Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

The recent labor day storm system was a bummer to many campers and recreation enthusiasts, looking to get in one last outing before the school year started. For Small Stream Outfitters and many other fishermen it was a blessing. We had great fishing over the weekend for Chinook, Coho and Sea-run Cutthroat both on the coast and in the Willamette Valley. The early trickle of fish has now turned into solid numbers and it’s time to get in on the action. Give us a call at 503.515.3533 or Email Us to book a fishing trip for Coho, Chinook, and/or Sea-run Cutthroats (blueback). Many of these species are available in the same section of river. We are currently fishing the Siletz, Nestucca and Sandy. Below is just a small selection of the finned creatures we’ve run into in the last week.

A nice Fall Chinook from the Sandy, we’ve run into a lot of these fishing for Coho. We don’t mind a bit.

Rich Youngers of Creekside Fly Shop in Salem took this beautiful little cutt on Monday

When you see a harbor seal in upper tidewater, you know there are more than a few salmon around.

August is now officially behind us and September is here. We welcome the cool nights, warm days and splish splash of the anadromous fish entering the coastal rivers. We spent the weekend on the coast fishing for sea-run cutthroats (blueback trout), while keeping our eyes open for the first chinook and coho of the year. Sea-run trout fishing was good as always. We hooked a few really big fish (up to 18″) and landed lots of smaller ones. It seems the bulk of the early fish are smaller on average than those that show up in the coming weeks, but still there’s nothing better than the vicious topwater strike of a hungry sea-run cutthroat. Successful patterns included, the ‘ol black and orange, reverse spiders, coachmen bucktails and black-nosed dace.

We also ran into a few bigger fish that made our day including the lovely little super jack chinook below. The Fall run has officially started and we’re excited to be on the water a bunch in the coming weeks. To get in on the Sea-run Cutthroat, Coastal Fall Chinook and Coho Salmon action call us at 503.515.3533 or email Email Us

Earlier this week the Small Stream Outfitters guide staff set out to do a little exploring on the upper Sandy River Basin. An ODFW rule change this year allows for the angling of Summer Steelhead in Sandy River tributaries above the confluence with the Salmon River (July 1-August 31). We knew the steelhead run in the area was small and that chances were slim, but with solid populations of native rainbows, some cutthroat and a few brookies in the area, we could always trout fish.

So three intrepid anglers set out to fish an evening and a morning on some amazingly beautiful water. Soft trails underneath the old-growth forest canopy kept the constant summer drizzle off our backs while we fished along the rivers edge. We worked the deep pools and runs for steelhead and dry fly fished the pockets, pools, riffles and runs for trout. While narrow, the river is quite deep and provides ample opportunity for big fish to hide.

Fishing was spot on to what we imagined. We stuck one fish in the 18-20″ that was either a very large trout or more than likely a small steelhead and had a couple other grabs from big fish on steelhead gear, but no hookups. Trout action was great, especially in the evening. Hatches of Yellow Sallies and size 14-16 brown caddis brought small rainbows and cutthroats to the surface. The average fish is small, perhaps 6″, but you wouldn’t expect much more from a high gradient mountain stream. We hooked a few larger fish in the 10-13″ range and saw a few bigger than that.

It was a great trip and it’s always fun to explore new water. If you are interested in more details on a guided walk-in Summer adventure, give us a call at 503.515.3533

Sean works dries in a beautiful run with one of his signature cane rods.

Hooked up to a nice trout in the head of a riffle

Viewing Osprey on Oregon rivers is a regular occurrence. Like us, they are fishermen and good ones at that. I always enjoy watching them and it’s a rare treat to see them dive and catch a fish. They have never tried to grab a hooked fish from myself or a client, that is until yesterday.

I spent the day on the McKenzie with David from Kansas having a glorious time catching Rainbows and Cutthroats. Even with the sunny skies the hatchery rainbows were particularly aggressive and David’s rod was bent often. About halfway through our float, there’s a great riffle that always holds fish and is a favorite hang out spot for a pair of Osprey. Rich Youngers of Creekside Fly Shop has had client’s fish stolen on multiple occasions at this spot, but for whatever reason, it hadn’t happened to me. I had heard all the stories and saw all the pictures, so of course David and I were chatting about the birds as we approached and set anchor.

David made a cast with his streamer and instantly hooked up. I watched him as he fought the fish and just as I was about to reach over and grab the line to land it, a large splash startled us. An osprey was in the water, just feet in front of the boat. He took off with our fish in tow and now Dave had a 12″ rainbow and very large bird attached to his 5 weight! Awesome! “Break him off”, I yelled while laughing. He pulled back and away the bird went, back across the river. Now one less hatchery rainbow in the river… That alone was enough to make the day and certainly lightning couldn’t strike twice. As I tied on a new tippet and fly, Dave got out his camera to snap some photos of the other half of the Osprey pair, sitting in a tree across the river.

I finished the knot, stripped off some line and flicked a cast out the side of the boat, waiting while he finished snapping shots. As the fly swung in front of the boat (did I mention fishing was hot yesterday) the rod surged and now I had one on. “Get that camera ready” I said. And with that, she took off from the tree, flew across the river and started a dive on the fish. Not wanting to lose another fly, I shook the fish off right before she hit the water. Success!! She got the fish, I saved my fly and Dave snapped away. Count two for the Osprey. As she flew away, presumably to feed their babies, Dave and I chuckled as he made a cast and hooked another fish.

Now with the Ospreys fed, we can get on to catching more fish!

Guide’s Fishing report from Sunday, June 7.

Fished more of a run and gun style with a single angler today and covered about 9 miles of river looking for active fish on top. We found a few pockets of actively feeding fish, but couldn’t get very many to go when blind casting to the banks. Any place we found trout sipping dries we were able to get them to take on a variety of patterns including, size 8 salmon flies, yellow sallies, low-water caddis and adams.

We fished dries hard until about noon and then switched over to streamers until 4:30 and then switched back. Streamers worked well, but we had to down size and go darker once the sun came out.

We caught mostly natives today and a majority of those were cutthroat. A few hatchery fish here and there, but not huge numbers. That’s fine by me. The wild fish bite far better when there are fewer hatchery fish in the way.

All in all it was a great day with lots of variety.
River Clarity: 6 feet
Water temp: low fifties
Weather: 55-70, mostly to partly cloudy. Variable winds
Fishing Pressure: light

To book a trout fly fishing trip on the McKenzie River this Summer, call 503.515.3533 or email us