinook, coho and sea-run cutthroat landed by the same angler, in the same day. Last year we had a couple triples and one grand slam (add in steelhead for 4 species). We can’t wait for anglers to have more of those this season.

The fall fishery is officially here and it’s time to go fishing. Give us a call at 503.515.3533 to book a trip or Email Us.

Typical Oregon Coast sea-run cutthroat trout.

We’ve been tinkering with this brine and smoking process for a few years now and this mixture of ingredients produces consistently excellent smoked salmon that appeals to nearly everyone’s tastebuds!

Small Stream Outfitters Smoked Salmon

3-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce

1 ¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbls chopped fresh herbs, thyme, sage, rosemary
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup course kosher salt

2 cups warm water
10-15 pounds ½”-1.5” thick salmon filets

Mix water and salt in large mixing bowl and stir until dissolved, add remaining ingredients and fish. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours but up to overnight.

Remove filets from brine and rinse well in cold water. Pat filets dry with cloth kitchen towels. Place on smoking racks and elevate so that air can circulate. Top with course ground pepper and a few red pepper flakes if you like a spicy smoked salmon. I like to air cure the filets for a couple hours to remove any excess moisture and to let the sugars set up a bit. Once they are firm and tacky to the touch, place in smoker.

Smoke 6 to 12 hours. Time will vary due to thickness of filets, humidity and air temperature. Allow lots of extra time if it’s below 55 degrees outside. I like about 2 pans of smoked alder chips added in the beginning and middle of the smoking process, but you can use a little less or a little more depending on your taste.

Let us know how this recipe worked for you! Post a comment on this story.

A batch of Jack Coho filets air cure before heading to the smoker.

…either way it equals great fun!

As predicted Coho or Silver Salmon runs on the Oregon Coast and in Columbia River tributaries are better than average and getting better by the day. River levels remain low and look like they will stay that way for at least another week, but it’s not stopping a heavy trickle of fish up every system. It’s enough fish for great angling and it’s spreading out the fishing pressure from top to bottom. Rivers like the Sandy have good numbers of fish from the hatchery all the way down to the mouth. We’ve had several double-digit days in the last week and have heard a few similar reports from other systems like the Yaquina, Nehalem and Clackamas. It looks like it’s shaping up to be a fabulous coho year. Many anglers are switching their focus from Chinook to Coho and it’s probably a very good call at this point in the season. Reports from of Coastal Chinook remain dim and we don’t expect them to catch fire anytime soon.

We’ll continue to fish, coho, chinook and sea-run cutthroat throughout the Fall and are still accepting bookings for late-October and November. To get in on this great action give us a call at 503.515.3533 or email us.

A Sandy River buck Silver just beginning to show steelhead like colors

Typical Sandy river male silver salmon.